Sex Offenders Get Younger, More Violent

(AP)  Courts have seen the number of sex offense cases involving juvenile offenders rise dramatically in recent years, an Associated Press review of national statistics found, and treatment professionals say the offenders are getting younger and the crimes more violent.

Some psychologists blame the increase in numbers — 40 percent over two decades — on a society saturated with sex and violence and the fact that many of the accused were themselves victims of adult sexual predators. Others say there aren't more children committing such crimes, simply more awareness, better reporting and a general hysteria about sex offenders.

"I don't think it's appropriate to suggest we have whole schools full of sexual predators ... but we're seeing more of it and more sexually aggressive acts," said Scott Poland, past president of the National Association of School Psychologists. "How do these kids even know about this? It's permeated throughout our society."

Robert Prentky, a psychologist and nationally renowned expert on sex offenders in Bridgewater, Mass., thinks the statistics are misleading.

"There aren't more kids, there are more laws," he said. "We now have fairly draconian laws with very harsh sanctions that apply to juveniles."

The number of children under 18 accused of forcible rape, violent and nonviolent sex offenses rose from 24,100 in 1985 to 33,800 in 2004, the AP's analysis found. Violent offenses include attempted rape and sexual assault, while nonviolent offenses including fondling, statutory rape and prostitution.

By comparison, rape and sexual assaults by adults decreased more than 56 percent from 1993 to 2004. Comparable statistics were unavailable before 1993.

The AP analyzed state and federal crime statistics, as well as independent research on juvenile sex offenders. Sources included the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Center for Juvenile Justice, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit that specializes in statistical and policy research; and The Safer Society Foundation Inc., a Vermont nonprofit that works to prevent sexual abuse.

Sharon Araji, an Alaska psychologist who took one of the first broad looks at the problem in her book "Sexually Aggressive Children," thinks the number of child-on-child sex crimes is actually even higher than the statistics indicate.

Only 28 percent of all violent sexual assaults are reported to police, according to a 1999 National Crime Victimization Survey. And cases of incest between siblings are widely thought to be underreported and may drive the numbers even higher, Araji says.

"The whole society is not yet up on this problem," Araji said. "These kids, on the extreme end, if nothing is done to catch them, they're going to become our adult offenders of tomorrow."

Studies show that one in two sex offenders began their sexually abusive behavior as juveniles.

The rise in juvenile sex offenders has spawned hundreds of new treatment facilities for children as young as 5.

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[slaute]

Parents, warn your children, teens and young adults!! What you may think is normal underage and developmental consensual sexual exploration and learning, which historically was left to parents to correct and teach, is currently grounds for very serious felony sex offender convictions, registration as a sex offender for life as young as 14, and forced sex offender "treatment"!! And these cases are relentlessly prosecuted despite insane judicial outcomes, ruined lives of innocent boys, teens and young men, and ruined families of these innocent boys/teens/men.

Even the DA in this case stated that the punishment was harsh for consensual teenage sex.

I am not condoning sexual promiscuity, and I want our children protected from violent and sexually dangerous persons. But current and pending sex offender legislation and laws must be changed so that they can only be used to prosecute violent and sexually dangerous persons.

Readers, you may find this difficult to believe, I did at first, but there are kids as young as 10 on the sex offender registry for ?playing doctor? no violence involved. Kids as young as 12 for pinching another kid on the butt just joking around, and a long list of teens and young men for ?consensual sexual activity? as a result of girls who lied about their age and sought out sexual activity. And men for public urination on the golf course; how many men will this one put on the list.

Again, I am not condoning sexual promiscuity, but what was once 'petting' and normal sexual exploration between consenting underage teens is now grounds for ?life time registration as a sex offender? as young as 14 both boys and girls. And Government sanctioned Sex Offender "Treatment" Programs, including for juveniles as young as 12, and including cases of consensual sexual activity among peers, are barbaric and abusive!! These programs include the use of:

Plethysmographs - a metalized ring is strapped around a ?male? juvenile?s genitals (there is no such devise for females) and they are forced to listen to/watch pornography including deviant sexual activity such as violent rape! This barbaric and abusive device and recordings are designed to measure any signs of arousal and the juvenile is then forced to try and masturbate afterwards.

Masturbatory Satiation ? juvenile males as young as 12 are forced to masturbate over and over and over while listening to/viewing pornographic images/recordings, including deviant sexual activity such as violent rape.

Arousal Reconditioning ? Originally developed in the early to mid-1900s to convert homosexuals to heterosexuals. Attempts to eliminate sexual feelings by pairing them with boredom, pain, or unpleasantness. In effect, assumes that sexuality can be changed through ?punishment? such as electric shock therapy.

The current legislation, although very well intended, has seriously failed the true victims of violent sexual assault crimes and their families! And, it has resulted in what I believe were unintended consequences for potentially >95% of all youth and young adults who statistically could be convicted as sex offenders.

Please, join in the growing effort to immediately bring an end to this insanity before an entire generation is lost and registered as sex offenders.

Legislators, please begin immediate changes to legislation to stop this insanity!

[gaye5]

ttinsly, I know what it is like to not have money.
Teachers wages in NZ were so bad that they were leaving like flies, they were below most jobs at the time, but regardless I wouldnt go out to work we just did without and I needed to loose weight anyway. I know what it is like to have to cut the worn center out of the sheets and sew the outside to become the inside to give the sheets a bit longer wear, I would undo jumpers and knit the good bits up again, I would make shorts for the boys out of my husbands trousers which had holes in the knees, etc, but we survived and were happy. Our children have all grown up well and say that they had the best childhood, one is a policeman, another is a senior project manager building a 46 storied buildin, the other two have their own business, and I organize building homes, and I AM A WOMAN..

[gaye5]

sy2502, When I was a child TV was new, most stories were not violent and we didn't even need to lock our doors, I could walk alone anywhere, however now days the criminal breaks in regardless of the house being totally barred up and we are scare to go out even in groups night. Over the years TV has become more and more violent so perhaps the example of horrific violence against women and society is coming from TV , you cannot watch hrs and hrs of violence without it having an effect on weak minds.

We would have to wonder why do our allow such violence on TV, but we the people are also to blame as we should be out there on mass to force authorities to stop the violence, murders, rapes, etc on TV, but instead we call the actors 'STARS' and people idolize them..
You are right, we women should be able to walk the streets alone without fear, and how weak and pathetic rapists are who force themselves on woman who are weaker than them, I bet they wouldn't dare rape a man.
And yes sy2502 women do have rights, but we also have a responsibility towards our children... If you didn't dream of cooking and cleaning and being there to give your children the love they need, that is great it is your right, no one is forcing you to have kids.

[gaye5]

ttinsly, and sy2502 I totally agree with you, and as a nurse I did the same, but when the children came along we felt that it was best that I did the boring jobs of cleaning, washing etc,,, bringing up our children has been the most rewarding job, and if you have the brains it doesnt need to be boring..
When the children were at school and of a decent age, I started my own business, where I could also be there when the children got home, and I took in more money than my husband did as a Principal.. So yes, women need to be doing jobs of equal importance as men, but not at the detriment of our children, they are the worlds future.
There are jobs that women can do, they cannot lift the heavy things men do, women at period time are more likely to be off work, etc.. but women do a far better job of 'do I dare say it' nurturing children, as we are more loving, more caring of the needs of children, etc.. or have women now lost that gift also..
We have had to counsel so many teens whose mothers are not there for them, or the kids dont want to go to the mother because she is always just tooo tired from working... and because of this, others have had to step in, and of course others dont care like a mother should...

[sy2502]

Gaye5, you are missing the women's rights ideas completely. First of all you must understand that not all women share your ambitions in life. For some of us, cooking and cleaning is not what we always dreamed of doing. Some women have higher education and want to use it to have a career, or to run their own business, or to get wider professional recognition. Some women don't want to be economically dependent, and believe it or not, some women are as good as, or better then, men in what used to be male only jobs. The whole point of women's rights is that if cooking and cleaning is what you want to do, you should be able to do it, but not because someone is forcing you, instead because that's what you want. And similarly if that is not what I want to do, nobody should force me to do it.

[sy2502]

Great, let's blame the victims as usual here! Violent *** crimes against women are on the rise and who do we blame? The women, obviously!! The argument that liberated women are either "asking for it" by going out alone, or "causing it" by confusing guys on the gender roles in society, has got to be the most ridiculous and insulting thing I have heard in a while. This is the kind of argument the talebans make to keep their women at home and covered from head to toe. You are basically saying their argument is sound? That men and women cannot coexist on equal footing without the men losing any veneer of civilization and forcing themselves on the women?

[gunownerdan]

"We live in a world where more and more women are unaccompanied at odd hours, or they are vulnerable in dangerous places - a world where restraining orders are often ineffective and the police cannot be counted upon to arrive in time, if at all. In such a world, women must be able to protect themselves. In terms of both deterrence and lethal force, guns are among the most effective tools available for self-defense."
-- Mary Zeiss Stange, "Guns, like abortion, are a matter of choice"

"In being confronted by the reality that government cannot and will not guarantee my personal safety, I am infinitely thankful, both as a woman and an American, that the Bill of Rights still guarantees my right to defend myself with a gun. Any true feminist must support this position. Any woman who claims to be a feminist, but who supports disarmament of law-abiding citizens is simply a dangerous hypocrite."
-- Katherine von Tour, "My Transformation From Anti-Gun Feminist To Armed Feminist"

Self Defense - A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT
http://www.a-human-right.com

Second Amendment Sisters
http://www.2asisters.org/

Women To Arms
http://womentoarms.net/

The Concealed Carry Database
http://www.packing.org

[gaye5]

Michelle, the most important job in the world is bringing up children, cleaning, changing nappies, etc. Although being a mother has been greatly under valued in recient times, it is THE most important job in the world, it is more important than being a President, simply because if we stuff it up he doesnt make a good President...
There is nothing wrong with
1..Men bring home the bacon, it leaves the wife to look after the children as she does a better job than he does,
2.. that his name is passed on down to the children and through the sons,...other wise we have too many names and confusion.
3 ..experience has proven that it is better that he marries us and is the fathers of our children as that has been proven to give security and safety to the children, instead of the poor children having different men in and out of the home...
4.. HE IS KING OF THE HOUSE AND HIS RULES ARE OBEYED, yes this one was not good, we should work together, and a man lording it over the woman is wrong...

Michelle you have to remember that the life of our law is not discrimination but centuries of experience of things that worked... As women are better than men at multitasking there is nothing wrong with cleaning nappies and taking an outside job a couple of days a week... but our children must come first...

[gaye5]

tuckerndfw I totally agree with you... Although I feel that in many areas that women were treated as second rate citizens 50 years ago, I am afraid that feminists have now gone far to far, and in doing so have gone a long way in destroyed society with their stupidity, consequently men have lost the art of being men, they dont know what women expect of them and they dont know their role in society any more, and women are trying to become men.
There is nothing equal about a woman chopping down trees or being a mechanic or going to war etc, there is simply just jobs that men do better than women and jobs that women do better than men, this isn't to say that if we have too that we can't do each others jobs.. but regardless of what feminists say, we are just made differently, we think differently, and we are not as strong as men, well physically anyway... I am proud of being a woman and proud that I have someone to look out for me and for me to want to care for him, we look after each other but in different ways and even though we love doing things together we still do our own thing, I hate golf he loves golf so on Saturdays he goes to golf and I type to you guys......

[gunownerdan]

Armed women who can safely and properly use their firearms are MUCH harder to victimize.

a-human-right.com

packing.org