PUBLICATION:
The
Edmonton Sun
DATE:
2004.11.05
EDITION:
Final
SECTION:
News
PAGE:
17
ILLUSTRATION:
photo of DET. WIL
TONOWSKI 88.3% not high
BYLINE:
MAX MAUDIE, SPECIAL TO THE EDMONTON SUN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NO
SURPRISE SEX CRIMINALS REOFFEND, SAY LOCAL EXPERTS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A
recent study showing sex criminals will nearly always reoffend is no surprise to
those who work in Edmonton's sex-crimes field. "Not at all," said
Karen Smith, executive director of the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton. "Our
experience with victims is that when we put all of the data together, it's quite
often 80 to 90 crimes that this person will commit before they're caught."
The
study, published in the October issue of the Canadian Journal of Criminology and
Criminal Justice, studied 351 offenders over 30 years.
It concluded 88.3% had reoffended. More than 100 committed incest or abused
other people's children. The original offences were committed between 1966 and
1974.
While
the actual number of repeat offences that filtered through the courts hovered
around 60%, the study pored through offenders' hospital records and often found
admissions of guilt for crimes that the courts had not picked up on. "A substantial increase in recidivism rates was noted when
undetected crimes were included," noted the study. It adds that "a
total of 88.3% of offenders would have been considered sex-offender recidivists
if they had been caught."
Just
why sex offenders reoffend at such high rates is difficult to determine, said
Kevin Haggerty, director of the University of Alberta criminology program.
"It really seems to go deep to a core drive that these people have,"
Haggerty said.
Edmonton
police Det. Wil Tonowski, of the high-risk offender unit, said the 88.3% figure
doesn't seem high at all, "especially in relation to high-risk
offenders."