Juvenile Sex Offenders

Sexual offenses perpetrated by minors have become an alarming topic over the past few years. Most of society would expect sexual offenses to be committed by mainly adults. These adults are often labeled as predators of young people and seen as pedophiles after committing a sexual offense against a minor. However, juvenile sexual offenders are more common than society may expect. While male juveniles constitute the majority of juvenile offenders, female juvenile offenders make up nearly seven percent of the total juvenile offending population. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, juveniles who are responsible for committing sex offenses against other young individuals have a greater likelihood than adult sex offenders to offend in a group or school setting and tend to have a larger number of not only male victims, but also younger victims. Most juvenile offenders begin offending at the age of twelve and prey on other individuals younger than the age of twelve. Once these perpetrators reach the age of fourteen, they tend to commit more sexual offense against minors relatively close to their own …show more content…
Common characteristics of both male and female juvenile offenders include difficulties with judgment and controlling impulses, learning disabilities, a history of sexual abuse and/or physical as a child, and up to eighty percent of juvenile sexual offenders experience signs and symptoms that meet the criteria for diagnosable psychiatric