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Sexual Assault Recidivism In Vermont

NCJ Number
241351
Author(s)
Elizabeth Maier, Ph.D.; Robin Adler, Ph.D.
Date Published
May 2012
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This study examined the rate of recidivism and criminal history typology of sexual assault offenders with adult victims in Vermont between 2004 and 2010.
Abstract
Results found that sexual assault offender recidivism rates in Vermont are comparable to what other studies have found. Key findings show that the overall recidivism rate of the defendants was 24.6 percent; sexual assault offenders with prior sex offense convictions had the highest rate of recidivism (40percent); first time offenders and sexual assault offenders with prior criminal history but without sex offenses had comparable rates of recidivism (24.3 percent and 21.7 percent respectively); sexual assault offender recidivism rates in Vermont are comparable to what other studies have found; of those offenders who had a prior conviction, the previous conviction was most likely for a domestic assault; the most common first recidivism offense was a violation of probation; and roughly seven percent (6.67 percent) of recidivists had a new sex offense conviction at some point. For analysis purposes, the defendants were divided into three distinct groups: first time offenders, sexual assault offenders with no prior sex offense convictions, and sexual assault offenders with prior sex offense convictions. All of the defendants were male. The average age of defendants at time of disposition was 35 while over half of the defendants were Caucasian (64.9 percent). Figures and references