Public registries are defended to protect children from strangers who pose a high risk to them. Yet, the United States Department of Justice reports that 93% of sexual offenses against children are committed by members of their own family or close acquaintances and by first-time offenders who would not have been on such a registry.
Here in Pennsylvania, the statistics are even more revealing. The most recent (2022) Child Abuse Report by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services shows us that 98.66% of all substantiated child abuse occurred at the hand of someone the survivor knows, with 92.6% being an immediate family member or one of their parent’s partners/ex-partners.
An American Psychological Association analysis noted, “Despite the public perception that sex offenders are strangers stalking playgrounds and other areas where children congregate, the majority of offenses occur in the victim’s home or the home of a friend, neighbor, or relative.” As to the claim that reoffense rates are ‘frightening and high’ the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections listed recidivism rates for sexual offenses as the lowest classification of crime tracked. The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s 2022 report to the Pennsylvania Task Force on Child Pornography stated that persons incarcerated for Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) charges had a remarkably low reoffense rate of 1.89%, noting that an additional 2.4% were rearrested due to administrative issues surrounding their registration filing.
Additional Resources
- Registries are Ineffective NARSOL White Paper [PDF]
- Huffington Post: Sex Offender Registries Don’t Keep Kids Safe, But Politicians Keep Expanding Them Anyway
- NPR: For Registered Sex Offenders, An Uphill Civil Rights Battle