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Sex Offenses and Offenders
Draws on more than two dozen statistical datasets maintained by the Bureau of Justice Statistics
and on data from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program of the FBI to provide a comprehensive
overview of current knowledge about the incidence and prevalence of violent victimization by sexual
assault, the response of the criminal justice system to such crimes, and the characteristics of those
who commit sexual assault or rape. Findings include the following:
- Convicted rape and sexual assault offenders serving time in State prisons report that two-thirds of
their victims were under the age of 18, and 58% of those--or nearly 4 in 10 imprisoned violent sex
offenders--said their victims were aged 12 or younger.
- In 90% of the rapes of children less than 12 years old, the child knew the offender, according to
police-recorded incident data.
- Among victims 18 to 29 years old, two-thirds had a prior relationship with the rapist.
- Four datasets (the FBI's UCR arrests, State felony court convictions, prison admissions, and
the National Crime Victimization Survey) all point to a sex offender who is older than other violent
offenders, generally in his early 30's, and more likely to be white than other violent offenders.
1/97 NCJ 163392
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