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Show r - Through Their " lears m " The Tragedy of Child Sexual Abuse ! r" Of oil child sex abuse I cases in Utah, 43 percent were committed by juveniles By JANIS STUART Clipper Correspondent Editor's note: This is the second in a series of stories dealing with child I abuse in Davis County. BOUNTIFUL Davis County saw an alarming nearly 300 percent rise in youth sex and abuse offenders from 1989 to 1990, and the upward trend is continuing. Davis County Chief Probation Officer, Deloy Archibald, speculated one reason for the increase, in-crease, "may be that people have become aware that they ! don't have to put up with juv enile sex offenses, and are therefore reporting incidents. ' Volumes have been written over the past few years concerning concern-ing child abuse, its horrors and possible prevention. While statistics have been gathered and compiled, another alarming aspect of child abuse has been creeping to the forefront, child abuse committed by juvenile offenders. Thirty-six percent of child abuse perpetrators are I themselves juveniles. I "The reluctance to recognize I the offensive nature of deviant I I sexual behavior by juveniles can I have tremendous costs to our J children, our families, and all of I society," said Bryon Matsuda, chief probation office in the 7th District Juvenile Court in Price. When most of society talks about children at the ages between be-tween eight and adulthood, they think only in terms of soccer teams and school dances. Unfortunately, Unfor-tunately, the Utah Report on Juvenile Sex Offenders, a publication pub-lication produced by the Utah Governor's Council on Juvenile Sex Offenders, determined that the median age of a juvenile sex offender is 13. The median age of the child abused by a juvenile sex offender is 9. Studies concluded that the majority of offenses were not I minor, in fact, in 1987, 70 percent per-cent of total sex offenses by juv eniles were classified as felonies. Of all child sexual abuse victims vic-tims in Utah, 43 percent were victimized by juvenile perpetrators. Victim surveys indicate that about 20 percent of all rapes and 30 percent to 50 percent of all cases of child sexual abuse can be attributed to adolescent offenders. A general definition of a juvenile juv-enile sex offender, according to Matsuda, is a juvenile between the ages of eight and the age of majority who commits, "a sex offense involving the use of greater age, force, prestige, intelligence intel-ligence or other source of power to coerce another person into a sexual act to which they might not otherwise consent." Applying that specific definition defini-tion to an individual has not been without difficulty. With the possibility that a 14-year-old could be larger and use force on a 1 5-year-old, or that a younger juvenile may be more mature than an older juvenile, the guidelines of what constitutes a sex offense must be flexible. To date, findings indicate that the majority, approximately 95 percent, of juvenile offenders are male. However, the tendency for society as a whole to be unable to accept the possibility of a female sexual offender may be a major reason few incidents involving in-volving females are reported. The Report on Juvenile Sex Offenders states, "In identifying adolescents who commit sexual offenses, it may be that a societal double standard prevents accurate accu-rate identification of female sex offenders, with less condemnation condemna-tion of sexual behavior between a female adolescent and a young boy that between a male adolescent ado-lescent and a young girl." "Sexual offenses by juveniles in Utah constitute a serious problem prob-lem which, until recently, has largely been ignored or minimized," Matsuda said. Historically in Utah as well as nationally, juveniles involved in sexually offending behaviors were not held accountable for the impact on their victims or for the criminal acts committed. Due to the attitude that juveniles juv-eniles were merely "adjusting" or 'experimenting," the majority of criminal activity has not been reported. Even on the rare occasion where a juvenile is reported to the courts, court action has consistently con-sistently been inadequate. The majority of cases are plea-bargained plea-bargained or dismissed. This manner of handling the situation lessens the chance of adequate intervention, leaving the offender untreated and in a position posi-tion to repeat the offense. Archibald indicated that most cases of juvenile sex abuse in Davis County are either placed on probation through courts or placed in in-patient treatment centers. To date, no studies have been conducted to to indicate the success of this treatment. A California Task Force Report completed in 1986 concluded con-cluded that "Not until the behaviors escalate into violent acts of rape, sodomy, or multiple victims does the seriousness of the sexually offending pattern receive notice." The Utah report states 60 percent per-cent to eight percent of adult sex offenders began offending as juveniles. As in most cases, education is the first step to prevention. The public must be made aware that the problem does indeed exist. It also extracts a great cost from its victims as well as from society. 1 'Heightened public awareness of the harmful effects of sexual abuse has resulted in increased reporting and referral of juvenile sex offenders," explained ex-plained Matsuda. The number of juvenile sex offenders in Utah state custody for supervision increased from approximately 40 in 1983 to ap- proximately 90 in 1989. These figures verify the need for action to be taken by all concerned. con-cerned. The juvenile justice system, the legislature, parents, teachers and social service department must become aware that crimes are being committed, that corrective action must be taken, and that education and prevention programs must be instigated. in-stigated. During the past decade, a concentrated con-centrated effort to focus on the problem of juvenile offenses has been made. This was necessitated by the reports that over 50 percent of the molestations molesta-tions of boys and at least 15 percent per-cent to 20 percent of the sexual abuse of girls is perpetrated by adolescents. There is no reason to believe that a juvenile sex offender will not simply grow into an adult sex abuser. When this happens, the cost to the victim and to society only increases. Matsuda explained, "Approximately 50 percent of all adult sex offenders report that their first sexual offense occurred oc-curred during adolescence. Although Al-though this does not mean that 50 percent of adolescent sex offenders continue committing offenses in adulthood, enough obviously do to warrant serious concern." To prevent multiple victimizations, victimiza-tions, early clinical intervention is clearly indicated. The next article ar-ticle in this series will provide information on where to get help. Governments have established task forces to study the problem. Attempts are being made to define the juvenile sex offender. Statistics are being gathered and studies are being made to determine deter-mine proper treatment. As it has been with adult sex abuse, the public's willingness to get involved and take action will have the greatest impact on preventing juvenile sex offenses. |