|
Introduction and highlights
<br />Introduction
<br />In 1994, prisons in 15 States released
<br />9,691 male sex offenders. The 9,691
<br />men are two- thirds of all the male sex
<br />offenders released from State prisons
<br />in the United States in 1994. This
<br />report summarizes findings from a
<br />survey that tracked the 9,691 for 3 full
<br />years after their release. The report
<br />documents their "recidivism," as
<br />measured by rates of rearrest, recon-
<br />viction, and reimprisonment during the
<br />3 -year followup period.
<br />This report gives recidivism rates for
<br />the 9,691 combined total. It also
<br />separates the 9,691 into four overlap-
<br />ping categories and gives recidivism
<br />rates for each category:
<br />• 3,115 released rapists
<br />• 6,576 released sexual assaulters
<br />• 4,295 released child molesters
<br />• 443 released statutory rapists.
<br />The 9,691 sex offenders were released
<br />from State prisons in these 15 States:
<br />Arizona, Maryland, North Carolina,
<br />California, Michigan, Ohio, Delaware,
<br />Minnesota, Oregon, Florida, New
<br />Jersey, Texas, Illinois, New York,
<br />and Virginia.
<br />Highlights
<br />The 15 States in the study released
<br />272,111 prisoners altogether in 1994.
<br />Among the 272,111 were 9,691 men
<br />whose crime was a sex offense (3.6%
<br />of releases).
<br />On average the 9,691 sex offenders
<br />served 3'/ years of their 8 -year
<br />sentence (45% of the prison sentence)
<br />before being released in 1994.
<br />Rearrest for a new sex crime
<br />Compared to non -sex offenders
<br />released from State prisons, released
<br />sex offenders were 4 times more likely
<br />to be rearrested for a sex crime.
<br />Within the first 3 years following their
<br />release from prison in 1994, 5.3% (517
<br />of the 9,691) of released sex offenders
<br />were rearrested for a sex crime. The
<br />rate for the 262,420 released non -sex
<br />offenders was lower, 1.3% (3,328 of
<br />262,420).
<br />The first 12 months following their
<br />release from a State prison was the
<br />period when 40% of sex crimes were
<br />allegedly committed by the released
<br />sex offenders.
<br />Recidivism studies typically find that,
<br />the older the prisoner when released,
<br />the lower the rate of recidivism.
<br />Results reported here on released sex
<br />offenders did not follow the familiar
<br />pattern. While the lowest rate of
<br />rearrest for a sex crime (3.3 %) did
<br />belong to the oldest sex offenders
<br />(those age 45 or older), other compari-
<br />sons between older and younger
<br />prisoners did not consistently show
<br />older prisoners' having the lower
<br />rearrest rate.
<br />The study compared recidivism rates
<br />among prisoners who served different
<br />lengths of time before being released
<br />from prison in 1994. No clear associa-
<br />tion was found between how long they
<br />were in prison and their recidivism rate.
<br />Before being released from prison in
<br />1994, most of the sex offenders had
<br />been arrested several times for differ-
<br />ent types of crimes. The more prior
<br />arrests they had, the greater their likeli-
<br />hood of being rearrested for another
<br />sex crime after leaving prison. Re-
<br />leased sex offenders with 1 prior arrest
<br />(the arrest for the sex crime for which
<br />they were imprisoned) had the lowest
<br />rearrest rate for a sex crime, about 3 %;
<br />those with 2 or 3 prior arrests for some
<br />type of crime, 4 %; 4 to 6 prior arrests,
<br />6 %; 7 to 10 prior arrests, 7 %; and 11
<br />to 15 prior arrests, 8 %.
<br />Rearrest for a sex crime against a child
<br />The 9,691 released sex offenders
<br />included 4,295 men who were in prison
<br />for child molesting.
<br />Of the children these 4,295 men were
<br />imprisoned for molesting, 60% were
<br />age 13 or younger.
<br />Half of the 4,295 child molesters were
<br />20 or more years older than the child
<br />they were imprisoned for molesting.
<br />On average, the 4,295 child molesters
<br />were released after serving about 3
<br />years of their 7 -year sentence (43% of
<br />the prison sentence).
<br />Compared to the 9,691 sex offenders
<br />and to the 262,420 non -sex offenders,
<br />released child molesters were more
<br />likely to be rearrested for child molest-
<br />ing. Within the first 3 years following
<br />release from prison in 1994, 3.3% (141
<br />of 4,295) of released child molesters
<br />were rearrested for another sex crime
<br />against a child. The rate for all 9,691
<br />sex offenders (a category that includes
<br />the 4,295 child molesters) was 2.2%
<br />(209 of 9,691). The rate for all 262,420
<br />non -sex offenders was less than half of
<br />1% (1,042 of the 262,420).
<br />Of the approximately 141 children
<br />allegedly molested by the child moles-
<br />ters after their release from prison in
<br />1994, 79% were age 13 or younger.
<br />Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 1
<br />
|