Female Sex Offenders

Much confusion exists about females who commit sex crimes against children. Can we apply the same terminology for female offenders as we do for male offenders? Our first distinction is to understand the differences between a sex offender and a sexual predator. The latter denotes persons who are predatorial and seek out multiple victims, exploiting them sexually. These persons are prone to recidivism and not particularly amenable to treatment. Sex offenders, on the other hand, are more often persons who have one victim, often within their family, tend not to recidivate once punished and are far more amenable to treatment. I lay out these distinctions as a person who has researched and interviewed them for many years. These distinctions are not iron-clad as there is little published research that addresses such differences. However, if we are ever to start dealing with persons who sexually aggress against our children, we must look far more closely at what it is that we are dealing with.

Compared to men, women seldom sexually act out on children. One does not think of women being attracted to children, trolling outside schoolyards waiting for unsuspecting victims, or viewing child pornography. Women offenders do not target children who are strangers because most of these offenders are seeking relationships. Men who are attracted to children sexually are labeled as pedophiles or child molesters. The labels themselves suggest that such persons are predators. When a 25 year old male school teacher seeks out 13 year old girls at his school for sexual purposes he is viewed as a sexual predator.

A female school teacher of the same age victimizing 12-13 year old boys is usually not viewed as a predator or punished as harshly. Part of this problem is that we have created stereotypes of sex offenders and they are males who prey upon school children. Indeed, over 95% of reported persons who sexually molest children are males. Male offenders are the ones who develop paraphilic interests in children. One does not think of women as preying upon kids at school, but it does happen. Usually these are young female teachers who develop a relationship with a child such as Mary Kay LeTourneau. On rare occasions we see news reports of women who have multiple victims. These occurrences usually transpire in school settings between the female teacher and male students.

Public perception of these offenders has long had an impact on their punishment and treatment. If we do not believe that the victims are harmed to the extent that girls would be harmed by a male offender, then we do not perceive these offenders as being as dangerous. In truth, they are predators. Boys seduced by female school teachers will usually experience long term trauma that affects their self-esteem, sense of security, and trust levels with others. A 13 year old boy will seldom grow up thinking how cool that was to have sex with his teacher, especially as they begin to understand terms such as sexual assault and child rape. Sexual violation of a child is traumatic regardless of who commits the act.

In truth, society is ill prepared to address the issue of female sex offending. Unlike some male sex offenders who enter sex offender treatment programs, there are none available for females in the United States. Historically, women who commit sex crimes against children have been viewed as mentally ill and their punishments were not as harsh. Almost all of these female offenders upon release from prison or psychiatric facilities never re-offend, unlike chronic male offenders who are deemed as high risk. Today, women who sexually exploit children are more likely to be sent to prison and more likely to spend longer periods of time incarcerated than offenders 25 years ago. They also have to register as sex offenders just as males do even though the chances of recidivism are very low.

How do you protect your child from such exploitation? Here are a few things you can do:

• Have candid conversations with your child about their school activities involving adults.
• Healthy adults are not interested in seeking out your children. Be aware when one wants to often spend time with your child outside school or is frequently sought out by the teacher at school.
• Meet your child's teachers. The vast majority of school teachers are hard working, devoted professionals who want only the best for your child.
• Be aware of your child receiving frequent gifts from a teacher. Does the teacher treat all of her pupils the same way?
• Do not entrust your child to a teacher who wants to take your child to the movies, etc. one-on-one. Healthy adults are just not interested in spending their free time with a child not their own. Nor should they.
• Be aware of grooming. Offenders want you and your child to feel comfortable with them. They will do incredibly nice things for you but the end result is gaining access to your child.
• Girls are far more likely to discuss sexual matters with their parent than boys. Don't be put off when they resist you asking hard questions.
• Check out your child's email and chat rooms they visit. You may be startled to find out who they are talking to late at night or even in the afternoon.
• Know where your child is at all times and have them check in with you.
• If your child has a cell phone check out who s/he is calling. You think being intrusive is not fair to your child? Remember the old saying: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Eric Hickey, Ph.D.
Director of the Center for Forensic Studies - Alliant International University
Criminal Psychologist & Crime Consultant
Biography

Be sure to follow Dr. Hickey's online blog.

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