Public Perceptions of Child Pornography and Child Pornography Consumers

Understanding the public’s perceptions of child pornography helps identify gaps in awareness and knowledge, impacts legislative decision making, quantifies stigmatization, and provides a baseline for identifying differences between lay and offender populations for clinical purposes. This research provides a comprehensive public survey assessing these issues. An Internet-based sample of 524 adults (mean age = 47 years, 51% female) within the USA were asked about their understanding and beliefs related to child pornography and individuals who view child pornography. The questions covered three topic areas—general perceptions of child pornography, endorsement of child pornography beliefs, and opinions related to the legality of various forms of child pornography as well as the decision making related to sentencing and sex offender registration for child pornography consumers. The research found that the public viewed these offenses as more severe than most other crimes and that there was an overestimation by the public of risks related to recidivism and contact offending. Additionally, the research found that there was support for most of the current sentencing guidelines in the USA, including sex offender registration, and that there was limited support for treatment over incarceration.

Federal sex offender registration and notification act (SORNA) offenders: sexual versatility, criminal careers and supervision outcomes

Purpose Sex offender registration and notification act (SORNA) offenders are a source of scholarly study across the social, behavioral, forensic and legal sciences with the bulk of literature focusing on the legal standing and deterrent value of sexual offender registries. Less research focuses on the offending careers of current SORNA offenders relative to other types of sexual offenders whose current offense is not SORNA. The purpose of the current study is to examine this issue empirically. Design/methodology/approach Using cross-sectional data from a census of male federal offenders who ever perpetrated a sexual offense from the central USA between 2016 and 2020, the current study used t-tests, logistic regression and negative binomial regression to compare current SORNA offenders to other federal correctional clients in terms of their lifetime offending history, sexual violence and compliance on federal supervision. Findings Current SORNA offenders are significantly more severe and versatile in their sexual offending, have more extensive criminal careers and criminal justice system involvement, and exhibit significantly increased odds of revocation on supervised release despite controls for age, race and ethnicity. However, sensitivity models that specified the federal Post-Conviction Risk Assessment reduced the effects of SORNA status to non-significance in all models. Originality/value SORNA offenders are potentially a significant offender group with evidence of both and given their versatile and specialized lifetime offending and noncompliance on federal supervision. However, current SORNA status is rendered spurious once a risk assessment is controlled suggesting more research is needed to evaluate whether sex offender registries posit greater crime control benefit.

Registration and the Closure of Stranger-Perpetrated Sex Crimes Reported to Police

A key goal of sex offender registration is to assist law enforcement in sexual assault investigations; to identify potential suspects when the perpetrator’s identity is unknown. To date, however, no research has assessed the utility of sex offender registries in closing cases of sexual assault when the incident involved stranger perpetrators. Addressing this gap, the study drew on the National Incident-Based Reporting System (1992–2001) to test the effect of registry implementation on closure of stranger-involved sex crimes across six states. Comparing closure speeds from before and after registration began in each state, multivariate survival models showed incidents of stranger-perpetrated sexual assault were cleared 23% to 28% faster post-registration implementation. Incidents with juvenile victims and incidents with additional crimes beyond the sexual assault also closed significantly faster (regardless of whether a registry existed).