Overview

CSAM Offending meta-analysis (2025) updates recidivism rates: low official reoffense, higher self-report, and key CSAM-only vs mixed differences.

Summary

Prediction of recidivism is a key component of most psychosexual evaluations and risk assessments. Given the lack of solid validated actuarial risk assessment measures for Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM) offending, evaluators often rely on what the scientific data says about recidivism rates. The consensus thus far is that the recidivism rates for CSAM only offending is

Reference

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Continue exploring Mitigation Aide for the information on mental health necessary to ensure your clients are treated fairly in the criminal justice system.

The post CSAM Offending: A New Meta-Analysis first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

Overview

Does the Static-99R or the MnSOST-R accurately predict recidivism in individuals with Intellectual Disabilities or Borderline Intellectual Functioning?

Summary

Nearly 20% of all incarcerated offenders have been identified as having an intellectual disability (IDD) or borderline intellectual functioning (BIF). 

Despite this relatively high number of individuals with IDD who are incarcerated, there is limited research on the effectiveness of actuarial risk assessments on this population.

This study aimed to compare the predictive accuracy of the Static-99, Static -99R and the MnSOST-R for individuals

Reference

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Continue exploring Mitigation Aide for the information on mental health necessary to ensure your clients are treated fairly in the criminal justice system.

The post Intellectual Disabilities and Sexual Recidivism first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

Overview

Analysis of a meta-study trying to validate the forensic use of the Child Pornography Offender Risk Tool (CPORT) for actuarial CSAM risk assessment.

Summary

Those in the field know the criminal justice system prefers to have an actuarial risk assessment measure to aide in decisions for sentencing, treatment needs, etc.

There are long standing and validated risk assessment measures for contact sexual offenses. However, there are no validated risk assessment measures for non-contact, Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM) offenders.

CPORT and Risk Assessment

The CPORT was created several years ago by Dr. Michael Seto and colleagues. However, this measure is not without its difficulties. The authors note in the manual that it should not be used as a risk assessment measure.

Despite this statement, many evaluators are using the CPORT as a risk assessment tool.

The Study

An article published this year (2023)

Reference

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Continue exploring Mitigation Aide for the information on mental health necessary to ensure your clients are treated fairly in the criminal justice system.

The post Should the CPORT Be Used for CSAM Risk Assessment? first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

Overview

It has been known for quite some time that there are two categories of CSAM offenders, internet-only and mixed offenders.

Summary

CSAM offenders have no history of a contact sexual offense. Mixed offenders are, generally, defined as a CSAM offense with a historical or concurrent contact sexual offense. For years, mixed offenders were all lumped into one group and were not studied on their own to determine if they were a homogeneous group.

The Study: Mixed Offenders

In a study published in 2022, Babchishin, et. al., looked further into the issue. Specifically looking at whether or not the order in which a contact offense occurred in relation to the CSAM offense has any impact on the risk of recidivism.

The original data sample for this study was comprised of 387 Canadian men.

Reference

The post Mixed Offenders are not all the Same first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

Overview

What are the findings of the multi-year, state government-funded report of the PA Task Force on Child Pornography? And what are its recommendations?

Summary

In 2021 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania passed ACT 53 which established the Task Force on Child Pornography.

It directed the task force to “conduct a review to ascertain any inadequacies relating to the offense of child pornography in 18 PA CS 6312.

The report was finished and published in September of 2022.

What was the Focus of the Report of the PA Task Force on Child Pornography?

The report narrowed in on a number of issues related to CSAM offenses.

It reviewed the demographics of the individuals committing these crimes, assessed the newest research on recidivism, looked at SOAB assessments and surveyed law enforcement and prosecutors.

Who was included in the Report of the PA Task Force on Child Pornography?

Between 2014 and October of 2021, there were 2989 cases involving CSAM offenses with an average of 385 cases per year.

The majority of cases

Reference

The post Summary of the Report of the PA Task Force on Child Pornography first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

The truth about sexual offending history in non-contact offenders.

Summary

The Dark Shadow of offending is something that is often talked about in sentencing hearings but not necessarily by name.  The phrase was coined by Biderman and Reiss in 1967 and refers to the differences between the known criminal reoffending that occurs compared to what is reported based on known offending. 

Reference

The post What is the Dark Shadow of Sexual Offending? first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

What types of treatment are most effective at reducing recidivism?

Summary

Individuals who are under investigation for sex crimes are often sent to treatment prior to sentencing as both a means to help the person and to show accountability for mitigation purposes.  Once convicted, they will be mandated to treatment by probation or parole.  

The 2019 study discussed in this summary sheds light on what types of treatment programs may be better than others for producing results, which means decreasing recidivism. 

Reference

The post Sexual Offender Treatment: Does Specialized Treatment Matter? first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

What are the most frequent ACE items endorsed by sexually violent persons and can they be used as predictors for recidivism?

Summary

Using a previous study as a building block, Kahn at al (2021) looked at Adverse Childhood Experiences in 317 individuals who were identified as sexually violent predators and were in a secure treatment facility. In addition to looking at ACE scores, this study sought to address whether there were any associations between ACE scores and risk of sexual recidivism and mental health diagnoses.

Reference

The post Adverse Childhood Experiences in Sexually Violent Persons first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

A meta-analysis of studies focusing on the effect of treatment on reoffending.

Summary

Many attorneys recommend that their clients start treatment prior to sentencing both to get the help they need as well as to help with sentence mitigation.  After sentencing, all clients convicted of a sexual crime will likely have to successfully complete sexual offense specific treatment to complete probation.  While this is all common practice, the data on the effectiveness of treatment is not as robust as one might think.

Reference

The post What is the Effect of Sex Offender Treatment on Recidivism? first appeared on Mitigation Aide.

A look at two studies of sexual recidivism in a population of over 2,000 sexual offenders.

Summary

Most of the research assessing the effect of treatment for those committing a sexual crime provides support for the efficacy of treatment in reducing recidivism. Two metanalysis conducted in 2005 and 2009 showed up to a 43% reduction in recidivism risk for those who completed treatment. It is also well known that aging in and of itself reduces engagement in violent and sexual crimes.

Reference

The post What is the Effect of Treatment on High Risk Offenders? first appeared on Mitigation Aide.