Most adult child sex offenders begin committing sexual abuse while they are still in school
Most adult child sex offenders begin committing sexual abuse while they are still in school.
In a survey of over 1,000 self-confessed child sex offenders, 43% were sexually abusing boys when they were aged 10-15 and 70% by the time they were aged 19.
Emeritus Professor Freda Briggs of the University of South Australia explained some of the causes at a seminar in Adelaide.
“We are finding increasingly that children are sexually abusing other children in school,“ she said. “It is learned behaviour mostly.”
Children that sexually abuse others are likely to be re-enacting their own experiences of abuse or of pornography, according to Professor Briggs.
Professor Briggs (1930-2016) was named Senior Australian of the Year 2000 for her pioneering work in child protection.
