Citation

Sullivan J, Beech AR. J. Sex. Aggress. 2004; 10(1): 39-50.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13552600410001667788

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Forty-one professional perpetrators, who sexually abused the children with whom they worked, were questioned about the nature of their offending. Some of their demographic information was compared with a sample of non-work-based child abusers to identify any significant differences between the two groups. Results. It was found that the professional perpetrators were more likely to be sexually interested in same-sex children. Of the study group, 92.5% said that they were aware of their sexual arousal to children by 21 years old and a further 67.5% said that they had already committed a contact sexual offence against a child by age 21. Perhaps the most interesting findings related to the stated motivation of the professional perpetrators in obtaining their employment working with children. Fifteen per cent said that they chose their profession exclusively to provide them with access to children to abuse. A further 41.5% said that, while abusing children was not their primary motivation for working with children, it formed part of their motivation. The study also provided some insight into the grooming and manipulation techniques used by professional perpetrators: 77.5% said that they arranged to meet children outside work for the purpose of facilitating the sexual abuse of that child.