Sex offender

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It has been suggested that Sex offender registration be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

A sex offender is a person who has been criminally charged and convicted of, or has pled guilty to, a sex crime. A crime requiring mandatory sex offender registration can be anywhere from downloading pornographic material of persons under the age of 18 off of the internet (child pornography) to rape and even non sexual offenses such as kidnapping, may require registration. The term sexual offender is a broad term, with sexual predator being used to describe a more severe physical or repeat sexual offense. Sexual offenders are also sometimes classified into levels, where the highest level offenders have the most aggravating crimes and thus, the most risk to the public and usually must register as a sex offender for their entire lives. Low level sexual offenders may serve only a probationary sentence and only register for 10 years as well as having less restrictions placed on them compared to higher lever offenders. As a label of identity it is used in criminal psychology. Especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, the person, if convicted, is most likely required to register with the respective jurisdiction's sex offender registry.

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[edit] Iowa

The State of Iowa has passed some of the most stringent sex offender legislation in the United States. Under Iowa Code 692A, sex offenders are banned from living within 2,000 feet of schools and day care centers [1]

Canadian studies have shown approximately a 13.4% rate of recidivism. [2]

According to the Office of Justice Programs of the United States Department of Justice:[3]

  • Of the 272,111 persons released from prisons in 15 states in 1994, an estimated 67.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years, 46.9% were reconvicted, and 25.4% resentenced to prison for a new crime.
  • The 272,111 offenders discharged in 1994 accounted for nearly 4,877,000 arrest charges over their recorded careers.
  • Within 3 years of release, 2.5% of released rapists were rearrested for another rape, and 1.2% of those who had served time for homicide were arrested for a new homicide.
  • Sex offenders were less likely than non-sex offenders to be rearrested for any offense –– 43 percent of sex offenders versus 68 percent of non-sex offenders.
  • Sex offenders were about four times more likely than non-sex offenders to be arrested for another sex crime after their discharge from prison –– 5.3 percent of sex offenders versus 1.3 percent of non-sex offenders.

A study covering the American state of Arizona in an earlier time frame than the USDOJ study showed that 5.5% of convicted sex offenders eventually returned to prison with a new felony for a sex crime.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Iowa Sex Offender Law Does Not Distinguish Sex Abuse from Consenting Sex Between Two Teens. It Imposes Lifetime Sentence For Both" Iowa law also requires children and teens who have been adjudicated delinquent juveniles for sex crimes to register as sex offenders.

    [edit] Recidivism rates

    Sex offenders have a relatively low recidivism rate in the first years after prison release. The results of studies seem to vary. On average, studies appear to indicate that sex offenders have between a 3 and 13% chance of committing a new sex offense. One source specifies the rate for new sex crimes is 13.7%, the rate for child molestation is 12.7%, the rate for child molestation within families is 8.4%, and the rate for rape 18.9%. <ref>"[http://66.165.94.98/stories/SexOffendersReport.pdf Sex Offenses: Facts, Fictions and Policy Implications]", National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, January 2006. Retrieved 20 May 2006. {{PDFlink}}</li> <li id="_note-1">'''[[#_ref-1|^]]''' Hanson, R.K. (1997). "Predictors of sex offence recidivism." Research Summary. Ottawa: Solicitor General Canada.</li> <li id="_note-2">'''[[#_ref-2|^]]''' http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/crimoff.htm#recidivism</li> <li id="_note-3">'''[[#_ref-3|^]]''' http://www.azcorrections.gov/Recidivism.htm</li></ol></ref>

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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