U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Defining Child Sexual Abuse as Criminal Behavior: The Extent of Police Response to Child Sexual Abuse in Day Care Settings

NCJ Number
117103
Author(s)
L M Williams
Date Published
1987
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study examined factors influencing the extent of police involvement in child-welfare-substantiated cases of child sexual abuse alleged to have occurred in 270 daycare settings between January 1983 and December 1985.
Abstract
In 12 percent of these cases, the police were not involved and the event was not defined as criminal. In 45 percent there was a police investigation, but no charges or arrests resulted. In 42 percent of cases an arrest was made or charges were filed for prosecution of the offender. A variety of reasons was given for police noninvolvement. In some cases police were never notified; in others police were notified at the onset, usually by parents, but deferred to child protective services or licensing agencies. In some cases, the alleged perpetrator was a juvenile son or daughter or husband of the owner/operator who was barred from the center or removed from the home; and in others the alleged perpetrator had abused his or her own children at the center. A more serious police response was likely in cases with multiple victims and when there were allegations of oral sex or sexual intercourse. Cases occurring in family daycare homes also were more likely to result in greater police involvement and arrest. Cases involving a male or both male and female perpetrators also were more likely to receive serious treatment by police. Finally, cases involving staff family members were more likely to be treated as criminal than were those involving professional staff (usually a teacher). 5 tables and 4 references.