Special Considerations in the Evaluation of Alleged Sex Offenders

There are various indications that sexual offenders demand intensive and urgent study. In the lay press, such recent reports as the allegations of sexual abuse at the Manhattan Beach preschool in California have alerted North American citizens to the very serious problem that exists. A national poll by the Los Angeles Times (1985) showed that between 10.9 and 17.6 million American men have sexually abused a child. It also showed that 27% of females and 16% of males were victims of a sexual assault.1 In Canada, the federal ministries of Justice and National Health and Welfare and the Attorney General of Canada established, in 1980, a committee on Sexual Offences Against Children and Youths. Commonly known as the Badgley Committee, it reported, in 1984, that one in two females and one in three males were victims of unwanted sexual acts on the basis of a Gallup survey. These acts included the whole spectrum of sexual activity from minor fondling to a sexually aggressive act such as rape.2 According to the study, 4 out of 100 young females are raped and 2 out of 100 are subjected to unwanted anal penetration.