Recidivism of Sex Offendes Released from Prison in 1994

U.S. Department of JusticeOffice of Justice ProgramsBureau of Justice StatisticsRecidivism of SexOffenders Releasedfrom Prison in 1994By Patrick A. Langan, Ph.D.Erica L. Schmittand Matthew R. DuroseStatisticians, Bureau of Justice StatisticsNovember 2003, NCJ 198281

ContentsIntroduction and highlights 1Definitions 3Imprisonment offenseSex offenderRapistSexual assaulterChild molesterStatutory rapistFirst releasePrior arrestRearrestReconvictionReturned to prison— with a new sentence— with or without a new sentenceDemographic characteristics 7All sex offenders (table 1)Rapists and sexual assaulters (table 1)Child molesters and statutory rapists(table 2)Sentence length and time served 9All sex offenders (table 3)Rapists and sexual assaulters (table 3)Child molesters and statutory rapists(table 4)Prior criminal record 11All sex offenders (table 5)Sex offenders compared tonon-sex offendersRapists and sexual assaulters (table 5)Child molesters and statutory rapists(table 6)Four measures of recidivism 13Four measuresAll sex offenders (table 7)Sex offenders compared tonon-sex offendersRapists and sexual assaulters(table 7)Child molesters and statutoryrapists (table 8)Time to recidivismAll sex offenders (table 9)Rapists and sexual assaulters(table 9)Child molesters and statutoryrapists (table 10)Rearrest for any type of crime 18Demographic characteristicsAll sex offenders (table 11)Rapists and sexual assaulters(table 11)Child molesters and statutoryrapists (table 12)Time served before 1994 releaseAll sex offenders (table 13)Rapists and sexual assaulters(table 13)Child molesters and statutoryrapists (table 14)Prior arrest for any type of crimeAll sex offenders (table 15)Rapists and sexual assaulters(table 15)Child molesters and statutoryrapists (table 16)Number of prior arrests for any typeof crimeAll sex offenders (table 17)Rapists and sexual assaulters(table 17)Child molesters and statutoryrapists (table 18)State where rearrested for any type ofcrimeAll sex offenders (table 19)Sex offenders compared tonon-sex offendersRapists and sexual assaulters(table 19)Child molesters and statutoryrapists (table 20)Rearrest and reconvictionfor a new sex crime 24Rearrest and reconvictionAll sex offenders (table 21)Sex offenders compared tonon-sex offendersRapists and sexual assaulters(table 21)Child molesters and statutoryrapists (table 22)Time to rearrestAll sex offenders (table 23)Rapists and sexual assaulters(table 23)Child molesters and statutoryrapists (table 24)Demographic characteristicsAll sex offenders (table 25)Time served before 1994 releaseAll sex offenders (table 26)Prior arrest for any type of crimeAll sex offenders (table 27)Rapists and sexual assaulters(table 27)Child molesters and statutoryrapists (table 28)Number of prior arrests for any typeof crimeAll sex offenders (table 29)Prior arrest for a sex crimeAll sex offenders (table 30)Rapists and sexual assaulters(table 30)Child molesters and statutoryrapists (table 31)State where rearrested for a sex crimeAll sex offenders (table 32)Sex offenders compared tonon-sex offendersRapists and sexual assaulters(table 32)Child molesters and statutoryrapists (table 33)Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994iii

essere un PD che aspetta Dellai. Ultimissima cosa: forse già oggi si doveva fare la roadmap per la scadenza congressuale, vorrei che ci fosse un dibattito precongressuale moltodenso, per avere delle reali opzioni politiche, in modo che il congresso sia la conclusione,non l’apertura del dibattito. Ultimo auspicio sui circoli; e un’altra cosa, bisogna richiamaretutti ad alcuni principi etici, evitando sovrapposizione dei ruolo e delle cariche.Ducoli. Rischio di essere monotono, abbiamo un antidoto a tante cose che non vanno, esono gli iscritti, i circoli. Compito principale del segretario è andare sul territorio, fareun censimento, con quelli che ci sono partiamo.Civico. Sento che questa fase può aprirsi soltanto con le scuse pubbliche ad Alessio cheho già fatto privatamente. Il giormalista ha riportato esattamente quanto ho detto, ma èstata una sintesi che ha portato un danno personale ad Alessio, e di questo voglio scusarmiin assemblea, altrimenti non mi libero di un pesoMerighi. Chiedo un nanosecondo, ringrazio Alessio perché penso che come pochi hadato l’esempio del fare politica come tutti dovrebbero farla, è stato un signore da tutti ipunti di vista, per lo stile politico e umano che ha tenuto.Alle 22.30 passa quindi a votare; Zorzi e Kessler registrano il voto. I votanti sono in 51.I voti per Maurizio Agostini sono 46, quelli per Alessio Manica 3, le schede bianche 2.4. Elezione della direzione politicaKessler. Ci sono otto persone che hanno dato disponibilità e concentrano una certaquantità di consenso. Secondo lo statuto, che è fatto per tempi normali, le candidaturedevono essere comunicate preventivamente. Siamo in un caso transitorio: propongo diinterpretare queste indicazioni considerandole come candidature. Chiese se ce ne sonodelle altre. Non essendoci altre candidature, chiede se possiamo passare all’elezione inblocco per alzata di mano.Chiodi chiede di rispettare le regole anche in questo caso.Pacher sostiene la soluzione proposta da Kessler, in questa situazione più lineare.Kessler chiede all’assemblea chi preferisce votare per alzata di mano l’intera propostadegli otto candidati. La maggioranza (29) vuole votare per alzata di mano. Nicolettipuntualizza: la proposta è nata da una circostanza particolare; tra gli 8 ci sono 3 consiglieri;siamo consapevoli dell’opportunità di distinguere i rappresentanti nelle istituzionidai ruoli di partito, ma nello statuto questo non è previsto chiaramente, e ci sembravaassurdo che Pacher non fosse membro della direzione; la proposta è in una logica di inclusione.Gli otto membri della direzione proposti dai facilitatori (Pacher, Kessler, Zeni,Manica, Robol, Pedrini, Zecchini e Merighi ) sono eletti con 47 voti favorevoli, 2 astenutie nessun contrario.5. Elezione del presidente dell’assembleaLa proposta dei facilitatori è Chiara Simoncelli. Curzel ricorda che anche il suo mandatoè in scadenza e sarà a disposizione del prossimo presidente. Si vota per alzata di mano:38 voti favorevoli alla proposta, 4 astenuti.Chiara Simoncelli ringrazia tutti per la fiducia: il ruolo di presidente è apparentementefacile ma abbastanza delicaable 42)Victims of sex crimes 36Characteristics of victims of rape orsexual assault (unnumberedtable)Methodology 37Number of sex offenders releasedfrom State prisons in 1994 andnumber selected for this report,by State (Appendix table)iv Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Introduction and highlightsIntroductionIn 1994, prisons in 15 States released9,691 male sex offenders. The 9,691men are two-thirds of all the male sexoffenders released from State prisonsin the United States in 1994. Thisreport summarizes findings from asurvey that tracked the 9,691 for 3 fullyears after their release. The reportdocuments their “recidivism,” asmeasured by rates of rearrest, reconviction,and reimprisonment during the3-year followup period.This report gives recidivism rates forthe 9,691 combined total. It alsoseparates the 9,691 into four overlappingcategories and gives recidivismrates for each category:w 3,115 released rapistsw 6,576 released sexual assaultersw 4,295 released child molestersw 443 released statutory rapists.The 9,691 sex offenders were releasedfrom State prisons in these 15 States:Arizona, Maryland, North Carolina,California, Michigan, Ohio, Delaware,Minnesota, Oregon, Florida, NewJersey, Texas, Illinois, New York,and Virginia.HighlightsThe 15 States in the study released272,111 prisoners altogether in 1994.Among the 272,111 were 9,691 menwhose crime was a sex offense (3.6%of releases).On average the 9,691 sex offendersserved 3½ years of their 8-yearsentence (45% of the prison sentence)before being released in 1994.Rearrest for a new sex crimeCompared to non-sex offendersreleased from State prisons, releasedsex offenders were 4 times more likelyto be rearrested for a sex crime.Within the first 3 years following theirrelease from prison in 1994, 5.3% (517of the 9,691) of released sex offenderswere rearrested for a sex crime. Therate for the 262,420 released non-sexoffenders was lower, 1.3% (3,328 of262,420).The first 12 months following theirrelease from a State prison was theperiod when 40% of sex crimes wereallegedly committed by the releasedsex offenders.Recidivism studies typically find that,the older the prisoner when released,the lower the rate of recidivism.Results reported here on released sexoffenders did not follow the familiarpattern. While the lowest rate ofrearrest for a sex crime (3.3%) didbelong to the oldest sex offenders(those age 45 or older), other comparisonsbetween older and youngerprisoners did not consistently showolder prisoners’ having the lowerrearrest rate.The study compared recidivism ratesamong prisoners who served differentlengths of time before being releasedfrom prison in 1994. No clear associationwas found between how long theywere in prison and their recidivism rate.Before being released from prison in1994, most of the sex offenders hadbeen arrested several times for differenttypes of crimes. The more priorarrests they had, the greater their likelihoodof being rearrested for anothersex crime after leaving prison. Releasedsex offenders with 1 prior arrest(the arrest for the sex crime for whichthey were imprisoned) had the lowestrearrest rate for a sex crime, about 3%;those with 2 or 3 prior arrests for sometype of crime, 4%; 4 to 6 prior arrests,6%; 7 to 10 prior arrests, 7%; and 11to 15 prior arrests, 8%.Rearrest for a sex crime against a childThe 9,691 released sex offendersincluded 4,295 men who were in prisonfor child molesting.Of the children these 4,295 men wereimprisoned for molesting, 60% wereage 13 or younger.Half of the 4,295 child molesters were20 or more years older than the childthey were imprisoned for molesting.On average, the 4,295 child molesterswere released after serving about 3years of their 7-year sentence (43% ofthe prison sentence).Compared to the 9,691 sex offendersand to the 262,420 non-sex offenders,released child molesters were morelikely to be rearrested for child molesting.Within the first 3 years followingrelease from prison in 1994, 3.3% (141of 4,295) of released child molesterswere rearrested for another sex crimeagainst a child. The rate for all 9,691sex offenders (a category that includesthe 4,295 child molesters) was 2.2%(209 of 9,691). The rate for all 262,420non-sex offenders was less than half of1% (1,042 of the 262,420).Of the approximately 141 childrenallegedly molested by the child molestersafter their release from prison in1994, 79% were age 13 or younger.Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 1

Released child molesters with morethan 1 prior arrest for child molestingwere more likely to be rearrested forchild molesting (7.3%) than releasedchild molesters with no more than 1such prior arrest (2.4%).Rearrest for any type of crimeCompared to non-sex offendersreleased from State prison, sex offendershad a lower overall rearrest rate.When rearrests for any type of crime(not just sex crimes) were counted, thestudy found that 43% (4,163 of 9,691)of the 9,691 released sex offenderswere rearrested. The overall rearrestrate for the 262,420 released non-sexoffenders was higher, 68% (179,391 of262,420).Returned to prison for any reasonWithin 3 years following their release,38.6% (3,741) of the 9,691 releasedsex offenders were returned to prison.They were returned either becausethey received another prison sentencefor a new crime, or because of atechnical violation of their parole, suchas failing a drug test, missing anappointment with their parole officer, orbeing arrested for another crime.The rearrest offense was a felony forabout 75% of the 4,163 rearrested sexoffenders. By comparison, 84% of the179,391 rearrested non-sex offenderswere charged by police with a felony.Reconviction for a new sex crimeOf the 9,691 released sex offenders,3.5% (339 of the 9,691) were reconvictedfor a sex crime within the 3-yearfollowup period.Reconviction for any type of crimeOf the 9,691 released sex offenders,24% (2,326 of the 9,691) were reconvictedfor a new offense. The reconvictionoffense included all types ofcrimes.2 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

DefinitionsImprisonment offense The 9,691prisoners were men released fromState prisons in 1994 after servingsome portion of the sentence theyreceived for committing a sex crime.The sex crime they committed isreferred to throughout the report astheir “imprisonment offense.” Theirimprisonment offense should not beconfused with any new offense theymay have committed after release.Sex offender The 9,691 released menwere all violent sex offenders. They arecalled “violent” because the crimesthey were imprisoned for are widelydefined in State statutes as “violent”sex offenses. “Violent” means theoffender used or threatened force inthe commission of the crime or, whilenot actually using force, the offenderdid not have the victim’s “factual” or“legal” consent. Factual consent meansthat, for physical reasons, the victim didnot give consent, such as when theoffender had intercourse with asedated hospital patient or with awoman who had fallen unconsciousfrom excessive drug taking. “Legal”consent means that the victim willinglyparticipated but, in the eyes of the law,the victim was not old enough or notsufficiently mentally capable (perhapsdue to mental illness or mental retardation)to give his or her “legal” consent.State statutes give many differentnames to violent sex offenses: “forciblerape,” “statutory rape,” “object rape,”“sexual assault,” “sexual abuse,” “forciblesodomy,” “sexual misconduct,”“criminal sexual conduct,” “lasciviousconduct,” “carnal abuse,” “sexualcontact,” “unlawful sexual intercourse,”“sexual battery,” “unlawful sexual activity,”“lewd act with minor,” “indecentliberties with a child,” “carnal knowledgeof a child,” “incest with a minor,”and “child molesting.”“Violent” sex offenses are distinguishedfrom “nonviolent” sex offenses andfrom “commercialized sex offenses.”Nonviolent sex offenses include moralsand decency offenses (for example,indecent exposure and peeping tom),bestiality and other unnatural acts,adultery, incest between adults, andbigamy. Commercialized sexualoffenses include prostitution, pimping,and pornography. As used throughoutthis report, the terms “sex crimes” and“sex offenders” refer exclusively toviolent sex offenses.Each of the 9,691 sex offenders in thisreport is classified as either a rapist ora sexual assaulter. Classification wasbased on information about the imprisonmentoffense contained in prisonrecords supplied for each sex offenderreleased from prison in 1994. Alsobased on imprisonment offense information,an inmate could be categorizedas a child molester and/or a statutoryrapist. Classification to either of thesetwo categories is in addition to, notseparate from, classification as a rapistor sexual assaulter. For example, ofthe 3,115 sex offenders classified asrapists, 338 were child molesters. Or,to put it another way, the imprisonmentoffense for 338 of the 4,295 childmolesters identified in this report wasrape. Similarly, 3,957 of the 4,295 childmolesters were also sexual assaulters.SexualTotal Rapists assaultersChildmolesters 4,295 338 3,957Statutoryrapists443 21 422The report gives statistics for all sexoffenders and each of the four types —rapists, sexual assaulters, child molesters,and statutory rapists. (SeeMethodology on page 37 for details onhow sex offenders were separated intocategories.)Rapist “Violent sex crimes” areseparated into two categories: “rape”(short for “forcible rape”) and “othersexual assault.” As used throughoutthis report the term “rapist” refers to areleased sex offender whose imprisonmentoffense was defined by State lawas forcible intercourse (vaginal, anal, ororal) with a female or male. Rapeincludes “forcible sodomy” and“penetration with a foreign object.”Rape excludes statutory rape or anyother nonforcible sexual act with aminor or with someone unable to givelegal or factual consent. As usedthroughout this report, “rape” alwaysmeans “forcible rape.” “Statutory rape”is not a type of forcible rape.A total of 3,115 sex offenders areidentified in the report as releasedrapists — about a third (32%) of the9,691 released sex offenders.However, enough information to clearlydistinguish rapists from other sexualassaulters was not always available inthe prison records used to categorizesex offenders into different types.Consequently, the number of rapistsamong the 9,691 was almost certainlygreater than 3,115; how much greateris unknown.An obstacle to identifying rapists frompenal code information is that the label“rape” is not used in about half the 50States. However, released sex offenderswhose imprisonment offense wasrape could still be identified. To illustrate,in one State, the term criminalsexual conduct refers to all types of sexcrimes. The statutory language wasconsulted to determine if an offender’simprisonment offense involved “intercourse”that was “forcible,” in accordancewith the definition of rape usedin this report. If the offense was notfound to involve intercourse (orpenetration), then the inmate was notclassified as a rapist. The same wastrue of force; if the statutory languagedid not include a reference to force (orcoercion), the offense was not categorizedas rape.Sexual assaulter By definition in thereport, all sex offenders are either“rapists” or “sexual assaulters.” Sexoffenders whose imprisonment offensecould not be positively identified as“rape” were placed in the “sexualassault” category. To the extent thatrapists were reliably distinguished fromsexual assaulters, “sexual assaulters”identified in this report were releasedsex offenders whose imprisonmentRecidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 3

offense was “sexual assault,” definedas one of the following:1. forcible sexual acts, not amountingto intercourse, with a victim of any age,2. nonforcible sexual acts with a minor(such as statutory rape or incest with aminor or fondling), or3. nonforcible sexual acts withsomeone unable to give legal or factualconsent because of mental or physicalreasons (for example, a mentally ill orretarded person or a sedated hospitalpatient).A total of 6,576 sex offenders areidentified in this report as releasedsexual assaulters. The 6,576 sexualassaulters made up about two-thirds(68%) of the 9,691 released sexoffenders.Child molester Many of the 9,691 sexoffenders were released prisonerswhose imprisonment offense was therape or sexual assault of a child.Throughout the report, released sexoffenders whose forcible or nonforciblesex crime was against a child arereferred to as “child molesters.” Thesex crime did not have to involve intercourseto fit the definition of childmolestation.Of the 9,691 sex offenders, 4,295 wereidentified as child molesters based onprison records made available for thestudy. However, because completeinformation was not always supplied,not every child molester could beidentified. Of the 9,691 released sexoffenders, undoubtedly more than4,295 were child molesters, but 4,295represent all who could be identifiedfrom the information available. Onereason child molesters were not easilyidentified from penal code informationis that most States do not use the term“child molester” in their penal code.Nevertheless, all States have lawsagainst sexual activity with children,which does facilitate identification. As aresult of the uncertainty regarding thenumber of child molesters among the9,691 sex offenders, the study cannotsay what percentage of the victims ofthe 9,691 sex offenders’ offenses werechildren, and what percentage wereadults.In short, the 4,295 released childmolesters in this report were menwho —a. had forcible intercoursewith a child orb. committed “statutory rape”(meaning nonforcible intercoursewith a child) orc. with or without force, engaged inany other type of sexual contactwith a child.Of the 4,295, at least 338 (about 8%)had forcible intercourse, and at least443 (10%) committed statutory rape.Statutory rapist State laws definevarious circumstances in which intercoursebetween consenting partners isillegal: for example, when one of thepartners is married or when the two areblood relatives or when one is a “child.”Laws that criminalize consensual intercoursebased solely on the maritalstatus of the partners are called“adultery laws.” Those that criminalizeit based solely on blood relationshipare “incest laws.” Laws that prohibitconsensual sexual intercourse basedsolely on the ages of the partners arecalled “statutory rape laws.”Statutory rape pertains exclusively toconsensual intercourse, as opposedto other types of sexual contact with achild, such as forcible intercourse,forcible fondling, or consensualfondling. Statutory rape is one specificform of what this study calls “childmolestation.” The child victim of statutoryrape can be male or female, andthe offender can be male or female.The offender can be almost anyrelative (“statutory rape” includes incestwith a child), an unrelated person wellknown to the child (such as a schoolteacher, neighbor, or minister),someone the child hardly knows, or astranger.Statutory rape laws define a “child” as aperson who is below the “age ofconsent,” meaning below the minimumage at which a person can legallyconsent to having intercourse. Age ofconsent in the 50 States ranges from14 to 18. Most States set age ofconsent at 16. In those States, consensualintercourse with someone age 16or older is usually not a criminaloffense, but intercourse with someonebelow 16 generally is. However, allStates make exceptions to their agerules. Consequently, consensual intercoursewith children below the age ofconsent is not always a crime, andconsensual intercourse with childrenwho are old enough to give consent isnot always legally permissible.Exceptions for children below age ofconsent Certain statutory exceptionsexist to legal prohibitions againstnonforcible intercourse with childrenwho are below the age of consent.One way exceptions are made instatutes is by specifying the minimumage the offender must be (for example,at least age 18, at least age 20) forintercourse to be unlawful. Personsbelow this minimum age generallycannot be prosecuted. Anothercommon way exceptions are made(virtually every State has these provisionsin its laws) is by specifying howmuch older than the victim the perpetratormust be for criminal prosecutionto occur. For example, by law in oneState where age of consent is 16, noprosecution can occur unless the agedifference is at least 3 years. In thatState it is legal for a 17-year-old tohave consensual intercourse with a15-year-old, even though 15 is belowthe age of consent; but the same actwith a 15-year-old is illegal when theother is 18. That is because the17-year-old is not 3 years older thanthe 15-year-old, whereas the 18-yearoldis. The aim of such exceptions is todistinguish teen behavior from exploitativerelationships between adults andchildren. Another exception is consensualintercourse between husband andwife; no prosecution can occur if onespouse is below the age of consent.4 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Exceptions for children old enough togive consent Certain adults can beprosecuted for having consensualintercourse with a child who hasreached the age of consent. Forexample, in one State it is a thirddegree felony for a psychotherapist tohave intercourse with a 17-year-oldclient even though 17 is over theminimum age of consent in that State.In another State, where an adult generallycannot be prosecuted for havingconsensual intercourse with a 16-yearold,an exception is made when theadult is the child’s school teacher. Inthat case the teacher can be prosecutedfor a “class A” misdemeanor.Exceptions are made for other professionsas well (clergy, for example).In this report, 443 of the 9,691 releasedsex offenders are identified as statutoryrapists based on information suppliedby the prisons that released them.There were more than 443 statutoryrapists among the 9,691 released malesex offenders, but the 443 are all thatcould be positively identified with thelimited information available. Onereason statutory rapists are not easilyidentified from penal code informationavailable on the released sex offendersis that most States do not use the term“statutory rape” in their laws.First release Though all 9,691 sexoffenders in the study were released in1994, for a fourth of the offenders 1994was not the first year of release sincereceiving their prison sentence. Thisgroup had previously served a portionof the sentence and were released,then violated parole and were returnedto prison to continue serving time stillleft on that sentence. For the remaining75% of sex offenders released, the1994 release was their “first release,”meaning their first discharge fromprison since being convicted andsentenced to prison.“First release” should not be confusedwith first ever release from a prison.“First release” pertains solely to thesentence for the imprisonment offense(as defined above). It does not pertainto any earlier prison sentences offendersmay have served for some otheroffense.Attention is drawn to first releasesbecause certain statistics in the report— for example, “average time served,”“percent of sentence served,” “childmolester’s age when he committed thesex crime for which he wasimprisoned” — could only be computedfor those prisoners classified as firstreleases. For such statistics, date firstadmitted to prison for their imprisonmentoffense was needed. Sinceprison records made available for thestudy only provided this admission dateon first releases, first releases necessarilyformed the basis for thestatistics.Prior arrest Statistics on prior arrestswere calculated using arrest datesfrom the official criminal records of the9,691 released sex offenders. Onlydates of arrest were counted, not thenumber of arrest charges associatedwith that arrest date. To illustrate, oneman was arrested on March 5, 1970,and that one arrest resulted in 3separate arrest charges being filedagainst him. In this study, that March 5arrest is considered one prior arrest.Prior arrests were measured two differentways in this report. The first waydid not include the imprisonmentoffense for which the sex offender wasin prison in 1994. Prior arrest statisticsthat did not include the imprisonmentoffense are found in sections of thereport that describe the criminalrecords of the 9,691 sex offenders atthe time of release from prison. In thiscase, any arrest that had occurred on adate prior to the sex offender’s arrestfor his imprisonment offense wasconsidered a prior arrest. For example,one released sex offender was foundto have four different dates of arrestprior to the date of arrest for his imprisonmentoffense. Those four arrestsresulted in 17 different charges beingbrought against him. When describingthis released prisoner’s criminal record,he is considered to have four priorarrests.The second way of measuring priorarrests did include the imprisonmentoffense of the released sex offender.Prior arrest statistics that did includethe imprisonment offense are found insections of the report that describe therecidivism rates of the 9,691 sexoffenders following their release fromprison. In this case, any arrest that hadoccurred on a date prior to the sexoffender’s release from prison wasconsidered a prior arrest. By definition,all 9,691 sex offenders had at least onearrest prior to their release, which wasthe sex crime arrest responsible fortheir being in prison in 1994. Thismeans that the sex offender who wasarrested on four different dates prior tothe arrest for his imprisonment offenseunder the first definition of prior arrestwas, under this second definition,classified as having five prior arrests,once his imprisonment offense isincluded.Thirteen tables in the report providestatistics on prior arrests (and, in 2 ofthe 13, prior convictions and priorimprisonments). In tables 15, 16, 17,18, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 36, and 37,“prior arrests” includes the sex crimearrest for the imprisonment offense;these tables have the heading “prior to1994 release.” In tables 5 and 6, “priorarrests” excludes that arrest; thesetables have the heading “prior to thesex crime for which imprisoned.”In all tables, the same counting rulewas used: arrest dates, not arrestcharges, were counted to obtain thenumber of prior arrests.Rearrest Unless stated otherwise, thisrecidivism measure is defined as thenumber or percentage of releasedprisoners who, within the first threeyears following their 1994 release,were arrested either in the same Statethat released them (in this report thosearrests are called “in-State” arrests) orin a different State (those arrests areRecidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 5

eferred to as “out-of-State” arrests).Data on arrests came from State RAPsheets and FBI RAP sheets. RAPsheets (Records of Arrest and Prosecution)are law enforcement recordsintended to document a person’s entireadult criminal history, including everyarrest, prosecution and adjudication fora felony or serious misdemeanoroffense. Arrests, prosecutions andadjudications for minor traffic offenses,public drunkenness, and other pettycrimes are not as fully recorded asthose for serious crimes. The “percentrearrested” is calculated by dividing thenumber rearrested by the numberreleased from prison in 1994.All measures of recidivism based oncriminal records are subject to twotypes of errors. Type 1 errors arisewhen the arrest or the conviction in thereleased prisoner’s record is for acrime that person did not commit.Type 2 errors arise when the releasedprisoner commits a crime but he is notarrested for it, or, even if he is, thearrest does not result in his conviction.Some amount of type 1 and type 2error is inevitable, however recidivismis measured. But that does not meanthat all recidivism measures are equallysuitable, no matter the purpose theyare intended to serve. The mainpurpose of this recidivism study was todocument the percentage of sexoffenders who continued their involvementin various types of crime aftertheir release from prison in 1994. Themore suitable measure for that is theone with the fewest type 2 errors: theone, in other words, less prone tosaying someone is not committingcrimes when he actually is. Betweenrearrest and reconviction as the recidivismmeasure, the one less likely tomake that type of error is rearrest.One reason is that the rigorousstandard used to convict someone —“proof beyond a reasonable doubt” —makes it certain that guilty persons willsometimes go free. Another reason isrecord keeping: the justice systemdoes better at recording arrests thanconvictions in RAP sheets. For suchreasons, this study uses rearrest moreoften than reconviction as the measureof recidivism.Rearrest forms a conservative measureof reoffending because manycrimes do not result in arrest. Not alltypes of crime are alike in this regard.Crimes committed in nonpublic places(such as in the victim’s home) by onefamily member against another (suchas by the husband against his wife, orby the father against his own child) area type that is less likely than manyother types to be reported to policeand, consequently, less likely to resultin arrest. Sex crimes, particularly thoseagainst children, are a specificexample of this type. While some sexoffenders in this study probably committeda new sex crime after theirrelease and were not arrested or convicted,the study cannot say how many.As mentioned above, one reason whysex offenders are not arrested is thatno one calls the police. Results fromthe National Crime Victimization Surveyindicate that the offenses ofrape/sexual assault are the least likelycrimes to be reported to the police.(See Reporting Crime to the Police,1993-2000, March 2003, .)Reconviction Except where statedotherwise, this recidivism measurepertains to State and Federal convictionsin any State (not just convictionsin the State that released them) in thethree years following release. Informationon convictions came from Stateand FBI RAP sheets. RAP sheets areintended to document every convictionfor a felony or serious misdemeanor,but not every conviction for a minoroffense. “Percent reconvicted” is calculatedby dividing the number reconvictedby the number released fromprison in 1994. (It is not calculated bydividing the number reconvicted by thenumber rearrested.)Return to prison Two recidivismmeasures are returned to prison —with a new sentencewith or without a new sentence.Recidivism defined as Returned toprison with a new sentence pertainsexclusively to sex offenders who, within3 years following release, were reconvictedfor any new crime in any Statefollowing their release and received anew prison sentence for the new crime.Recidivism defined as Returned toprison with or without a new sentenceincludes resentenced offenders plusany who were returned to prison within3 years because they had violated atechnical condition of their release.Technical violations include things suchas failing a drug test, missing anappointment with their parole officer, orbeing arrested for a new crime. Offendersreturning to prison for such violationsare sometimes referred to as“technical violators.”Prisons should not be confused withjails. A prison is a State or Federalcorrectional facility reserved forconvicted persons with relatively longsentences (generally over a year).A jail is a local correctional facility forconvicted persons with short sentencesor for persons awaiting trial. Returns toprison refer to any prison, not necessarilythe same prison that released theoffender in 1994.The “percent returned to prison with anew sentence” is calculated by dividingthe number returned to prison with anew sentence by the number releasedfrom prison in 1994. The “percentreturned to prison with or without a newsentence ” is calculated by dividing thenumber returned to prison with orwithout a new sentence by the numberreleased from prison in 1994.Data on returns with a new sentenceare based on State and FBI RAPsheets. Data on returns with or withouta new sentence are based on Stateand FBI RAP sheets plus prisonrecords.6 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Demographic characteristicsAll sex offendersOf the 9,691 released sex offenders,approximately —• 6,503 (67.1% of the 9,691) werewhite males (table 1)• 3,053 (31.5%) were black males• 136 (1.4%) were males of other races(Asian, Pacific Islander, AmericanIndian, and Alaska Native).The vast majority of sex offenderswere non-Hispanic males (80.1%).Half were over the age of 35 whenreleased.Rapists and sexual assaultersAs defined in this report, all sex offendersare either “rapists” or “sexualassaulters.” Of the 9,691 released sexoffenders, 3,115 were rapists and theremaining 6,576 were sexualassaulters.Of the 3,115 rapists, 1,735 (55.7% of3,115) were white males and 1,327(42.6%) were black males. Of the6,576 sexual assaulters, 4,768 (72.5%of 6,576) were white males and 1,723(26.2%) were black males.Table 1. Demographic characteristics of sex offenders releasedfrom prison in 1994, by type of sex offenderPrisonercharacteristicTotalRaceWhiteBlackOtherHispanic originHispanicNon-HispanicAge at release18-24*25-2930-3435-3940-4445 or olderAge at releaseAverageMedianTotal releasedAll67.1%31.51.419.9%80.112.2%16.420.019.113.319.036.8 yrs35.39,691Percent of released prisonersSexualRapists assaulters100%100%55.7%42.61.722.6%77.410.6%17.322.420.913.315.536.1 yrs34.93,115100%72.5%26.21.318.9%81.113.0%16.018.818.313.320.637.1 yrs35.56,576Note: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States. Data identifyingrace were reported for 98.5% of 9,691 released sex offenders; Hispanicorigin for 82.5%; age for virtually 100%.*Age at release 18-24 includes the few who were under age 18when released from prison in 1994.Rapists and sexual assaulters wereclose in age at time of release: over70% were age 30 or older. Median ageat time of release was about 35 yearsfor both rapists and sexual assaulters.Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 7

Child molesters and statutory rapistsSome of the 9,691 sex offenders weremen whose imprisonment offense wasa sex offense against a child. Preciselyhow many is unknown. In this report,the 4,295 who could be identified arecalled “child molesters” (table 2). The4,295 identified child molestersincluded some (443 out of the 4,295)whose specific sex offense against achild was non-forcible intercourse.These 443 are called “statutoryrapists.” There were more than 443among the 4,295, but 443 were all thatcould be identified from the limitedinformation obtained for the study.Both the 4,295 child molesters and the443 statutory rapists were predominantlynon-Hispanic white males.Nearly three-fourths of the child molesters(73.2%) were age 30 or older. Justover half the statutory rapists (54%)were 30 or older at the time they werereleased from prison.Among the released child molestersthere were 3,333 white men (77.6% of4,295) and 889 black men (20.7%).The 443 statutory rapists included 324white men (73.2% of 443) and 110black men (24.8%).Table 2. Demographic characteristics of child molesters and statutory rapistsreleased from prison in 1994PrisonercharacteristicTotalRaceWhiteBlackOtherHispanic originHispanicNon-HispanicAge at release18-24*25-2930-3435-3940-4445 or olderAge at releaseAverageMedianTotal releasedPercent of releasedprisonersChild Statutorymolesters rapists100%77.6%20.71.723.5%76.511.4%15.417.718.614.322.637.8 yrs36.54,295100%73.2%24.82.015.9%84.124.8%21.214.714.910.214.233.6 yrs31.0443Note: The 4,295 child molesters were released in 15 States;the 443 statutory rapists in 11 States. Because of overlapping definitions,all statutory rapists also appear under the column “child molesters.”Data identifying race were reported for 99.5% of 4,295 released childmolesters; Hispanic origin for 87.8%; and age for 100%.*Age at release 18-24 includes the few who were under age 18when released from prison in 1994.8 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Sentence length and time servedAll sex offendersAll 9,691 sex offenders selected to bein this study had a prison sentencegreater than 1 year. The shortest termswere a day over 1 year; the longestwere life sentences. The fact that sexoffenders with a life sentence (18offenders in the study) were among the9,691 released in 1994 should not besurprising because only rarely do lifesentences in the United States literallymean imprisonment for the remainderof a person’s life. Most felons receivinga life sentence are eventually paroled(unpublished tabulation of data fromthe 1997 BJS Survey of Inmates inState Correctional Facilities).• on average a rapist spent more timein confinement before being released(5¼ years) than a sexual assaulter(just under 3 years)• median sentence length was longerfor rapists (half of the rapists had asentence of 9 years or more, while halfof the sexual assaulters had asentence of 5½ years or more)• 39.2% of the 3,115 rapists were inprison for over 5 years prior to release,while 12.5% of the 6,576 sexualassaulters served 61 months or more• rapists served 49% of their sentencebefore being released, compared to43% for sexual assaulters.Depending on the length of theirsentence and the amount of time theyhad served before being released,some of the released sex offenderswould have been on parole (or someother type of conditional release)throughout the full 3 years they weretracked in this study. For example,when released, 63.3% of rapists hadmore than 3 years left to serve on theirsentence. In their case, any newcrimes they committed during this3-year followup period were offensescommitted while still on parole. Bycomparison, just over half of releasedsexual assaulters had more than 3years left to serve.On average, a sex offender releasedfrom prison in 1994 had an 8-year termand served 3½ years of that sentence(45%) before being released (table 3).Half of the released sex offenders hada sentence length of 6 years or less.Half had served no more than a third oftheir sentence before being released.When released, the majority (54.5%)had more than 3 years of theirsentence remaining to be served.Rapists and sexual assaultersRape always involves forcible intercourse,whereas sexual assault (as theterm is used here) never does,although it can involve other types offorcible sexual assault. Because forcibleintercourse is considered to be amore serious offense than other formsof forcible sexual assault, penalties forrape are generally more severe thanthose for sexual assault.Consistent with the more seriousnature of rape —• on average a released rapist had alonger sentence (just over 11 years)than a sexual assaulter (just under 7years)Table 3. Sentence length and time served for sex offenders releasedfrom prison in 1994, by type of sex offenderCharacteristicSentence length (in months)MeanMedianTime served (in months)MeanMedianPercent of sentence servedUpon release in 1994, percentwho had served —6 months or less7-1213-1819-2425-3031-3637-6061 months or moreUpon release in 1994, percent withtime still remaining to be served6 months or less7-1213-1819-2425-3031-3637-6061 months or moreTotal first releasesAll97.3 mo72.042.3 mo32.344.9%4.5%9.516.59.78.19.921.620.22.8%5.08.412.88.18.525.129.46,470Rapists134.0 mo108.062.6 mo48.249.3%3.1%3.010.55.16.18.024.939.22.4%5.76.29.36.26.922.840.51,859Sexualassaulters82.5 mo66.034.1 mo26.543.1%5.0%12.119.011.58.910.720.212.52.9%4.79.214.28.89.126.024.95,860Note: The 6,470 sex offenders were released in 13 States. Figures are based on first releasesonly. First releases include only those offenders leaving prison for the first time since beginningtheir sentence. First releases exclude those who left prison in 1994 but who had previously beenreleased under the same sentence and had returned to prison for violating the conditions ofrelease.Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 9

Child molesters and sexual assaultersOn average, child molesters werereleased after serving nearly 3 years(33.7 months) of their nearly 7-yearsentence (81.1 months) (table 4).Statutory rapists were released afterserving a little over 2 years of theirapproximately 4-year sentence. Uponrelease, almost half of the child molestersstill had at least 3 years of theirsentence remaining to be served,compared to 15% of statutory rapists.Table 4. Sentence length and time served for child molestersand statutory rapists released from prison in 1994CharacteristicSentence length (in months)MeanMedianTime served (in months)MeanMedianPercent of sentence servedUpon release in 1994, percentwho had served —6 months or less7-1213-1819-2425-3031-3637-6061 months or moreChildmolesters81.1 mo66.033.7 mo25.843.3%5.7%12.620.810.17.211.219.712.8Statutoryrapists49.5 mo36.027.6 mo19.452.8%9.6%20.418.214.38.67.013.48.6Upon release in 1994, percent withtime still remaining to be served6 months or less7-1213-1819-2425-3031-3637-6061 months or more2.5%5.410.216.17.98.924.924.110.8%17.426.913.18.58.59.25.6Total first releases3,104Note: The 3,104 child molesters were released in 13 States; the 317 statutory rapists in 10States. Because of overlapping definitions, all statutory rapists also appear under the column"child molesters." Figures are based on first releases only. First releases include only thoseoffenders leaving prison for the first time since beginning their sentence. First releases excludethose who left prison in 1994 but who had previously been released under the same sentenceand had returned to prison for violating the conditions of release.31710 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Prior criminal recordAll sex offendersArrests and convictions for minor trafficoffenses, public drunkenness, andother petty crimes are often notentered into official criminal records.Since official records formed the basisfor this study’s statistics on arrests andconvictions, these statistics understatelevels of contact with the justicesystem. Statistics shown throughoutthis report on arrests and convictionspertain mostly to arrests and convictionsfor felonies and seriousmisdemeanors.Statistics on prior arrests in this sectionof the report do not include the imprisonmentoffense for which the sexoffender was in prison in 1994.At the time the 9,691 male sex offenderswere arrested for the sex crime thatresulted in their imprisonment —w 78.5% (7,607 of the 9,691 men) hadbeen arrested at least one earlier time(table 5)w half had 3 or more prior arrestsfor some type of crimew 58.4% (5,660 men) had at least oneprior criminal convictionw 13.9% (1,347 men) had a priorconviction for a violent sex offensew 4.6% (446 men) had been convictedfor a sex crime against a childw nearly a quarter had served time in aState or Federal prison at least oncebefore for some type of crime.All 9,691 were in prison in 1994because they had been arrested andconvicted for a sex offense. For 71.5%of the 9,691 men (6,929), that arrestwas their first ever for a violent sexcrime. In other words, these 6,929 menhad no previous arrest for a sexoffense. For the remaining 28.5%(2,762 men), that arrest was not theirfirst sex offense arrest. Some hadbeen arrested once before for a sexcrime and some two or more timesbefore.To illustrate, one of the 9,691 sexoffenders in this study had his firstarrest for a sex crime in 1966, when hewas age 19; he was also arrested forsex crimes in the 1970’s and 1980’s, inthree different States. The arrest for hisimprisonment offense was in 1982. Inthe early part of 1983, 4 months afterhis arrest, he was convicted of sexualassault and began serving a 25-yearprison term. Eleven years later, in 1994at age 47, he was released.For 75% of the 9,691 sex offenders,their 1994 release represents their firstrelease since being sentenced for theirsex offense. The remaining 25% hadpreviously served time under the samesentence, had been released, hadviolated one or more conditions of theirparole and, consequently, werereturned to prison to continue servingtime still remaining on their sentence.Table 5. Prior criminal record of sex offenders released from prison in 1994,by type of sex offenderPrior to the sex crime for which imprisonedPercent with at least 1 prior arrest for — aAny crime78.5% 83.1% 76.3%Any sex offense28.5 28.7 28.4Sex offense against a child10.3 5.7 12.5Prior arrests for any crime aMean4.5 5.04.2Median332Percent with at least 1 prior conviction for — aAny crime58.4% 62.9% 56.2%Any sex offense13.9 14.6 13.5Sex offense against a child4.6 3.45.2Prior convictions for any crime aMean1.8 2.01.7Median111Percent with prior prison sentence for any crime a 23.7% 28% 21.6%Percent who were first releases b 74.9% 66.9% 78.7%AllRapistsSexualassaultersTotal released9,6913,1156,576Note: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States.a"Prior" does not include the arrest, conviction, or prison sentence that was the reasonthe sex offenders were in prison in 1994. Persons with no prior arrest or prior convictionswere coded zero and were included in the calculations of mean and median priors. Calculationof prior convictions excluded Ohio, and calculation of prior prison sentences excluded Ohio andVirginia.bData on first releases are based on releases from 13 States. First releases include only thoseoffenders leaving prison for the first time since beginning their sentence. First releases excludethose who left prison in 1994 but who had previously been released under the same sentenceand had returned to prison for violating the conditions of release.Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 11

Sex offenders compared tonon-sex offendersA total of 262,420 non-sex offenderswere released from State prisons in1994 in the 15 States. Of the 262,420non-sex offenders, 94% had at least 1prior arrest and 82% had at least 1prior conviction (not in a table). Overall,the 9,691 sex offenders had a shortercriminal history than the 262,420non-sex offenders. Before the arrestthat resulted in their prison sentence,sex offenders had been arrested 4.5times, on average. This prior arrestrecord was about half that of non-sexoffenders (8.9 prior arrests). Inaddition, among the 1994 prisonreleases, 23.7% of the sex offenders(2,297), compared to 44.3% of non-sexoffenders (116,252), had served priorprison sentences.Sex offenders were more likely to havebeen arrested (28.5%) or convicted(13.9%) for a sexual offense thannon-sex offenders (6.5% with a priorarrest for a sex crime; 0.2% with a priorconviction for a sex crime). The sameis true for child molesting — about 1in 10 sex offenders had a prior arrestfor a sex offense against a child,compared to about 1 in 100 non-sexoffenders.Rapists and sexual assaultersFor approximately 71% of the 3,115rapists, the arrest for rape that resultedin their imprisonment was their first fora sex crime. The remaining 29% hadone or more prior sex crime arrests.Likewise, for sexual assaulters, thesexual assault arrest that led to theirimprisonment was the first arrest for asex crime for 72% of the 6,576 sexualassaulters. The remaining 28% hadbeen arrested at least once before forsome type of sex crime.Table 6. Prior criminal record of child molesters and statutory rapistsreleased from prison in 1994Prior to the sex crime for which imprisonedPercent with at least 1 prior arrest for — aAny crime76.8% 80.6%Any sex offense29.0 38.4Sex offense against a child18.3 19.6Prior arrests for any crime aMean4.1 4.8Median23Percent with at least 1 prior conviction for — aAny crime54.6% 64.6%Any sex offense11.9 21.2Sex offense against a child7.3 11.5Prior convictions for any crime aMean1.6 2.2Median11Percent with prior prison sentence for any crime a 19.3% 23.4%Percent who were first releases b 74.5% 73.7%Total releasedNote: The 4,295 child molesters were released in 15 States; the 443 statutory rapistsin 11 States. Because of overlapping definitions, all statutory rapists also appearunder the column "child molesters."a"Prior" does not include the arrest, conviction, or prison sentence that was the reason the sexoffenders were in prison in 1994. Persons with no prior arrest or prior convictionswere coded zero and were included in the calculations of mean and median priors. Calculationof prior convictions excluded Ohio, and calculation of prior prison sentences excluded Ohio andVirginia.bData on first releases are based on releases from 13 States. First releases include only thoseoffenders leaving prison for the first time since beginning their sentence. First releases excludethose who left prison in 1994 but who had previously been released under the same sentenceand had returned to prison for violating the conditions of release.Child molesters and sexual assaultersThe 4,295 child molesters had at least1 arrest for child molesting (the arrestthat led to their imprisonment). For3,509 (81.7%) of them, that arrest wastheir first ever arrest for child molesting(table 6). For the other 786 men(18.3% of the 4,295), that was not theirfirst. Some had one prior arrest for asex offense against a child, some hadtwo, and others had three or more.Childmolesters4,295Statutoryrapists443Among those with three or more priorswas a man whose first arrest for childmolesting was in 1966, when he wasage 20. When released in 1994, hewas serving an 11-year sentence formolesting a child under age 14. Theprior criminal record of this serialpedophile spanned three decades, witharrests for child molesting in the1970’s, the 1980’s, and the 1990’s.12 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Four measures of recidivismThis section measures recidivism fourways:w percent rearrested for any type ofcrimew percent reconvicted for any type ofcrimew percent returned to prison with a newprison sentence for any type of crimew percent returned to prison with orwithout a new prison sentence.“Percent rearrested” is calculated bydividing “the number rearrested” by“the number released from prison in1994.”“Percent reconvicted” is obtained bydividing “the number reconvicted” by“the number released from prison in1994.” (It is not calculated by dividing“the number reconvicted” by “thenumber rearrested.”)“Percent returned to prison with a newsentence” is calculated by dividing “thenumber returned to prison with a newsentence” by “the number releasedfrom prison in 1994.” (It is not calculatedby dividing “the number returnedto prison with a new sentence” by “thenumber reconvicted.”)Except where stated otherwise, all fourrecidivism measures —w refer to the full 3-year period followingthe prisoner's release in 1994w include both "in-State" and "out-of-State" recidivism."In-State" recidivism refers to newoffenses committed within the Statethat released the prisoner in 1994."Out-of-State" recidivism is any newoffenses in States other than the onethat released him in 1994.Not all 4 of the recidivism measuresare based on data from 15 States —w “Percent rearrested” is based on 15Statesw “Percent reconvicted” is basedon 14 of the 15 States participatingin the studyw “Percent returned to prison with anew sentence” is based on 13 ofthe 15 Statesw “Percent returned to prison with orwithout a new sentence” is basedon 9 of the 15.Three of the four recidivism measureswere calculated from data on fewerthan 15 States because the informationneeded to perform the calculations wasnot available (or not readily available)from each of the 15 participatingStates. Notes at the bottom of thetables alert readers to such missingdata.Four measuresAll sex offendersThe 9,691 sex offenders in this studywere all released from prison in 1994.Within 3 years following release:Total released9,691Within the first 3 years following theirrelease —w 43% (4,163 of the 9,691) wererearrested for at least 1 new crime(table 7)w 24% (2,326 of the 9,691) werereconvicted for any type of crimew 11.2% (1,085 of the 9,691) werereturned to prison with anothersentencew 38.6% (3,741 of the 9,691) werereturned to prison with or withouta new sentence.For approximately three-fourths of the4,163 men who were rearrested forsome new crime, their most seriousrearrest offense was a felony; for theremaining fourth, the most serious wasa misdemeanor (not shown in table).Of the 4,163 men rearrested for somenew offense, nearly 9 in 10 (87%) werestill on parole when taken into custody(not shown in table).Table 7. Recidivism rate of sex offenders released from prison in 1994,by recidivism measure and type of sex offenderRecidivismmeasurePercent of released prisonersSexualAll Rapists assaultersRearrested for any type of crime 43.0% 46.0% 41.5%Reconvicted for any type of crime a 24.0% 27.3% 22.4%sentence for any type of crime b 11.2% 12.6% 10.5%Returned to prison with a newwithout a new sentence c 38.6% 43.6% 36.1%Returned to prison with or3,1156,576Note: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States.aBecause of missing data, prisoners released in Ohio were excludedfrom the calculation of percent reconvicted.b"New prison sentence" includes new sentences to State or Federal prisonsbut not to local jails. Because of missing data, prisoners released in Ohio and Virginiawere excluded from the calculation of percent returned to prison with a new sentence.c"With or without a new sentence" includes prisoners with new sentences to State orFederal prisons plus prisoners returned for technical violations. Because of missing data,prisoners released in 6 States (Arizona, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, and Virginia)were excluded from the calculation of percent returned to prison with or without a new sentence.New York State custody records did not always distinguish prison returns from jail returns.Consequently, some persons received in New York jails were probably mistakenly classifiedas prison returns. Also, California with a relatively high return-to-prison rate affects the overallrate of 38.6%. When California is excluded, the return-to-prison rate falls to 27.9%.Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 13

The 2,326 reconvicted for a new crimeconsisted of 1,672 (71.9%) whosemost serious conviction offense was afelony, and 654 (28.1%) whose mostserious offense was a misdemeanor(not shown in table).Of the 2,326 reconvicted for any newcrime after their release, 1,085 wereresentenced to prison, and the remaining1,241 were placed on probation orordered to pay a fine or sentenced toshort-term confinement in a local jail.The 1,241 not resentenced to prisonmade up a little over half (53%) of thetotal 2,326 reconvicted. One reasonwhy over half were not resentencedto prison was that the new convictionoffense for about 650 of the 2,326newly convicted men (approximately30%) was a misdemeanor rather thana felony, and State laws usually do notpermit State prison sentences formisdemeanors.Altogether, 3,741 (38.6%) of the 9,691released sex offenders were returnedto prison either because of a newsentence or a technical violation. Of the3,741, 2,656 (71%) were returned for atechnical violation, such as failing adrug test, missing an appointment withthe parole officer, or being arrested foranother crime; and 1,085 werereturned with a new prison sentence.The 2,656 consisted of 664 who werereconvicted but not resentenced toprison, plus 1,992 not reconvicted.As previously explained, a total of1,241 released sex offenders werereconvicted but not resentenced toprison for their new crime. The 1,241included 664 (described immediatelyabove) who were returned to prison fora technical violation. The 664 were54% of the 1,241, indicating that mostof those who were reconvicted but notgiven a new prison sentence were,nevertheless, returned to prison.Sex offenders compared tonon-sex offendersThe 15 States in this study released272,111 prisoners altogether in 1994.The 9,691 released sex offendersmade up 3.6% of that total. Theremaining 262,420 released prisonerswere non-sex offenders. Of the262,420 non-sex offenders, 68%(179,391 men and women out of the262,420) were rearrested for a newcrime within 3 years (not shown intable). The 43% overall rearrest rate ofthe 9,691 released sex offenders(4,163 out of 9,691) was low bycomparison.Another difference was the rearrestcharge. The rearrest offense was afelony for about 3 out of 4 (75%) of the4,163 rearrested sex offenders (notshown in table). By comparison, about84% of the 179,391 non-sex offenderswere charged by police with a felony(not shown in table).Of the 4,163 sex offenders rearrestedfor a new crime, nearly 9 in 10 (87%)were on parole when taken into custody;of the 179,391 rearrested non-sexoffenders, also about 9 in 10 (85%)were on parole (not shown in table).There was a difference in reconvictions.The reconviction rate for the9,691 released sex offenders was24.0%, compared to 47.8% for 262,420non-sex offenders released in 1994(not shown in table). The 2,326 sexoffenders reconvicted for any newcrime included 1,672 (71.9%) whosemost serious conviction offense was afelony (not shown in table). Of the262,420 non-sex offenders, 125,437(47.8%) were reconvicted, whichincluded 94,078 (75.0%) whose mostserious reconviction offense was afelony (not shown in table).Rapists and sexual assaultersWithin the first 3 years followingrelease —w 46.0% of the 3,115 rapists (1,432men) and 41.5% of the 6,576 sexualassaulters (2,731 men) wererearrested for all types of crimes(table 7)w 27.3% of the 3,115 rapists (850 men)were reconvicted, compared to 22.4%of the 6,576 sexual assaulters (1,473men) for all types of crimesw 12.6% of the 3,115 rapists (392 men)and 10.5% of the 6,576 sexual assaulters(690 men) were resentencedto prison for their reconviction offensew 43.6% of the 3,115 rapists (1,358men) and 36.1% of the 6,576 sexualassaulters (2,374 men) were returnedto prison either because of a newsentence or because of a technicalviolation of their parole.For approximately three-fourths of the1,432 rapists who were rearrested for anew crime, the crime was a felony; forthe remainder, the most serious was amisdemeanor (not shown in table).As indicated earlier, 2,731 sexualassaulters were rearrested for a newoffense after their release, and forabout three-fourths, their most seriousrearrest offense was a felony; for theremainder, the most serious crime wasa misdemeanor (not shown in table).The 850 rapists reconvicted for anynew crime included 617 (72.6%) whosemost serious reconviction offense wasa felony; the 1,473 reconvicted sexualassaulters included 1,052 (71.4%) whowere reconvicted for a felony (notshown in table).14 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Child molesters and statutory rapistsOf the child molesters and statutoryrapists released from prison in 1994 —w 1,693 of the 4,295 child molesters(39.4%) and 221 of the 443 statutoryrapists (49.9%) were rearrested for anew crime (not necessarily a new sexcrime) (table 8)w 876 of the 4,295 child molesters(20.4%) and 145 of the 443 statutoryrapists (32.7%) were reconvicted forany type of crimew 9% of the 4,295 child molesters and13% of the 443 statutory rapistswere resentenced to prison for theirnew conviction offensew 38% of the 4,295 child molesters and46% of the 443 statutory rapists wereback in prison within 3 years as a resultof either a new prison sentence or atechnical violation of their parole.The most serious offense for threefourthsof the 1,693 child molesterswho were rearrested was a felony, anda misdemeanor for the remainder (notshown in table). Following their releasein 1994, 221 statutory rapists wererearrested for a new crime. The mostserious offense that approximatelythree-fourths were charged with was afelony (not shown in table).The 876 child molesters reconvicted forany type of crime included 643 (73.4%)whose most serious reconvictionoffense was a felony; the 145 reconvictedstatutory rapists included 97(66.7%) whose most serious was afelony (not shown in table).Table 8. Recidivism rate of child molesters and statutory rapistsreleased from prison in 1994, by recidivism measureRecidivismmeasureWithin 3 years following release:Rearrested for any type of crime 39.4% 49.9%Reconvicted for any type of crime a 20.4% 32.7%sentence for any type of crime b 9.1% 13.2%Returned to prison with a newwithout a new sentence c 38.2% 45.7%Returned to prison with orTotal releasedPercent of released prisonersChildStatutorymolesters rapists4,295Note: The 4,295 child molesters were released in 15 States; the 443 statutory rapistsin 11 States. Because of overlapping definitions, all statutory rapists also appear under thecolumn "child molesters."aBecause of missing data, prisoners released in Ohio were excluded from the calculation ofpercent reconvicted.b"New prison sentence" includes new sentences to State or Federal prisons but not to local jails.Because of missing data, prisoners released in Ohio and Virginia were excluded from the calculationof percent returned to prison with a new sentence.c"With or without a new sentence" includes prisoners with new sentences to State or Federalprisons plus prisoners returned for technical violations. Because of missing data, prisonersreleased in 6 States (Arizona, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, and Virginia) wereexcluded from the calculation of percent returned to prison with or without a new sentence. NewYork State custody records did not always distinguish prison returns from jail returns. Consequently,some persons received in New York jails were probably mistakenly classified as prisonreturns. Also, California with a relatively high return-to-prison rate affects the overall rate of39.4%. When California is excluded, the return-to-prison rate falls to 23.4%.443Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 15

Time to recidivismAll sex offendersWithin 6 months following their release,16% of the 9,691 men were rearrestedfor a new crime (not necessarilyanother sex offense) (table 9). Within1 year, altogether 24.2% wererearrested. Within 2 years the cumulativetotal reached 35.5%. By the end ofthe 3-year followup period, 43% (4,163of the 9,691) were rearrested for sometype of crime.These statistics indicate that mostrecidivism within the first 3 yearsfollowing release occurred in the firstyear (56%, since 24.2% / 43% = 56%).While the bulk of rearrests occurred inthe first year, that period did notaccount for the bulk of reconvictions orreimprisonments. This is largelybecause a sizable number of thoserearrested in the first year were notreconvicted and reimprisoned untilsometime in the second year, due tothe additional time needed toprosecute, convict, and sentence acriminal defendant. For example, bythe end of the first year, 8.6% of the9,691 released sex offenders werereconvicted, and by the end of the thirdyear, a cumulative total of 24% werereconvicted, indicating that the firstyear accounted for a relatively smallpercentage of all the reconvictions inthe 3 years (36%, since 8.6% / 24% =36%).Rapists and sexual assaultersForty-six percent of released rapistswere rearrested within 3 years, andover half of those rearrests (56%)occurred in the first year (since 25.8% /Total released9,69146.0% = 56%). Similarly, 41.5% ofreleased sexual assaulters were rearrestedwithin the first 3 years followingtheir 1994 release, and over half ofthose rearrests (56%) occurred in thefirst year (since 23.4% / 41.5% = 56%).Table 9. Recidivism rate of sex offenders released from prison in 1994, by typeof recidivism measure, type of sex offender, and time after releaseTime after1994 releaseCumulative percent of sex offenders released from prison in 1994SexualAllRapists assaultersRearrested for any typeof crime within —6 months16.0%16.3%15.8%1 year24.225.823.42 years35.538.634.03 years43.046.041.5of crime within — aReconvicted for any type6 months3.6%4.3%3.3%1 year8.610.08.02 years17.219.915.93 years24.027.322.4sentence for any type of crime within — bReturned to prison with a new6 months1.8%1.9%1.8%1 year4.04.13.92 years8.09.07.53 years11.212.610.53,1156,576Note: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States.aBecause of missing data, prisoners released in Ohio were excluded from thecalculation of percent reconvicted.b"New sentence" includes new sentences to State or Federal prisons but not to local jails.Because of missing data, prisoners released in Ohio and Virginia were excludedfrom the calculation of percentage returned to prison with a new sentence.16 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Table 10. Recidivism rate of child molesters and statutory rapists releasedfrom prison in 1994, by type of recidivism measure and time after releaseTime after1994 releaseCumulative percent of sex offendersreleased from prison in 1994ChildStatutorymolesters rapistsRearrested for any typeof crime within —6 months16.0%18.5%1 year22.929.82 years32.942.43 years39.449.9of crime within — aReconvicted for any type6 months3.0%4.5%1 year7.113.62 years14.524.43 years20.432.7sentence for any type of crime within — bReturned to prison with a new6 months1.5%0.9%1 year3.14.02 years6.59.33 years9.113.2Child molesters and statutory rapistsOf the 4,295 released child molesters,1,693 (39.4%) were rearrested duringthe 3-year followup period (table 10).The majority of those charged (approximately982 of the 1,693, or 58%) werecharged in the first 12 months. While49.9% of released statutory rapistswere rearrested within 3 years, nearlythree-fifths of those rearrests occurredwithin the first year following release(29.8% / 49.9% = 60%).Total released4,295Note: The 4,295 child molesters were released in 15 States;the 443 statutory rapists in 11 States. Because of overlappingdefinitions, all statutory rapists also appear under the column “child molesters.”aBecause of missing data, prisoners released in Ohio wereexcluded from the calculation of percent reconvicted.b"New sentence" includes new sentences to State or Federal prisonsbut not to local jails. Because of missing data, prisoners released in Ohioand Virginia were excluded from the calculation of percentage returned to prisonwith a new sentence.443Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 17

Child molesters and statutory rapistsRace The rearrest rate amongreleased child molesters was 51.7% forblack men and 36.2% for white men(table 12). Among statutory rapists,black men (61.5%) had a higherrearrest rate than white men (46.0%).Hispanic origin Among releasedprisoners whose imprisonment offensewas statutory rape, Hispanics (56.9%)were more likely than non-Hispanics(48.8%) to be rearrested within the3-year followup period. The oppositewas true of child molesters, as Hispanicshad a lower rearrest rate (37.1%)than non-Hispanics (41.9%).Age The younger the sex offender waswhen released, the higher was his likelihoodof being rearrested. For example,the rearrest percent for statutoryrapists younger than 25 was higher(70.0%) than the rearrest percent forstatutory rapists ages 25 to 30 (56.4%).The same was true among childmolesters.Time served before 1994 releaseAll sex offendersSex offenders who served the shortestamount of time in prison before beingreleased (6 months or less) had ahigher rearrest rate (45.7%) than thosewho served the longest (over 5 years,39.9% rate) (table 13). Similarly,prisoners who served 6 months or lesshad a higher rearrest rate (45.7%) thanthose who served 7 months to 1 year(42.1%). However, other comparisonsdid not indicate a connection betweenserving more time and lowerrecidivism. For example, among sexoffenders who served 1 to 1½ years inprison before being released, 38.9%were rearrested for all types of crimes,compared to 46.7% of sex offenderswho served a bit longer — 1½ to 2years. Similarly, released prisonersTable 14. Rearrest rate of child molesters and statutory rapists releasedfrom prison in 1994, by time served before being releasedTime served in prisonbefore 1994 release6 months or less7-1213-1819-2425-3031-3637-6061 months or moreTotal first releases42.9%39.734.545.539.427.231.529.93,104Note: The 3,104 child molesters were released in 13 States; the 317 statutory rapists in 10States. Because of overlapping definitions, all statutory rapists also appear under the column"child molesters." Figures are based on first releases only. First releases include only thoseoffenders leaving prison for the first time since beginning their sentence. First releases excludethose who left prison in 1994 but who had previously been released under the same sentenceand had returned to prison for violating the conditions of release.who served between 3 and 5 years inprison had a higher rate of rearrest(38.9%) than released prisoners whoserved 2½ to 3 years (35.7%).Because of these mixed results, andothers illustrated below, the data do notwarrant any general conclusion aboutan association between the level ofrecidivism and the amount of timeserved.Rapists and sexual assaultersPercent rearrested for anytype of crime within 3 yearsChild Statutorymolesters rapistsAmong sexual assaulters who servedno more than 6 months, 45.0% wererearrested for all types of crimes.Those who served a little longer —from about 6 months to 1 year — hada lower rearrest rate, 43.1%. Thosereleased after serving even more time— 1 to 1½ years — had an even lowerrate, 39.2%. However, there arenumerous instances where servingmore time was not linked to lowerrecidivism. For example, rapistsreleased after about 1 to 1½ years inprison had a 37.6% rearrest rate, whilethose imprisoned a little longer C fromabout 1½ to 2 years C had a higherrate, 51.1%.56.7%45.343.948.925.959.121.433.3317Child molesters and statutory rapistsAmong released statutory rapists andchild molesters, the results continuedto be mixed regarding an associationbetween the rate of recidivism and theamount of time served (table 14). Forexample, child molesters released afterserving about 2 to 2½ years had ahigher rate of rearrest for all types ofcrimes (39.4%) than those who servedsomewhat longer C about 2½ to 3years (27.2%). However, the rearrestrate rose (31.5%) among molesterswho served more time C 3 to 5 years.Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 19

Table 15. Rearrest rate of sex offenders released from prison in 1994,by type of sex offender and prior arrest for any type of crimeArrest prior to 1994 releasePercent rearrested for any typeof crime within 3 yearsTotalThe arrest responsible for theirbeing in prison in 1994 was —*Their first arrest for any type of crimeNot their first arrest for any type of crimePercent of released prisonersTotalThe arrest responsible for theirbeing in prison in 1994 was —*Their first arrest for any type of crimeNot their first arrest for any type of crimeTotal releasedNote: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States.*By definition, all sex offenders had at least 1 arrest prior to their release:namely, the sex crime arrest responsible for their being in prison in 1994.Prior arrest for any type of crimeAll sex offendersFor 2,084 sex offenders (21.5% of the9,691 total), their only arrest prior tobeing released in 1994 was the arrestfor their imprisonment offense (a sexoffense) (table 15). Among these 2,084released sex offenders with just 1 priorarrest, 24.8% were rearrested for anew crime (not necessarily a new sexcrime). For the remaining 7,607 (78.5%of 9,691), their prior record showed anarrest for the sex offense responsiblefor their current imprisonment plus atleast 1 earlier arrest for some type ofcrime. Of these 7,607 prisoners, 47.9%were rearrested, or about double therate of their counterparts with 1 priorarrest (24.8%).All43.0%24.847.9100%21.578.59,691Rapists46.0%28.349.6100%16.983.13,115Sexualassaulters41.5%23.647.1100%23.776.36,576Rapists and sexual assaultersOf the 3,115 released rapists, 83.1%(2,589 rapists) had more than 1 arrestThe arrest responsible fortheir being in prison in 1994 was — *Their first arrest for any type of crimeNot their first arrest for any type of crimeTotal released23.276.84,295for some type of crime prior to theirrelease from prison in 1994, and 16.9%(526 rapists) had just 1 prior arrest, thearrest for the sex crime that resulted intheir being in prison in 1994. Themultiple prior arrests for the 2,589rapists included the arrest for theirimprisonment offense plus at least 1other arrest for any type of crime. The2,589 with more than 1 prior arrest hada rearrest rate (49.6%) nearly doublethat of the 526 with just 1 prior (28.3%).Child molesters and statutory rapistsOf the 4,295 child molesters, 76.8%(3,299 men) had more than 1 priorarrest (table 16). These 3,299 childmolesters had a rearrest rate (44.3%)nearly double the 23.3% rate of the996 molesters with just 1 prior arrest(996 is 23.2% of 4,295). The 357 statutoryrapists with more than 1 priorarrest (357 is 80.6% of 443) had arearrest rate (55.7%) more than doublethe 25.6% rate of the 86 statutoryrapists with 1 prior arrest (86 is 19.4%of 443).Table 16. Rearrest rate of child molesters and statutory rapists releasedfrom prison in 1994, by prior arrest for any type of crimeArrest prior to 1994 releasePercent rearrested for any typeof crime within 3 yearsTotalThe arrest responsible for theirbeing in prison in 1994 was —*Their first arrest for any type of crimeNot their first arrest for any type of crimePercent of released prisonersTotalChildmolesters39.4%23.344.3100%Statutoryrapists49.9%25.655.7100%19.480.6Note: The 4,295 child molesters were released in 15 States; the 443 statutory rapistsin 11 States. Because of overlapping definitions, all statutory rapists also appearunder the column "child molesters."*By definition, all sex offenders had at least 1 arrest prior to their release:namely, the sex crime arrest responsible for their being in prison in 1994.44320 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Number of prior arrestsfor any type of crimeStatistics on prior arrests in this sectionof the report do include the imprisonmentoffense of the released sexoffender.All sex offendersThe number of times a prisoner wasarrested in the past was a relativelygood predictor of whether that prisonerwould continue his criminality after release(table 17). Prisoners with just oneprior arrest for any type of crime had a24.8% rearrest rate for all types ofcrimes. With two priors, the percentagerearrested rose to 31.9%. Withthree, it increased to 36.9%. With four,it went up to 42.6%. With additionalpriors, there were further increases,ultimately reaching a rearrest rate of67.0% for released prisoners with thelongest criminal record (more than 15prior arrests).Rapists and sexual assaultersBoth rapists and sexual assaultersfollowed the pattern described immediatelyabove: the more prior arrests theyhad, the more likely they were to havea new arrest for some type of crimeafter their release in 1994.Table 17. Rearrest rate of sex offenders released from prison in 1994,by type of sex offender and number of prior arrests for any type of crimeNumber of adult arrestsprior to 1994 release*Percent rearrested for any typeof crime within 3 years1 prior arrest for any type of crime234567-1011-1516 or morePercent of released prisonersAll sex offenders1 prior arrest for any type of crime234567-1011-1516 or moreTotal releasedAll24.8%31.936.942.650.549.759.065.167.0100%21.516.011.99.07.26.314.47.95.89,691Rapists28.3%36.436.347.248.647.359.663.766.1100%16.915.212.19.28.06.615.88.97.23,115Sexualassaulters23.6%29.937.140.451.650.958.666.067.5100%23.716.311.88.96.86.113.87.45.26,576Note: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States.*By definition, all sex offenders had at least 1 arrest prior to their release: namely, the arrestresponsible for their being in prison in 1994. In this table, that arrest is counted as 1 prior arrest.Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 21

Child molesters and statutory rapistsAmong released prisoners with thesmallest number of prior arrests (1prior arrest), 23.3% of child molestersand 25.6% of statutory rapists wererearrested for all types of crimes within3 years (table 18). Rearrest ratesgenerally rose with each increase in thenumber of prior arrests. Amongreleased prisoners with the largestnumber of prior arrests (more than 15),62.0% of child molesters and 76.2% ofstatutory rapists had at least 1 newarrest after being released in 1994.State where rearrested for anytype of crimeThe State where the rearrest occurredwas not always the State that releasedthe prisoner. In some cases, thereleased sex offender left the Statewhere he was imprisoned and wasrearrested for a new crime in a differentState. For example, a sex offenderreleased from prison in California mayhave traveled to Nevada, where he wasarrested for committing another crime.Sex offendersA total of 4,163 sex offenders wererearrested for some type of new crimeafter their 1994 release. Of the 4,163arrests, 16.0% C or 1 in 6 C wereoutside the State where the prisonerwas released (table 19). The rest(84.0%) were made in the State thatreleased them.Sex offenders comparedto non-sex offendersThe 15 States in this study released262,420 non-sex offenders in 1994, ofwhom 179,391 were rearrested for anew crime within 3 years (not shown intable). Of the 179,391 arrests for anytype of crime, 11.2%, or 20,092 arrests,were arrests that occurred outside theState that released them.Table 18. Rearrest rate of child molesters and statutory rapists releasedfrom prison in 1994, by number of prior arrests for any type of crimeNumber of adult arrestsprior to 1994 release*Percent rearrested for any typeof crime within 3 years1 prior arrest for any type of crime234567-1011-1516 or morePercent of released prisonersAll sex offenders1 prior arrest for any type of crime234567-1011-1516 or moreTotal releasedNote: The 4,295 child molesters were released in 15 States; the 443 statutory rapists in 11States. Because of overlapping definitions, all statutory rapists also appear under the column"child molesters."*By definition, all sex offenders had at least one arrest prior to their release: namely, the arrestresponsible for their being in prison in 1994. In this table, that arrest is counted as 1 prior arrest.Rearrested sex offenders had a higherpercentage: 1 in 6 of their rearrests forany type of crime were in a State otherthan the one that released them.Rapists and sexual assaultersChildmolesters4,295Following their 1994 release, 1,432rapists and 2,731 sexual assaultersSame State where releasedAnother StateTotal rearrested for any new crime23.3%28.032.439.247.450.258.162.962.0100%23.217.212.18.57.06.413.67.34.884.016.04,163Statutoryrapists25.6%29.346.941.060.653.865.181.376.2100%19.413.111.18.87.45.918.710.84.7443Note: The 4,163 rearrested sex offenders were released in 15 States,but table percentages are based on 14 States.were rearrested for any new crime(table 19). For 17.4% of the 1,432rearrested rapists, and 15.2% of the2,731 rearrested sexual assaulters, theplace where the arrest occurred was ina different State than the one thatreleased them.Table 19. Where sex offenders were rearrested for any new crime followingrelease from prison in 1994, by type of sex offenderState where rearrestedwithin 3 yearsTotalPercent of rearrested prisonersSexualAll Rapists assaulters100%100%82.617.41,432100%84.815.22,73122 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Child molesters and statutory rapistsOut of the 4,295 child molesters, 1,693were rearrested for any new crime afterbeing released from prison in 1994(table 20). The 1,693 recidivistsconsisted of 84.8% whose new arrestwas in the same State that releasedthem in 1994, and 15.2% whosealleged violation occurred in a differentState.About half of all statutory rapists werenot rearrested for any type of crimeafter their release. Of the 221 whowere, 16.6% were rearrested outsidethe State where they were released.Table 20. Where child molesters and statutory rapists were rearrestedfor any new crime following release from prison in 1994State where rearrestedwithin 3 yearsTotalSame State where releasedAnother StateTotal rearrested for any new crimePercent of rearrested prisonersChildStatutorymolesters rapists100%84.815.21,693100%83.416.6Note: The 1,693 rearrested child molesters were released in 15 States,but table percentages are based on 14 States. The 221 rearrested statutory rapistswere released in 11 States, but table percentages are based on 10 States.221Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 23

Rearrest and reconviction for a new sex crimeRearrest and reconvictionAll sex offendersBased on official arrest records, 517 ofthe 9,691 released sex offenders(5.3%) were rearrested for a new sexcrime within the first 3 years followingtheir release (table 21). The new sexcrimes for which these 517 men werearrested were forcible rapes and sexualassaults. For virtually all of the 517, themost serious sex crime for which theywere rearrested was a felony. Theirvictims were children and adults. Thestudy cannot say what percentagewere children and what percentagewere adults because arrest files did notrecord the victim’s age.Of the total 9,691 released sex, 3.5%(339 of the 9,691) were reconvicted fora sex crime (a forcible rape or a sexualassault) within 3 years.Sex offenders comparedto non-sex offendersThe 15 States in this study released atotal of 272,111 prisoners in 1994. The9,691 released sex offenders made upless than 4% of that total. Of theremaining 262,420 non-sex offenders,3,328 (1.3%) were rearrested for a newsex crime within 3 years (not shown intable). By comparison, the 5.3%rearrest rate for the 9,691 released sexoffenders was 4 times higher.Assuming that the 517 sex offenderswho were rearrested for another sexcrime each victimized no more thanone victim, the number of sex crimesthey committed after their prisonrelease totaled 517. Assuming that the3,328 non-sex offenders rearrested fora sex crime after their release alsovictimized one victim each, the numberof sex crimes they committed was3,328. The combined total number ofsex crimes is 3,845 (517 plus 3,328 =3,845). Released sex offendersaccounted for 13% and releasednon-sex offenders accounted for 87%of the 3,845 sex crimes committed byall the prisoners released in 1994(517 / 3,845 = 13% and 3,328 / 3,845= 87%).Rapists and sexual assaultersOf the 3,115 rapists, 5.0% (155 men)had a new arrest for a sex crime (eithera sexual assault or another forciblerape) after being released. Of the 6,576released sexual assaulters, 5.5% (362men) were rearrested for a new sexcrime (either a forcible rape or anothersexual assault).A total of 100 released rapists werereconvicted for a sex crime. The 100men were 3.2% of the 3,115 rapistsreleased in 1994. Among the 6,576released sexual assaulters, 3.7% (243men) were reconvicted for a sex crime.Total released9,6913,115Child molesters and statutory rapistsNote: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States.*Because of missing data, prisoners released in Ohio were excluded fromthe calculation of percent reconvicted. Due to data quality concerns,calculation of percent reconvicted excluded Texas prisoners classified as"other type of release."After their release, 5.1% (221 men) ofthe child molesters and 5.0% (22 men)of the statutory rapists were rearrestedfora new sex crime (table 22). Not allof the new sex crimes were againstchildren. The new sex crimes wereforcible rapes and various types ofsexual assaults.Following their release, 3.5% (150men) of the 4,295 released childmolesters were convicted for a newsex crime against a child or an adult.The sex crime reconviction rate for the443 statutory rapists was 3.6% (16reconvicted men).Table 21. Of sex offenders released from prison in 1994, percent rearrestedand percent reconvicted for any new sex crime, by type of sex offenderPercent rearrested for any newsex crime within 3 yearsPercent reconvicted for any newsex crime within 3 years*All5.3%3.5%Rapists5.0%3.2%Sexualassaulters5.5%3.7%6,576Table 22. Of child molesters and statutory rapists released from prison in 1994,percent rearrested and percent reconvicted for any new sex crimePercent rearrested for any newsex crime within 3 yearsPercent reconvicted for any newsex crime within 3 years*Total releasedChildmolesters5.1%3.5%4,295Statutoryrapists5.0%3.6%Note: The 4,295 child molesters were released in 15 States; the 443 statutory rapists in 11States. Because of overlapping definitions, all statutory rapists also appear under the column"child molesters."*Because of missing data, prisoners released in Ohio were excluded from the calculationof percent reconvicted. Due to data quality concerns, calculation of percent reconvictedexcluded Texas prisoners classified as "other type of release."44324 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Time to rearrestAll sex offendersWithin 6 months following their release,1.4% of the 9,691 men were rearrestedfor a new sex crime (table 23). Within 1year the cumulative total grew to 2.1%rearrested. By the end of the 3-yearfollowup period, altogether 5.3% hadbeen rearrested for another sex crime.The first year was the period when40% of the new sex crimes werecommitted (since 2.1% / 5.3% = 40%).Rapists and sexual assaultersThe first year following releaseaccounted for 40% of the new sexcrimes committed by both releasedrapists (since 2.0% / 5.0% = 40%) andreleased sexual assaulters (since 2.2%/ 5.5% = 40%).Child molesters and statutory rapistsFor child molesters and statutoryrapists, the first year following theirrelease was the period when thelargest number of recidivists wererearrested. Similar to rapists andsexual assaulters, about 40% of thearrests for new sex crimes committedby child molesters and statutory rapistsoccurred during the first year (table 24).Demographic characteristicsAll sex offendersRace Among sex offenders releasedfrom prison in 1994, black men (5.6%)and white men (5.3%) were aboutequally likely to be rearrested foranother sex crime (table 25).Hispanic origin Among released sexoffenders, non-Hispanics were morelikely to be rearrested for a new sexoffense (6.4%) than Hispanics (4.1%).One reason for the lower rearrest ratefor Hispanics may be that some weredeported immediately following theirrelease.Age Recidivism studies typically findthat, the older the prisoner whenreleased, the lower the rate of recidivism.Results reported here on releasedsex offenders did not follow thefamiliar pattern. While the lowest rateof rearrest for a sex crime (3.3%) didbelong to the oldest sex offenders(those age 45 or older), other comparisonsbetween older and youngerprisoners did not consistently showolder prisoners’ having the lowerrearrest rate.Table 23. Of sex offenders released from prison in 1994, percent rearrestedfor any new sex crime, by type of sex offender and time after releaseTime after1994 release6 months1 year2 years3 yearsTotal releasedCumulative percent rearrested for anynew sex crime within specified timeSexualAll Rapists assaulters1.4%2.13.95.39,6911.3%2.03.75.03,1151.4%2.24.15.56,576Note: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States.Table 24. Of child molesters and statutory rapists released from prison in 1994,percent rearrested for any new sex crime, by time after releaseTime after1994 release6 months1 year2 years3 yearsTotal releasedCumulative percent rearrested for anynew sex crime within specified timeChildStatutorymolestersrapists1.3%2.23.95.14,2951.4%2.03.25.0443Note: The 4,295 child molesters were released in 15 States;the 443 statutory rapists in 11 States. Because of overlapping definitions,all statutory rapists also appear under the column "child molesters."Table 25. Of sex offenders releasedfrom prison in 1994, percentrearrested for any new sex crime,by demographic characteristicsof released prisonersPrisonercharacteristicTotal releasedRaceWhiteBlackOtherHispanic originHispanicNon-HispanicAge at release18-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445 or olderTotal releasedPercent of released sexoffenders rearrested forany new sex crime within3 years5.3%5.3%5.64.44.1%6.46.1%5.55.86.15.63.39,691Note: The 9,691 sex offenders were releasedin 15 States. Data identifying race werereported for 98.5% of 9,691 released sexoffenders; Hispanic origin for 82.5%; agefor virtually 100%.Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 25

Time served before 1994 releaseAll sex offendersThe study compared recidivism ratesamong prisoners who served differentlengths of time before being releasedfrom prison in 1994. No clear associationwas found between how long theywere in prison and their recidivism rate(table 26). For example, those sexoffenders who served from 7 to 12months were rearrested for a new sexcrime at a higher rate (5.2%) thanthose who served slightly less time(3.8%), which seemed to suggest thatserving more time raised the recidivismrate. But other comparisons suggestedthe opposite. Compared to men whowere confined for 7 to 12 months (5.2%rearrest rate), those who served moretime (13 to 18 months) were less likelyto be rearrested for any new sex crime(4.1%).Prior arrest for any type of crimeAll sex offendersOf the 9,691 released sex offenders,21.5% (2,084 of the 9,691) had only 1arrest in their criminal record up to thetime they were released (table 27).That one arrest was the arrest for thesex crime that resulted in a prisonterm. The remaining 78.5% (7,607men) had the arrest for their imprisonmentoffense in their record, and theyalso had at least 1 earlier arrest forsome type of crime. For example,some had an earlier arrest for theft or adrug offense. Most of them did nothave an earlier arrest for a sex crime.Compared to the 2,084 sex offenderswith the 1 arrest in their criminal record,the 7,607 with a longer prior arrestrecord were more likely to berearrested for another sex crime(5.9% compared to 3.3%).Rapists and sexual assaultersOf the 3,115 released rapists, themajority (83.1% of the 3,115, or 2,589men) had more than 1 arrest (for anytype of crime) prior to release fromprison in 1994. Of these 2,589 releasedrapists, 5.4% (140) had a new arrestfor a sex crime. The rate was lower(3.0%) for the 526 released rapistswith no prior arrest.Results for sexual assaulters followedthe same pattern: the 5,017 sexualassaulters with more than 1 prior arrest(76.3% of 6,576 is 5,017) were morelikely to be rearrested for a new sexcrime (6.2%) than the 1,559 with justthe 1 prior arrest (23.7% of 6,576 is1,559).Table 26. Of sex offenders releasedfrom prison in 1994, percentrearrested for any new sex crime,by time served before being releasedTime served in prisonbefore 1994 release6 months or less7-1213-1819-2425-3031-3637-6061 months or moreTotal first releasesPercent of releasedsex offendersrearrested forany new sex crimewithin 3 years3.8%5.24.16.45.23.35.24.96,470Note: The 6,470 sex offenders were releasedin 13 States. Figures are based on firstreleases only. First releases include onlythose offenders leaving prison for the firsttime since beginning their sentence. Firstreleases exclude those who left prison in1994 but who had previously been releasedunder the same sentence and had returnedto prison for violating the conditions ofrelease.Table 27. Of sex offenders released from prison in 1994,percent rearrested for any new sex crime, by type of sex offenderand prior arrest for any type of crimeArrest prior to 1994 releasePercent rearrested for anynew sex crime within 3 yearsTotalThe arrest responsible for their beingin prison in 1994 was —*Their first arrest for any type of crimeNot their first arrest for any type of crimePercent of released prisonersTotalThe arrest responsible for their beingin prison in 1994 was —*Their first arrest for any type of crimeNot their first arrest for any type of crimeTotal released3.35.9100%21.578.59,6913.05.4100%16.983.13,115Note: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States.*By definition, all sex offenders had at least 1 arrest prior to their release: namely,the arrest responsible for their being in prison in 1994. "First arrest for any typeof crime" pertains exclusively to those released prisoners whose first arrest wasthe sex offense arrest responsible for their being in prison in 1994.All5.3%Rapists5.0%Sexualassaulters5.5%3.46.2100%23.776.36,57626 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Child molesters and statutory rapistsReleased child molesters with morethan one prior arrest were more likelythan those with only one arrest in theircriminal record to be rearrested for anew sex crime (5.7% compared to3.2%) (table 28). The same was trueof statutory rapists (5.3% comparedto 3.5%).Number of prior arrestsfor any type of crimeAll sex offendersThe more arrests (for any type ofcrime) the sex offender had in hiscriminal record, the more likely he wasto be rearrested for another sex crimeafter his release from prison (table 29).Sex offenders with one prior arrest (thearrest for the sex crime for which theyhad been imprisoned) had the lowestrate, about 3%; those with 2 or 3 priorarrests for some type of crime, 4%;4 to 6 prior arrests, 6%; 7 to 10 priorarrests, 7%; and 11 to 15 priorarrests, 8%.Table 28. Of child molesters and statutory rapists released from prisonin 1994, percent rearrested for any new sex crime, by prior arrestfor any type of crimeArrest prior to 1994 releasePercent rearrested for any new sex crime within 3 yearsTotalThe arrest responsible for their being in prison in 1994 was — *Their first arrest for any type of crimeNot their first arrest for any type of crimePercent of released prisonersTotalThe arrest responsible for their being in prison in 1994 was — *Their first arrest for any type of crime23.2Not their first arrest for any type of crime76.8Total releasedChildmolesters5.1%100%4,295100%19.480.6Note: The 4,295 child molesters were released in 15 States; the 443 statutory rapists in 11 States.Because of overlapping definitions, all statutory rapists also appear under the column "childmolesters."*By definition, all sex offenders had at least 1 arrest prior to their release: namely, the arrestresponsible for their being in prison in 1994. "First arrest for any type of crime" pertainsexclusively to those released prisoners whose first arrest was the sex offense arrestresponsible for their being in prison in 1994.All sex offenders1 prior arrest for any type of crime234567-1011-1516 or moreAll sex offenders1 prior arrest for any type of crime234567-1011-1516 or moreTotal released5.3%3.34.34.45.86.36.16.97.87.49,6913.25.7Percent of released prisoners100%21.516.011.99.07.26.314.47.95.8Statutoryrapists5.0%Table 29. Of sex offenders released from prison in 1994, percent rearrestedfor any new sex crime, by number of prior arrests for any type of crimeNumber of adult arrestsprior to 1994 releasePercent rearrested for any newsex crime within 3 yearsNote: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States. By definition, all sex offenders had atleast 1 arrest prior to their release: namely, the arrest responsible for their being in prison in 1994.In this table, that arrest is counted as one prior arrest.3.55.3443Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 27

Prior arrest for a sex crimeAll sex offendersPrior to their release in 1994, 2,762 ofthe sex offenders (28.5% of the total9,691) had 2 or more arrests for a sexoffense in their criminal record: thearrest for the sex offense that resultedin their imprisonment, plus at least 1earlier arrest for a sex crime (table 30).For the remaining 6,929 (71.5% of thetotal 9,691), their only prior arrest for asex crime was the arrest that broughtthem into prison. (Any other priorarrests the 6,929 may have had werefor non-sex crimes.) Following theirrelease, the 2,762 with more than 1 sexcrime in their criminal background wereabout twice as likely to be rearrestedfor another sex crime (8.3%) as the6,929 with a single prior arrest (4.2%).Rapists and sexual assaultersRapists (4.0%) and sexual assaulters(4.2%) with one prior arrest for a sexcrime were less likely to be rearrestedfor another sex crime than rapists(7.4%) and sexual assaulters (8.7%)who had been arrested two or moretimes for a sex crime prior to releasefrom prison in 1994.Child molesters and statutory rapistsBy definition, all 4,295 child molestershad been arrested for a sex offense atleast once prior to their release in 1994— the sex offense that landed them inprison. For 3,049 of them (71% of4,295), that arrest was their only priorarrest for a sex offense (table 31). Theremaining 1,246 child molesters (29%of 4,295) had at least 2 prior arrests fora sex crime: the arrest for their imprisonmentoffense plus at least 1 otherprior arrest for a sex offense (notnecessarily one against a child). Of the1,246 child molesters with multiple sexcrimes in their past, 8.4% (105 of the1,246) were rearrested for another sexcrime (not necessarily another sexcrime against a child), or more thandouble the 3.8% rate for the 3,049released child molesters with just 1prior arrest for a sex crime.Similar results were found for releasedstatutory rapists. Those with a moreThe arrest responsible for their being in prison in 1994 was —*Their first arrest for any sex crimeNot their first arrest for any sex crimePercent of released prisonersTotalThe arrest responsible for their being in prison in 1994 was —*Their first arrest for any sex crimeNot their first arrest for any sex crimeTotal releasedextensive record of prior arrestsfor sex crimes were more likely to berearrested for another sex crime (8.8%)than those with just one past arrest(2.6%).Table 30. Of sex offenders released from prison in 1994, percent rearrestedfor any new sex crime, by type of sex offender and prior arrest for any sex crimeArrest prior to 1994 releasePercent rearrested for any new sex crime within 3 yearsTotal5.3%100%71.528.59,691100%71.328.73,115100%71.628.46,576Note: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States.*By definition, all sex offenders had at least 1 arrest prior to their release: namely, the arrestresponsible for their being in prison in 1994. "First arrest for any sex crime" pertains exclusivelyto those released prisoners whose first arrest was the sex offense arrest responsible for theirbeing in prison in 1994.The arrest responsible for their beingin prison in 1994 was — *Their first arrest for any sex crimeNot their first arrest for any sex crimePercent of released prisonersTotalThe arrest responsible for their beingin prison in 1994 was — *Their first arrest for any sex crimeNot their first arrest for any sex crimeTotal released100%71.029.04,295All4.28.361.638.4Rapists100%5.0%4.07.4Sexualassaulters5.5%Table 31. Of child molesters and statutory rapists released from prison in 1994,percent rearrested for any new sex crime, by prior arrest for any sex crimeArrest prior to 1994 releasePercent rearrested for any newsex crime within 3 yearsTotalChildmolesters5.1%Note: The 4,295 child molesters were released in 15 States; the 443 statutory rapists, 11 States.Because of overlapping definitions, all statutory rapists also appear under the column "childmolesters."*By definition, all sex offenders had at least 1 arrest prior to their release: namely, the arrestresponsible for their being in prison in 1994. "First arrest for any sex crime" pertains exclusivelyto those released prisoners whose first arrest was the sex offense arrest responsible for theirbeing in prison in 1994.3.88.4Statutoryrapists5.0%2.68.84434.28.728 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

State where rearrested for a sexcrimeWhen sex offenders were arrested fornew sex crimes after their release, thenew arrest typically occurred in thesame State that released them. Thosearrests are referred to as “in-State”arrests. When released sex offendersleft the State where they were incarceratedand were charged by police withnew sex crimes, those arrests arereferred to as “out-of-State” arrests.All sex offendersOf the 9,691 released sex offenders,517 were rearrested for a new sexcrime within 3 years. Most of those sexcrime arrests (85.2% of the 517, or 440men) were in the same State thatreleased them (table 32). Seventysevenof them (14.8% of the 517) werearrests in a different State.Sex offenders comparedto non-sex offendersThe 15 States in this study released262,420 non-sex offenders in 1994, ofwhom 3,328 were rearrested for a newsex crime within 3 years (not shown intable). Of the 3,328 non-sex offendersarrested for a new sex crime, anestimated 10% were men rearrestedoutside the State that released them.The 15% figure for released sexoffenders was high by comparison(table 32).Rapists and sexual assaultersChild molesters and statutory rapistsA total of 221 child molesters wererearrested for a new sex crime (notnecessarily against a child) after theirrelease (table 33). Among the 221were 191 (86.6%) whose new sexcrime arrest was in the same State thatState where rearrestedwithin 3 yearsTotalSame State where releasedAnother StateTotal rearrested for a new sex crime100%85.214.8517Note: The 517 rearrested sex offenders were released in 15 States,but table percentages are based on 14 States.released them in 1994. For the remaining13.4%, the arrest was elsewhere.Of all statutory rapists, 5% (22) wererearrested for a new sex crime aftertheir release. Of these 22, none hadthe new arrest outside the State thatreleased them.Table 32. Where sex offenders were rearrested for a new sex crimefollowing their release from prison in 1994, by type of sex offenderSame State where releasedAnother StateTotal rearrested for a new sex crimePercent of rearrested prisonersSexualAll Rapists assaulters86.613.4100%85.214.8155100%85.214.8Table 33. Where child molesters and statutory rapists were rearrestedfor a new sex crime following their release from prison in 1994State where rearrestedwithin 3 yearsTotal100%Note: The 221 rearrested child molesters were released in 14 States,but table percentages are based on 13 States. The 22 rearrested statutoryrapists were released in 6 States, but table percentages are based on 5 States.221362Percent of rearrestedprisonersChildStatutorymolesters rapists100%100022A total of 155 released rapists and 362released sexual assaulters wererearrested for a new sex crime withinthe 3-year followup period. In-Statearrests for new sex crimes accountedfor 85% of the rearrested rapists and85% of the rearrested sexualassaulters. Out-of-State arrestsaccounted for the rest.Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 29

Rearrest for a sex crime against a childUndercounts of sex crimesagainst childrenThis section documents percentages ofmen who were arrested for a sex crimeagainst a child after their release fromprison in 1994. To some unknownextent, these recidivism rates undercountactual rearrest rates. That isbecause the arrest records that thestudy used to document sex crimearrests did not always contain enoughinformation to identify those sex crimearrests in which the victim of the crimewas a child. Some sense of the potentialsize of the undercount can begained by comparing rearrests for anysex crime and rearrests for any sexcrime against a child. Rates of rearrestfor a sex crime (tables 21 and 22) arefrom 2 to 3½ percentage points higherthan rates of rearrest for a sex crimeagainst a child (tables 34 and 35),suggesting that rates of rearrest for asex crime against a child could be, atmost, a few percentage points belowactual rates.No data on precise agesof molested childrenThis section also documents the agesof the children that the men werealleged to have molested after theirrelease from prison. Sex crime statutescontained in the arrest records of thereleased prisoners were used to obtainages. The first step was to identifythose sex crime statutes that wereapplicable just to children. Amongthose that were, some were found toapply just to children whose age fellwithin a certain range (for example,under 12, or 13 to 15, or 16 to 17).Those statutes applicable to childrenwithin specified age ranges becamethe source of information on theapproximate ages of the allegedlymolested children. Information onprecise ages could not be determinedbecause statutes applicable just tochildren of a specific age (for example,just to 12-year-olds, or just to age15-year-olds) do not exist.RearrestAll sex offendersFollowing their release in 1994, 209of the total 9,691 released sex offenders(2.2%) were rearrested for a sexoffense against a child (table 34). Forvirtually all 209, the rearrest offensewas a felony. For the reason givenearlier, the 2.2% figure undercountsthe percentage rearrested for a sexoffense against a child. It seemsunlikely that the correct figure could beas high as 5.3% (table 21), which is thepercentage rearrested for a sex crimeagainst a person of any age. The onlyway it could be that high is if none ofthe sex crime arrests after releasewere crimes in which the victim was anadult, an unlikely possibility. The morelikely possibility is that the 2.2% figureundercounts the rate by a maximum of1 or 2 percentage points.An estimated 76% of the children allegedlymolested by the 209 men aftertheir prison release were age 13 oryounger, 12% were 14- or 15-yearsold,and the remaining 12% were 16-or 17-years-old.13 or younger14-1516-17Number of molested childrenSex offenders comparedto non-sex offendersPrisons in the 15 States in the studyreleased 272,111 prisoners altogetherin 1994, 9,691 of whom were the sexoffenders in this report. As previouslystated, 2.2% of the 9,691 sex offenderswere rearrested for a child sex crimeafter their release. That rate is highcompared to the rate for the remaining262,420 non-sex offenders. Of the262,420 non-sex offenders, less thanhalf of 1 percent (1,042 of the 262,420)were rearrested for a sex offenseagainst a child within the 3-yearfollowup period (not shown in table).Since each of the 1,042 was chargedat arrest with molesting at least 1 child,the total number they allegedly molestedwas conservatively estimated at1,042. Of the conservatively estimated1,042 children, 65% were age 13 oryounger, 11% were 14- or 15-yearsold,and 24% were 16- or 17-years-old(not shown in table). (These percentageswere based on the 554 cases outof the 1,042 in which the approximateage of the child could be determined.)Table 34. Of sex offenders released from prison in 1994, percent rearrestedfor a sex crime against a child, and percent of their alleged victims,by age of victim and type of sex offenderTotalNumber releasedAge of child that sex offender wascharged with molesting after releasePercent rearrested for a sex crimeagainst a child within 3 yearsSexualAll Rapists assaulters2.2%9,691Percent ofallegedly molested children76.2%11.512.32091.4%3,11589.3%0.0*10.7*Note: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States. The approximate ages of the childrenallegedly molested by the 209 prisoners after their release were available for 58.4% of the 209."Number of molested children" was set to equal the number of released sex offenders rearrestedfor child molesting.*Percentage based on 10 or fewer cases.442.5%6,57672.3%14.912.816530 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Assuming that the 209 sex offenderswho were rearrested for a sex crimeagainst a child each victimized no morethan one child, the number of sexcrimes they committed against childrenafter their prison release totaled 209.Assuming that the 1,042 non-sexoffenders rearrested for a sex crimeagainst a child after their release alsovictimized only one child, the number ofsex crimes against a child that theycommitted was 1,042. The combinedtotal number of sex crimes is 1,251(209 plus 1,042 = 1,251). Released sexoffenders accounted for 17% andreleased non-sex offenders accountedfor 83% of the 1,251 sex crimesagainst children committed by all theprisoners released in 1994 (209 / 1,251= 17% and 1,042 / 1,251 = 83%).Rapists and sexual assaultersFollowing their 1994 release, 1.4% ofthe 3,115 rapists (44 men) and 2.5% ofthe 6,576 sexual assaulters (165 men)were rearrested for molesting a child(table 34).Child molesters and statutory rapistsWithin 3 years following their releasefrom prison in 1994, 141 (3.3%) of thereleased 4,295 child molesters and 11(2.5%) of the 443 released statutoryrapists were rearrested for molestinganother child (table 35). For thereasons outlined earlier, these percentagesundercount actual rearrest ratesby a few percentage points at most.Each of the 141 released molestersrearrested for repeating their crimerepresented at least 1 child victim. Ofthe conservatively estimated 141children allegedly molested by releasedchild molesters, 79% were age 13 oryounger, 9% were 14 or 15 years ofage, and 12% were ages 16 or 17.Table 35. Of child molesters and statutory rapists released from prisonin 1994, percent rearrested for a sex crime against a child,and percent of their alleged victims, by age of victimTotalNumber releasedAge of child that sex offender wascharged with molesting after release13 or younger14-1516-17Number of molested childrenNote: The 4,295 child molesters were released in 15 States; the 443 statutory rapists in 11States. Because of overlapping definitions, all statutory rapists also appear under the column"child molesters." The approximate ages of the children allegedly molested by the 141 prisonersafter their release were available for 54.6% of the 141. "Number of molested children" was set toequal the number of released sex offenders rearrested for child molesting.*Percentage based on 10 or fewer cases.Prior arrest for a sex crimeagainst a childAll sex offendersAfter their 1994 release from prison,sex offenders with a prior arrest forTotal releasedPercent rearrested for a sexcrime against a child within 3 yearsChildStatutorymolestersrapists3.3%4,295Percent ofallegedly molested children79.2%9.111.7141The arrest responsible for theirbeing in prison in 1994 was — *Their first arrest for a sex crime against a childNot their first arrest for a sex crime against a child2.5%44330.0*%10.0*60.0*11child molesting were more likely to bearrested for child molesting (6.4%) thanthose who had no arrest record for sexwith a child (1.7%) (table 36).Table 36. Of sex offenders released from prison in 1994, percent rearrestedfor a sex crime against a child, by prior arrest for a sex crimeagainst a child and type of sex offenderArrest prior to 1994 releasePercent rearrested for a sex crimeagainst a child within 3 yearsTotalThe arrest responsible for theirbeing in prison in 1994 was —*Their first arrest for a sex crime against a childNot their first arrest for a sex crime against a childPercent of released prisonersTotal100%89.710.39,691100%94.35.73,115100%87.512.56,576Note: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States.*By definition, all sex offenders had at least 1 arrest prior to their release: namely, the arrestresponsible for their being in prison in 1994. "First arrest for a sex crime against a child"pertains exclusively to those released prisoners whose first arrest was the sexoffense arrest responsible for their being in prison in 1994.All2.2%1.76.4Rapists1.4%1.34.0Sexualassaulters2.5%1.96.9Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 31

Rapists and sexual assaultersAfter being released in 1994, 4.0% ofrapists with a prior arrest record forchild molesting and 1.3% of thosewithout were arrested for child molesting.The same pattern — having ahistory of alleged child molesting wasassociated with a greater likelihood ofarrest for child molesting — was foundfor sexual assaulters. Those with aprior arrest had a 6.9% rate; thosewithout, 1.9%.Child molesters and statutory rapistsThe 4,295 released child molesters fellinto 2 categories: 1) 3,509 (81.7% ofthe 4,295) whose criminal record priorto their 1994 release contained nomore than 1 arrest for a sex offenseagainst a child (this was the offense forwhich they were imprisoned); and 2)786 (18.3%) whose record showed thearrest for their imprisonment offenseplus at least one earlier arrest for a sexoffense against a child (table 37). Afterrelease, 7.3% of the 786 and 2.4% ofthe 3,509 were rearrested for molestinganother child, indicating that childmolesters with multiple arrests for childmolesting in their record posed agreater risk of repeating their crimethan their counterparts.Similarly, the 443 statutory rapistsconsisted of —• 356 (80.4%) whose first arrest for asex offense against a child was thearrest that resulted in their currentimprisonment• 87 (19.6%) with more than 1 priorarrest for a sex offense against a child.The 87 were more likely to berearrested for child molesting (6.9%)than the 356 (1.4%).Molester’s and child’s ages at timeof imprisonment offenseChild molestersThe released child molesters were allmen who were arrested, convicted, andTable 37. Of child molesters and statutory rapists released from prison in 1994,percent rearrested for a sex crime against a child, by prior arrest for a sex crimeagainst a childArrest prior to 1994 releasePercent rearrested for a sexcrime against a child within 3 yearsThe arrest responsible for their being in prison in 1994 was —*Their first arrest for a sex crime against a childNot their first arrest for a sex crime against a childPercent of released prisonersThe arrest responsible for their being in prison in 1994 was —*Their first arrest for a sex crime against a childNot their first arrest for a sex crime against a childTotal releasedChildmolesters3.3%100%81.718.34,295100%80.419.6Note: The 4,295 child molesters were released in 15 States; the 443 statutory rapists in 11States. Because of overlapping definitions, all statutory rapists also appear under the column"child molesters."*By definition, all sex offenders had at least 1 arrest prior to their release the arrest responsible fortheir being in prison in 1994. "First arrest for a sex crime against a child" pertains exclusively tothose released prisoners whose first arrest was responsible for their being in prison in 1994.Child molester's age when he committedthe sex crime for which imprisoned a18-2419.7%4.1%25-2917.43.130-3418.73.335-3916.31.240-4411.52.845 or older16.43.0Age of child he was imprisoned for molesting b13 or younger60.3%2.8%14-1530.53.716-179.21.2How much older he was than the childhe was imprisoned for molestingUp to 5 years older5 to 9 years older10 to 19 years older20 or more years older3.9%13.634.148.44.9*%3.63.22.52.47.3Statutoryrapists2.5%Table 38. Among child molesters released from prison in 1994, the molester'sage when he committed the crime that resulted in his imprisonment, the child'sage, and percent rearrested for a sex crime against a childAge characteristicPercentof totalTotal first releases3,1043,104Note: The 3,104 child molesters were released in 13 States. Figures are based on first releasesonly, those offenders leaving prison for the first time since beginning their sentence. Firstreleases exclude those who left prison in 1994 but who had previously been released underthe same sentence and had returned to prison for violating the conditions of release. Dataidentifying the child molester's age were reported for 100% of the released child molesters.Data identifying the approximate age of the child were reported for 88.1%.aThe molester's age at the time of the crime for which imprisoned was estimated by subtracting6 months (the approximate average time from arrest to sentencing) from his age at admission.bThe approximate age of the child "he was imprisoned for molesting" was usually obtained fromthe State statute the molester was convicted of violating.*Percentage based on 10 or fewer cases.1.46.9443Percent of released child molestersrearrested for a sex crimeagainst a child within 3 years32 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

sentenced to prison for a sex crimeagainst a child. At the time theycommitted their imprisonment offense,most (62.9%) were age 30 and older,and most (60.3%) molested a childwho was age 13 or younger (table 38).Some of the victims were below age 7.Nearly half of the men (48.4%) were 20years or more older than the child theywere imprisoned for molesting.Among the men who were in prison formolesting a child age 13 or youngerand who were released in 1994 for thatcrime, 2.8% were subsequentlyarrested for molesting another child.Of those whose imprisonment offensewas against a 14- or 15-year-old, 3.7%had a new arrest for child molestingafter their release. Of the men whowere in prison for molesting a 16- or17-year-old, 1.2% were arrested bypolice for molesting another child afterleaving prison in 1994.Among the men who were 20 years ormore older than the child they wereimprisoned for molesting, 2.5% wererearrested for another sex offenseagainst a child within the first 3 yearsfollowing their release. That is a lowerrate than the 3.2% rate for men whowere 10 to 19 years older than the childvictim in their imprisonment offense,and compared to the 3.6% for those 5to 9 years older than the victim in theirimprisonment offense.State where rearrested for a sexcrime against a childWhen sex offenders were arrested fornew sex crimes against children aftertheir release, the new arrest typicallyoccurred in the same State thatreleased them. Those arrests arereferred to as “in-State” arrests. Whenarrests occurred in a different State,they are referred to as “out-of-State.”All sex offendersOf the 9,691 sex offenders, 209 wererearrested for child molesting after theirrelease from prison in 1994 (table 39).In 180 cases (86.3%), the allegedcrime took place in the State thatreleased him. In the 29 others (13.7%),it occurred elsewhere.Sex offenders comparedto non-sex offendersThe 15 States in this study released262,420 non-sex offenders in 1994, ofwhom 1,042 were rearrested for a sexcrime against a child (not shown intable). Of the 1,042 arrests, 11% wereout-of-State rearrests. The comparablefigure for released sex offenders washigher: 14% (table 39).Rapists and sexual assaultersForty-four released rapists and 165released sexual assaulters wererearrested for a sex crime against aState where rearrestedwithin 3 yearsTotalSame State where releasedAnother StateTotal rearrested for a newsex crime against a child100%86.313.7209Note: The 209 rearrested sex offenders were released in 10 States,but table percentages are based on 9 States.child within 3 years. Out-of-Statearrests for child molesting accountedfor 13.5% of the 44 rearrested rapistsand 13.7% of the 165 rearrested sexualassaulters.Child molesters and statutory rapistsPolice arrested 141 of the 4,295released child molesters for repeatingtheir crime (table 40). For 126 of them(89.2%), the new arrest for childmolesting was in the same State thatreleased them. For 15 (10.8%), thenew charges for child molesting werefiled in a different State.Of the 443 statutory rapists releasedfrom prison in 1994, 11 wererearrested for child molesting. All 11of the arrests were in the same Statethat released the men.Table 39. Where sex offenders were rearrested for a sex crime against a childfollowing their release from prison in 1994, by type of sex offenderSame State where releasedAnother StateTotal rearrested for a newsex crime against a childPercent of rearrested prisonersSexualAll Rapists assaulters89.210.8141100%86.513.544100%86.313.7Table 40. Where child molesters and statutory rapists were rearrested for asex crime against a child following their release from prison in 1994State where rearrested within 3 yearsTotal100%Note: The 141 rearrested child molesters were released in 9 States,but table percentages are based on 8 States. The 11 rearrestedstatutory rapists were released in 3 States, but table percentagesare based on 2 States.165Percent of rearrested prisonersChildStatutorymolesters rapists100%100011Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 33

Rearrest for other types of crimeAll sex offendersOf the 9,691 male sex offendersreleased from prison in 1994 —• 43% (4,163 men) were rearrestedfor a crime of any kind (table 41)• 5.3% (517 men) were rearrestedfor a sex offense• 17.1% (1,658 men) were rearrestedfor a violent crime• 13.3% (1,285 men) were rearrestedfor a property crime of some kind.Of the 9,691 released men, 168 (1.7%)were rearrested for rape and 396(4.1%) were rearrested for sexualassault. The 168 rearrested for rapeplus the 396 rearrested for sexualassault totals 564, which is 47 greaterthan the total 517 who were rearrestedfor a sex crime. The reason is that 47men were rearrested for both rape andsexual assault.The category of violent crime for whicha prisoner was most likely to berearrested was assault (8.8%, or 848 ofthe 9,691); the category least likely washomicide (0.5%, or 45 of the 9,691men).Just over 1 in 5 sex offenders (2,045out of 9,691) were rearrested for apublic-order offense, such as a paroleviolation or traffic offense.Rapists and sexual assaultersAmong the 3,115 released rapists —• 46% (1,432) were rearrestedfor a crime of any kind• 18.7% (582) were rearrestedfor a violent crime• 0.7% (22) were rearrested forhomicide• 14.7% (459) were rearrestedfor a property offense.Among the 6,576 released sexualassaulters —• 41.5% (2,731) were rearrestedfor a crime of any kind• 16.4% (1,076) were rearrestedfor a violent crime• 0.3% (23) were rearrestedfor killing someoneAll charges a43.0% 46.0% 41.5%Violent offenses b 17.1% 18.7% 16.4%Homicide c 0.5 0.7 0.3Sex offense d 5.3 5.0 5.5Rape1.7 2.5 1.4Sexual assault 4.1 2.8 4.7Robbery2.7 3.9 2.1Assault8.8 8.7 8.8Property offenses e 13.3% 14.7% 12.6%Burglary3.8 4.4 3.5Larceny/theft5.7 6.1 5.6Motor vehicle theft 1.7 2.3 1.4Fraud2.1 1.8 2.2Drug offenses f 10.0% 11.2% 9.4%Public-order offenses g 21.1% 20.4% 21.4%Other offensesTotal released5.9%9,6915.0%3,115• 12.6% (826) were rearrestedfor a property offense.Nearly 1 in 20 released sexualassaulters (4.7%, or 308 of the 6,576)were charged with committing thesame type of crime for which had justserved time in prison.Table 41. Rearrest rate of sex offenders released from prison in 1994,by type of sex offender and charge at rearrestRearrest chargePercent rearrested for specifiedoffense within 3 yearsSexualAll Rapists assaulters6.3%6,576Note: The 9,691 sex offenders were released in 15 States. Detail may not add to totalsbecause persons may be rearrested for more than one type of charge.aAll offenses include any offense type listed in footnotes b through f plus"other" and "unknown" offenses.bTotal violent offenses include homicide, kidnaping, rape, other sexual assault, robbery,assaults, and other violence.cHomicide includes murder, voluntary manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, negligentmanslaughter, nonnegligent manslaughter, unspecified manslaughter, and unspecified homicide.dIncludes both rape and sexual assault.eTotal property offenses include burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, fraud, forgery,embezzlement, arson, stolen property, and other forms of property offenses.fDrug offenses include drug trafficking, drug possession, and other forms of drug offenses.gPublic-order offenses include traffic offenses, weapon offenses, probation and paroleviolations, court-related offenses, disorderly conduct, and other such offenses.A relatively small percentage of rapists(2.5%, or 78 of the 3,115) werecharged with repeating the crime forwhich they were imprisoned.34 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Child molesters and statutory rapistsOf the 4,295 child molesters releasedfrom prison in 1994 —• 39.4% (1,693) were rearrestedfor a crime of any kind (table 42)• 0.4% (17) were rearrestedfor intentionally or negligentlykilling someone.Child molesters were less likely to berearrested for a property crime (10.6%,456 of 4,295) than a violent crime(14.1%, 607 of 4,295).Of the 443 statutory rapists releasedin 1994 —• 49.9% (221) were rearrestedfor some new crime• 0.7% (3) were rearrested for homicide• 22.6% (100) were rearrestedfor a property crime• 21.2% (94) were rearrestedfor a violent crime.Table 42. Rearrest rate of child molesters and statutory rapists releasedfrom prison in 1994, by charge at rearrestRearrest chargeAll charges a39.4% 49.9%Violent offenses b 14.1% 21.2%Homicide c 0.40.7Sex offense d 5.15.0Rape1.31.6Sexual assault4.43.6Robbery1.74.3Assault7.112.6Property offenses e 10.6% 22.6%Burglary2.84.3Larceny/theft4.610.8Motor vehicle theft1.53.8Fraud1.93.6Drug offenses f 8.6% 12.0%Public-order offenses g 20.0% 27.1%Other offensesTotal releasedPercent rearrested for specifiedoffense within 3 yearsChildStatutorymolesters rapists7.8%4,2954.3%Note: The 4,295 child molesters were released in 15 States; the 443 statutory rapists in 11States. Because of overlapping definitions, all statutory rapists also appear under the column"child molesters." Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.aAll offenses include any offense type listed in footnotes b through f plus “other” and “unknown”offenses.bTotal violent offenses include homicide, kidnaping, rape, other sexual assault, robbery,assaults, and other violence.cHomicide includes murder, voluntary manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, negligentmanslaughter, nonnegligent manslaughter, unspecified manslaughter, and unspecified homicide.dIncludes both rape and sexual assault.eTotal property offenses include burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, fraud, forgery,embezzlement, arson, stolen property, and other forms of property offenses.fDrug offenses include drug trafficking, drug possession, and other forms of drug offenses.gPublic-order offenses include traffic offenses, weapon offenses, probation and parole violations,court-related offenses, disorderly conduct, and other such offenses.443Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 35

Victims of sex crimesSurvey of State inmatesThe 9,691 prisoners in this study wereall men sentenced to prison for sexcrimes. Characteristics of the victimsof these sex crimes were largelyunavailable for the study. For informationon imprisoned sex offenders andtheir victims, data were drawn from asurvey covering the approximately73,000 male sex offenders in Stateprisons nationwide in 1997.Of the 73,000 victims of their sexcrimes —• about 90% were female• nearly 75% were white• 89% were non-Hispanic• 36% were below age 13• altogether, 70% were under age 18.Child victims of sex crimes were morelikely than adult victims to be male(11% versus 3%). Whites made up76% of child victims and 66% of adultvictims.The biggest difference between childvictims and adult victims was theirrelationship to the man who committedthe sex crime:Among cases where the victim wasunder 18, the boy or girl was theprisoner’s own child (16%), stepchild(16%), sibling or stepsibling (2%), orother relative (13%) in nearly half of allchild victim cases (46%). Amongcases where the victim was an adult,the victim was a relative lessoften (11%).Among inmates who were in prison fora sex crime against a child, the childwas the prisoner’s own child or stepchildin a third of the cases. SevenRaceWhiteBlackOtherHispanic originHispanicNon-HispanicAge12 or under13-1718-2425-3435-3455 or overVictim was the prisoner's —SpouseEx-spouseParent/stepparentOwn childStepchildSibling/stepsiblingOther relativeBoy/girlfriendEx-boy/girlfriendFriend/ex-friendAcquaintance/otherStranger73.2%22.84.011.3%88.736.4%34.110.811.27.00.51.1%0.60.611.511.21.39.45.51.122.719.415.6percent of the inmates reported theirchild victims to have been strangers.Among adult victims, 34% werestrangers to their attacker.Characteristics of victims of rape or sexual assault, for which male inmateswere serving a sentence in State prisons, 1997Victim characteristicTotalGenderMaleFemalePercent of victims of rape or sexual assaultVictim ageAll 18 years or older Under 18 years100%8.8%91.2100%2.8%97.266.0%30.23.89.9%90.1----36.7%37.923.81.63.8%2.00.41.40.40.42.18.22.024.820.134.4100%11.1%88.976.4%19.44.212.1%87.951.6%48.4--------0%00.615.715.81.712.74.40.822.019.66.7Total estimated number 73,11620,95850,027Note: Data are from the BJS Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, 1997. This tableis based on 73,116 prisoners who reported having one victim in the crime for which they weresentenced to prison. (They accounted for approximately 84% of all incarcerated male sexoffenders in 1997.) Data identifying victim's sex were reported for 99.8% of the 73,116 malesincarcerated for sex crimes; victim's race were reported for 98.9%; Hispanic origin for 98.2%;victim's age for 97.1%; victim's relationship to prisoner for 98.3%. Detail may not sum to totaldue to missing data for age of victim.--Not applicable.36 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

Methodology3-year followup periodFor analytic purposes, "3 years" wasdefined as 1,096 days from the day ofrelease from prison. Any rearrest,reconviction, or re-imprisonment occurringafter 1,096 days from the 1994release was not included. A convictionafter 1,096 days was not counted evenif it resulted from an arrest within theperiod.Separating sex offenders into fourtypesThe report gives statistics for four typesof sex offenders. Separating sex offendersinto the four types was done usinginformation — in particular, the statutenumber for the imprisonment offense,the literal version of the statute, anumeric FBI code (called the “NCIC”code, short for “National Crime InformationCenter”) indicating what theimprisonment offense was, and miscellaneousother information — availablein the prison records on the 9,691 men.However, the prison records obtainedfor the study did not always contain allfour pieces of information on theimprisonment offense. Moreover, theavailable offense information was notalways detailed enough to reliablydistinguish different types of sexoffenders.The process of sorting sex offendersinto different types involved first creatingthe study’s definitions of the fourtypes, and then determining whichState statute numbers, which literalversions of those statutes, and whichNCIC codes conformed to the definitions.Each inmate was next classifiedinto one of the types (or possibly intomore than one type, since the four arenot mutually exclusive) depending onwhether the imprisonment offenseinformation available on him fit thestudy’s definition.An obstacle to classifying sex offendersinto types was that the labels “rape,”“sexual assault,” “child molestation,”“statutory rape” were not widely used inState statutes, and when they wereused they did not always conform tothe study’s definitions of them. Indeciding which type of sex offender toclassify the prisoner as, importancewas attached not to the label the lawgave to his conviction offense, but tohow well the law’s definition of theoffense fit the study’s definition of thetype.Sex offenders compared to non-sexoffendersIn 1994, prisons in 15 States released272,111 prisoners, representingtwo-thirds of all prisoners released inthe United States that year. Among the272,111 were 262,420 released prisonerswhose imprisonment offense wasnot a sex offense. Non-sex offendersinclude inmates, both male and female,who were in prison for violent crimes(such as murder or robbery), propertycrimes (such as burglary or motorvehicle theft), drug crimes, and publicorder offenses. Like the 9,691 malesex offenders examined in this report,all non-sex offenders were servingprison terms of one year or more inState prison when they were releasedin 1994.At various places, this report compares9,691 released male sex offenders to262,420 released non-sex offenders.While labeled “non-sex offenders,” the262,420 actually includes a smallnumber- 87- who are sex offenders.The 87 are all the female sex offendersreleased from prisons in the 15 Statesin 1994.Ages of molested and allegedlymolested childrenInformation on the ages of molestedchildren was needed for two calculations:1) age of the child the releasedsex offender was sent to prison formolesting, and 2) age of the child allegedlymolested by the released sexoffender during the 3-year follow-upperiod. The most frequent source ofboth was a sex statute: either the sexstatute the offender was imprisoned forviolating, or the statute the releasedprisoner was charged with violatingwhen he was rearrested for a sexcrime. The former was obtained fromthe prison records assembled for thestudy; the latter, from the assembledarrest records.None of the sex statutes was found toapply to a victim of a specific age; forexample, just to 12-year-olds. Butsome were found to apply just tochildren in a certain age range; forexample, under 12, or 13 to 15, or 16to 17. While specific ages of childrencould not be obtained from statutes,the availability of information on ageranges at least made it possible toobtain approximate ages. The rule thatwas adopted was to record the victim’s(or alleged victim’s) age as the upperlimit of a statute’s age range. To illustrate,a statute might indicate that thecomplainant/victim be “at least 13 butless than 16 years of age.” In that case,the age of the child was recorded as15, since the statute indicated theupper limit of the age range as any age“less than 16.” As another example, if astatute indicated the complainant/victim be “under 12 years of age,” thechild’s age was recorded as 11, as thephrasing of the age range did notinclude 12-year-olds, only those “under12.” Because the victim (or allegedvictim) was always assigned the age ofthe oldest person in the age range, thestudy made the victims (or allegedvictims) appear older than they actuallywere.How missing data were handled in thereportIn many instances, the data needed tocalculate a statistic were not availablefor all 9,691 released sex offenders.For example, the 9,691 were releasedin 15 States, but data needed to determinethe number reconvicted were onlyavailable for the 9,085 released in 14 ofthe 15. Of the 9,085, 2,180 (24%) werereconvicted. When data were missing,the statistic was computed on thoseRecidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 37

cases in which the data were available,but treated both in the tables and in thetext as though it were based on thetotal population. For example, “24%” isthe statistic that appears in all tablesand text that give the percent reconvicted;and since 24% of 9,691 is2,326, the text says that “2,326 of the9,691 were reconvicted,” despite thefact that the “24%” was actually obtainedby dividing 2,180 by 9,085. Thetext could have been written to say“2,180 of the 9,085 were reconvicted,”but that wasn’t done because introducinga new denominator (9,085) into thetext would have created confusion forthe reader.Missing data on out-of-State rearrestsBecause of missing information, thestudy was unable to determine howmany inmates released from New Yorkprisons were rearrested outside of NewYork. The study was able to documenthow many prisoners released in theother 14 States were rearrestedoutside the State that released them.Because of incomplete New York data,the report’s recidivism rates aresomewhat deflated.Missing data on rearrest for a sexcrimeAccording to arrest records compiled inthe study, 4,163 of the 9,691 releasedsex offenders were rearrested for anew crime of some kind. It was notalways possible to determine fromthese records whether the new crimewas a sex crime. For 202 rearrestedprisoners, the arrest record did notidentify the type of crime. For the restthe record did identify the type but theoffense label was not always specificenough to distinguish sex crimes fromother crimes. For example, if the labelsaid “contributing to the delinquency ofa minor,” “indeceny,” “morals offense,”“family offense,” or “child abuse,” theoffense was coded as a non-sex crimeeven though, in some unknownnumber of cases, it was actually a sexcrime.According to arrest records, 5.3% ofthe 9,691 (517 out of 9,691) releasedsex offenders were rearrested foranother sex crime. For the two reasonsdescribed immediately above, 5.3%was probably an undercount of howmany were rearrested for a sex crime.How much of an undercount could notbe firmly determined from the dataassembled for the study. However, aconservative measure of the size of theundercount was obtained from thedata. The study database included 121rearrested sex offenders whose arrestrecord did not indicate they wererearrested for a sex crime (the rearrestwas either for a non-sex crime or for anunknown type of crime) but whosecourt record did indicate they werecharged with a sex crime. When thestudy calculated the percentagerearrested for a sex crime, the 121were not included among the 517 witha rearrest for a sex crime. Had the 121been included in the calculation of therearrest rate, the total numberrearrested for a sex crime would havebeen 638 rather than 517, and thepercentage rearrested for a sex crimewould have been 6.6% rather than5.3%. This suggests an undercount ofabout 1 percentage point.Texas prisoners classified as "othertype of release"Texas released 692 male sex offendersin 1994, of which 129 were classifiedas release category “17", definedas “other type of release.” Numerousdata quality checks were run on the129 and the 64 of them who wererearrested. The rearrest rate for the129 was about average for Texasreleases. But numerous anomalieswere found for the 64 who wererearrested:1. The rearrest offense for the 64 wasalways missing from their arrest record2. The date of rearrest for the 64 wasalways the same as their release date3. Virtually all 64 were reconvicted for asex crime4. The sentence length imposed fortheir new sex crime was identical to thesentence they were serving whenreleased in 1994.Because of these anomalies, the 129were excluded from the calculation of“percent reconvicted for a sex crime.”Counting rulesIn this report, rearrest was measuredby counting the number of differentpersons who were rearrested at leastonce. A released prisoner who wasrearrested several times or had multiplerearrest charges filed against himwas counted as only one rearrestedperson. The same counting ruleapplied to reconviction and the otherrecidivism measures.If a released prisoner was rearrestedseveral times, his earliest rearrest wasused to calculate his time-to-rearrest.The same counting rule applied toreconviction and recidivism defined asa new prison sentence.If a released prisoner had both in-Stateand out-of-State rearrests, he wascounted as having an out-of-Staterearrest regardless of whether theout-of-State rearrest was his earliestrearrest. The same rule applied incases where the released prisoner hadboth felony and misdemeanorrearrests, or both sex crime andnon-sex crime rearrests. The personwas counted as having a felonyrearrest or a sex crime rearrest regardlessof temporal sequence.The aim of these rules was to countpeople, not events. The only tables inthe report that do not follow the rule aretables 41 and 42.First releaseAll 15 States had first releases, butthey could not be identified in 1 State(Ohio). They could be identified inMichigan, but Michigan data onsentence length did not fit the study’sdefinition. Since sentence length wascritical to several statistics calculated38 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

from data on first releases (forexample, percent of sentence served),Michigan was excluded from all tablesbased on first releases.Analysis of statutory rape lawsThe publication’s analysis of statutoryrape laws in the United States benefittedgreatly from the report “SexualRelationships Between Adult Malesand Young Teen Girls: Exploring theLegal and Social Responses,” bySharon G. Elstein and Noy Davis,American Bar Association, Center onChildren and the Law, October 1997.Sampling errorIn 1994 State prisons in 15 Statesreleased 302,309 prisoners altogether.A total of 38,624 were sampled for arecidivism study. Results of that studyand information regarding samplingand other methodological details areavailable in the BJS publication Recidivismof Prisoners Released in 1994,NCJ 193427, June 2002.The 302,309 total released consistedof 10,546 released sex offenders plus291,763 released non-sex offenders.The 38,624 sample consisted of10,546 released sex offenders plus28,078 released non-sex offenders.The number of sex offenders in thesample was the same as the number inthe 302,309 total because all sexoffenders released in 1994 in the 15States were selected for the study, nota sample of them.Because no sampling was used toselect sex offenders, numbers andpercentages in this report for sexoffenders were not subject to samplingerror. However, comparisons in thereport between sex offenders andnon-sex offenders were subject tosampling error because sampling wasused to select non-sex offenders.Where sex offenders were comparedto all non-sex offenders released in1994, sampling error was taken intoaccount. All differences discussedwere statistically significant at the .05level.Not all 10,546 sex offenders in thesample were used in the report. To bein the report, the sex offender had tobe male and meet all 4 of the followingcriteria:1. A RAP sheet on the prisoner wasfound in the State criminal historyrepository.2. The released prisoner was alivethroughout the entire 3-year followupperiod. (This requirement resulted in 21sex offenders’ being excluded.)3. The prisoner's sentence was greaterthan 1 year (missing sentences weretreated as greater than 1 year).4. The State department of correctionsthat released the prisoner in 1994 didnot designate him as any of the followingrelease types: release tocustody/detainer/warrant, absentwithout leave, escape, transfer, administrativerelease, or release on appeal.A total of 9,691 released male sexoffenders met the selection criteria.The number of them released in eachState is shown in the appendix table.Other methodological detailsTo help the reader understand thepercentages provided in the report,both the numerator and denominatorwere often given. In most cases, thereader could then reproduce thepercentages. For example, the reportindicates 38.6% (3,741) of the 9,691sex offenders were returned to prison.Appendix table. Number of sexoffenders released from State prisonsin 1994 and number selected for thisreport, by StateSex offendersreleased fromprison in 1994Selectedto be inState Total this reportTotal 10,546 9,691Arizona156 122California 3,503 3,395Delaware 53 45Florida 1,053 965Illinois775 710Maryland 277 243Michigan 477 444Minnesota 249 239New Jersey 449 429New York 799 692North Carolina 508 441Ohio824 606Oregon452 408Texas708 692Virginia263 260Note: "Total released" includes both male andfemale sex offenders; "Total selected to be inthis report" includes only male sex offenders.Using the 3,741 and the 9,691, thereader could exactly reproduce theresults. However, the reader should beaware that in a few places, the calculatedpercentages will differ slightlyfrom the percentages found in thereport. This is due to rounding. Forexample, 43.0%, or 4,163, of the 9,691sex offenders were rearrested;however, 4,163 / 9,691 is 42.96%,which was rounded to 43.0%.Offense definitions and other methodologicaldetails are available in the BJSpublication Recidivism of PrisonersReleased in 1994, NCJ 193427, June2002.Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 39

Methodology3-year followup periodFor analytic purposes, "3 years" wasdefined as 1,096 days from the day ofrelease from prison. Any rearrest,reconviction, or re-imprisonment occurringafter 1,096 days from the 1994release was not included. A convictionafter 1,096 days was not counted evenif it resulted from an arrest within theperiod.Separating sex offenders into fourtypesThe report gives statistics for four typesof sex offenders. Separating sex offendersinto the four types was done usinginformation — in particular, the statutenumber for the imprisonment offense,the literal version of the statute, anumeric FBI code (called the “NCIC”code, short for “National Crime InformationCenter”) indicating what theimprisonment offense was, and miscellaneousother information — availablein the prison records on the 9,691 men.However, the prison records obtainedfor the study did not always contain allfour pieces of information on theimprisonment offense. Moreover, theavailable offense information was notalways detailed enough to reliablydistinguish different types of sexoffenders.The process of sorting sex offendersinto different types involved first creatingthe study’s definitions of the fourtypes, and then determining whichState statute numbers, which literalversions of those statutes, and whichNCIC codes conformed to the definitions.Each inmate was next classifiedinto one of the types (or possibly intomore than one type, since the four arenot mutually exclusive) depending onwhether the imprisonment offenseinformation available on him fit thestudy’s definition.An obstacle to classifying sex offendersinto types was that the labels “rape,”“sexual assault,” “child molestation,”“statutory rape” were not widely used inState statutes, and when they wereused they did not always conform tothe study’s definitions of them. Indeciding which type of sex offender toclassify the prisoner as, importancewas attached not to the label the lawgave to his conviction offense, but tohow well the law’s definition of theoffense fit the study’s definition of thetype.Sex offenders compared to non-sexoffendersIn 1994, prisons in 15 States released272,111 prisoners, representingtwo-thirds of all prisoners released inthe United States that year. Among the272,111 were 262,420 released prisonerswhose imprisonment offense wasnot a sex offense. Non-sex offendersinclude inmates, both male and female,who were in prison for violent crimes(such as murder or robbery), propertycrimes (such as burglary or motorvehicle theft), drug crimes, and publicorder offenses. Like the 9,691 malesex offenders examined in this report,all non-sex offenders were servingprison terms of one year or more inState prison when they were releasedin 1994.At various places, this report compares9,691 released male sex offenders to262,420 released non-sex offenders.While labeled “non-sex offenders,” the262,420 actually includes a smallnumber- 87- who are sex offenders.The 87 are all the female sex offendersreleased from prisons in the 15 Statesin 1994.Ages of molested and allegedlymolested childrenInformation on the ages of molestedchildren was needed for two calculations:1) age of the child the releasedsex offender was sent to prison formolesting, and 2) age of the child allegedlymolested by the released sexoffender during the 3-year follow-upperiod. The most frequent source ofboth was a sex statute: either the sexstatute the offender was imprisoned forviolating, or the statute the releasedprisoner was charged with violatingwhen he was rearrested for a sexcrime. The former was obtained fromthe prison records assembled for thestudy; the latter, from the assembledarrest records.None of the sex statutes was found toapply to a victim of a specific age; forexample, just to 12-year-olds. Butsome were found to apply just tochildren in a certain age range; forexample, under 12, or 13 to 15, or 16to 17. While specific ages of childrencould not be obtained from statutes,the availability of information on ageranges at least made it possible toobtain approximate ages. The rule thatwas adopted was to record the victim’s(or alleged victim’s) age as the upperlimit of a statute’s age range. To illustrate,a statute might indicate that thecomplainant/victim be “at least 13 butless than 16 years of age.” In that case,the age of the child was recorded as15, since the statute indicated theupper limit of the age range as any age“less than 16.” As another example, if astatute indicated the complainant/victim be “under 12 years of age,” thechild’s age was recorded as 11, as thephrasing of the age range did notinclude 12-year-olds, only those “under12.” Because the victim (or allegedvictim) was always assigned the age ofthe oldest person in the age range, thestudy made the victims (or allegedvictims) appear older than they actuallywere.How missing data were handled in thereportIn many instances, the data needed tocalculate a statistic were not availablefor all 9,691 released sex offenders.For example, the 9,691 were releasedin 15 States, but data needed to determinethe number reconvicted were onlyavailable for the 9,085 released in 14 ofthe 15. Of the 9,085, 2,180 (24%) werereconvicted. When data were missing,the statistic was computed on thoseRecidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 37

cases in which the data were available,but treated both in the tables and in thetext as though it were based on thetotal population. For example, “24%” isthe statistic that appears in all tablesand text that give the percent reconvicted;and since 24% of 9,691 is2,326, the text says that “2,326 of the9,691 were reconvicted,” despite thefact that the “24%” was actually obtainedby dividing 2,180 by 9,085. Thetext could have been written to say“2,180 of the 9,085 were reconvicted,”but that wasn’t done because introducinga new denominator (9,085) into thetext would have created confusion forthe reader.Missing data on out-of-State rearrestsBecause of missing information, thestudy was unable to determine howmany inmates released from New Yorkprisons were rearrested outside of NewYork. The study was able to documenthow many prisoners released in theother 14 States were rearrestedoutside the State that released them.Because of incomplete New York data,the report’s recidivism rates aresomewhat deflated.Missing data on rearrest for a sexcrimeAccording to arrest records compiled inthe study, 4,163 of the 9,691 releasedsex offenders were rearrested for anew crime of some kind. It was notalways possible to determine fromthese records whether the new crimewas a sex crime. For 202 rearrestedprisoners, the arrest record did notidentify the type of crime. For the restthe record did identify the type but theoffense label was not always specificenough to distinguish sex crimes fromother crimes. For example, if the labelsaid “contributing to the delinquency ofa minor,” “indeceny,” “morals offense,”“family offense,” or “child abuse,” theoffense was coded as a non-sex crimeeven though, in some unknownnumber of cases, it was actually a sexcrime.According to arrest records, 5.3% ofthe 9,691 (517 out of 9,691) releasedsex offenders were rearrested foranother sex crime. For the two reasonsdescribed immediately above, 5.3%was probably an undercount of howmany were rearrested for a sex crime.How much of an undercount could notbe firmly determined from the dataassembled for the study. However, aconservative measure of the size of theundercount was obtained from thedata. The study database included 121rearrested sex offenders whose arrestrecord did not indicate they wererearrested for a sex crime (the rearrestwas either for a non-sex crime or for anunknown type of crime) but whosecourt record did indicate they werecharged with a sex crime. When thestudy calculated the percentagerearrested for a sex crime, the 121were not included among the 517 witha rearrest for a sex crime. Had the 121been included in the calculation of therearrest rate, the total numberrearrested for a sex crime would havebeen 638 rather than 517, and thepercentage rearrested for a sex crimewould have been 6.6% rather than5.3%. This suggests an undercount ofabout 1 percentage point.Texas prisoners classified as "othertype of release"Texas released 692 male sex offendersin 1994, of which 129 were classifiedas release category “17", definedas “other type of release.” Numerousdata quality checks were run on the129 and the 64 of them who wererearrested. The rearrest rate for the129 was about average for Texasreleases. But numerous anomalieswere found for the 64 who wererearrested:1. The rearrest offense for the 64 wasalways missing from their arrest record2. The date of rearrest for the 64 wasalways the same as their release date3. Virtually all 64 were reconvicted for asex crime4. The sentence length imposed fortheir new sex crime was identical to thesentence they were serving whenreleased in 1994.Because of these anomalies, the 129were excluded from the calculation of“percent reconvicted for a sex crime.”Counting rulesIn this report, rearrest was measuredby counting the number of differentpersons who were rearrested at leastonce. A released prisoner who wasrearrested several times or had multiplerearrest charges filed against himwas counted as only one rearrestedperson. The same counting ruleapplied to reconviction and the otherrecidivism measures.If a released prisoner was rearrestedseveral times, his earliest rearrest wasused to calculate his time-to-rearrest.The same counting rule applied toreconviction and recidivism defined asa new prison sentence.If a released prisoner had both in-Stateand out-of-State rearrests, he wascounted as having an out-of-Staterearrest regardless of whether theout-of-State rearrest was his earliestrearrest. The same rule applied incases where the released prisoner hadboth felony and misdemeanorrearrests, or both sex crime andnon-sex crime rearrests. The personwas counted as having a felonyrearrest or a sex crime rearrest regardlessof temporal sequence.The aim of these rules was to countpeople, not events. The only tables inthe report that do not follow the rule aretables 41 and 42.First releaseAll 15 States had first releases, butthey could not be identified in 1 State(Ohio). They could be identified inMichigan, but Michigan data onsentence length did not fit the study’sdefinition. Since sentence length wascritical to several statistics calculated38 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994

from data on first releases (forexample, percent of sentence served),Michigan was excluded from all tablesbased on first releases.Analysis of statutory rape lawsThe publication’s analysis of statutoryrape laws in the United States benefittedgreatly from the report “SexualRelationships Between Adult Malesand Young Teen Girls: Exploring theLegal and Social Responses,” bySharon G. Elstein and Noy Davis,American Bar Association, Center onChildren and the Law, October 1997.Sampling errorIn 1994 State prisons in 15 Statesreleased 302,309 prisoners altogether.A total of 38,624 were sampled for arecidivism study. Results of that studyand information regarding samplingand other methodological details areavailable in the BJS publication Recidivismof Prisoners Released in 1994,NCJ 193427, June 2002.The 302,309 total released consistedof 10,546 released sex offenders plus291,763 released non-sex offenders.The 38,624 sample consisted of10,546 released sex offenders plus28,078 released non-sex offenders.The number of sex offenders in thesample was the same as the number inthe 302,309 total because all sexoffenders released in 1994 in the 15States were selected for the study, nota sample of them.Because no sampling was used toselect sex offenders, numbers andpercentages in this report for sexoffenders were not subject to samplingerror. However, comparisons in thereport between sex offenders andnon-sex offenders were subject tosampling error because sampling wasused to select non-sex offenders.Where sex offenders were comparedto all non-sex offenders released in1994, sampling error was taken intoaccount. All differences discussedwere statistically significant at the .05level.Not all 10,546 sex offenders in thesample were used in the report. To bein the report, the sex offender had tobe male and meet all 4 of the followingcriteria:1. A RAP sheet on the prisoner wasfound in the State criminal historyrepository.2. The released prisoner was alivethroughout the entire 3-year followupperiod. (This requirement resulted in 21sex offenders’ being excluded.)3. The prisoner's sentence was greaterthan 1 year (missing sentences weretreated as greater than 1 year).4. The State department of correctionsthat released the prisoner in 1994 didnot designate him as any of the followingrelease types: release tocustody/detainer/warrant, absentwithout leave, escape, transfer, administrativerelease, or release on appeal.A total of 9,691 released male sexoffenders met the selection criteria.The number of them released in eachState is shown in the appendix table.Other methodological detailsTo help the reader understand thepercentages provided in the report,both the numerator and denominatorwere often given. In most cases, thereader could then reproduce thepercentages. For example, the reportindicates 38.6% (3,741) of the 9,691sex offenders were returned to prison.Appendix table. Number of sexoffenders released from State prisonsin 1994 and number selected for thisreport, by StateSex offendersreleased fromprison in 1994Selectedto be inState Total this reportTotal 10,546 9,691Arizona156 122California 3,503 3,395Delaware 53 45Florida 1,053 965Illinois775 710Maryland 277 243Michigan 477 444Minnesota 249 239New Jersey 449 429New York 799 692North Carolina 508 441Ohio824 606Oregon452 408Texas708 692Virginia263 260Note: "Total released" includes both male andfemale sex offenders; "Total selected to be inthis report" includes only male sex offenders.Using the 3,741 and the 9,691, thereader could exactly reproduce theresults. However, the reader should beaware that in a few places, the calculatedpercentages will differ slightlyfrom the percentages found in thereport. This is due to rounding. Forexample, 43.0%, or 4,163, of the 9,691sex offenders were rearrested;however, 4,163 / 9,691 is 42.96%,which was rounded to 43.0%.Offense definitions and other methodologicaldetails are available in the BJSpublication Recidivism of PrisonersReleased in 1994, NCJ 193427, June2002.Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994 39

40 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from Prison in 1994