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Examining the Criminal History and Future Offending of Child Pornography Offenders: An Extended Prospective Follow-up Study

  • Original Article
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Law and Human Behavior

Abstract

We examined police occurrence and criminal records data for a sample of 201 registered male child pornography offenders originally reported by Seto and Eke (Sex Abus J Res Treat 17:201–210, 2005), extending the average follow-up time for this sample to 5.9 years. In addition, we obtained the same data for another 340 offenders, increasing our full sample to 541 men, with a total average follow-up of 4.1 years. In the extended follow-up of the original sample, 34% of offenders had new charges for any type of reoffense, with 6% charged with a contact sexual offense against a child and an additional 3% charged with historical contact sex offenses (i.e., previously undetected offenses). For the full sample, there was a 32% any recidivism rate; 4% of offenders were charged with new contact sex offences, an additional 2% of offenders were charged with historical contact sex offenses and 7% of offenders were charged with a new child pornography offense. Predictors of new violent (including sexual contact) offending were prior offense history, including violent history, and younger offender age. Approximately a quarter of the sample was sanctioned for a failure on conditional release; in half of these failures, the offenders were in contact with children or used the internet, often to access pornography again.

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Notes

  1. In Canada, obscene material charges were used in relation to child pornography offenses prior to specific child pornography offenses (possession, making, distribution, and accessing) being included in the Criminal Code.

  2. As previously mentioned, the child pornography laws in both Canada and the United States encompass anyone under the age of 18. The legal age of sexual consent in Canada and many American States is 16. This makes it legal for someone aged 16 or 17 to consent to sexual activity yet illegal to possess images or an explicit written description of that same activity.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank staff members of the Ontario Sex Offender Registry for their assistance with this project. We also thank Adam Alderson, Grant Harris, Zoe Hilton, Scarlett Graham-Krajcir, Tina Maier, Scott Naylor, Glenn Sheil, and Dave Truax for their helpful comments on an earlier draft. We thank OSOR research assistants Ruth Houghton and Leslie Jean for their assistance in data coding. This study was assisted by the Ontario Mental Health Foundation, with funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. Opinions expressed are those of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Unit, OSOR Behavioural Sciences and Analysis Services, Ontario Provincial Police, 777 Memorial Avenue, Orillia, ON, L3V 7V3, Canada

    Angela W. Eke & Jennette Williams

  2. Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, Brockville Mental Health Centre, PO Box 1050, Brockville, ON, K6V 5W7, Canada

    Michael C. Seto

Authors
  1. Angela W. Eke
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  2. Michael C. Seto
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  3. Jennette Williams
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Correspondence to Angela W. Eke.

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Eke, A.W., Seto, M.C. & Williams, J. Examining the Criminal History and Future Offending of Child Pornography Offenders: An Extended Prospective Follow-up Study. Law Hum Behav 35, 466–478 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-010-9252-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-010-9252-2

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