Statutory Rape from the Perspective of Law Enforcement Howard N. Snyder Conference on Sexual Exploitation of Teens Washington. DC, March 23, 2005 © National Center for Juvenile Justice

NIBRS The National Incident-Based Reporting System

For every three forcible rapes of a juvenile reported to law enforcement, there is one statutory rape. There is substantial jurisdiction to jurisdiction variation in this ratio

The ratio of forcible to statutory rape victims varies with age

Characteristics of Referred Cases Statutory rape victims: 5% male Offenders of female victims: ~ 100% male Offenders of male victims: 94% female Offenders of white victims: 89% white Offenders of black victims: 94% black

The peak ages for statutory rape victims are 14 and 15

Female victims of statutory rape are younger than male victims

White victims of statutory rape are older than black victims

Incidents of statutory rape are most common at 8am and noon

Incidents of forcible and statutory rapes have somewhat similar time patterns

Statutory rapes are less common in the evening hours on school days

Less than 1-in-5 statutory rape offenders are themselves a juvenile

Offenders of male victims are older than those of female victims

Offenders of black statutory rape victims are somewhat younger

The modal age difference between victim and offender is 4-to-5 years, but…..

Proportionally juvenile forcible rapes have more younger and older offenders

Probability of arrest declines with victim age Overall 42% of referred cases are cleared by an arrest.

The offenders of male and female victims are equally likely to be arrested

The offenders of black and white are equally likely to be arrested

The likelihood of arrest increases with offender age

The likelihood of arrest increases with the difference in ages

Arrests are more common in statutory rape than in forcible rape incidents Clearance Method Statutory Rape Forcible Rape Prosecution declined6%7% Victim not cooperate7%5% Arrest42%35% Not applicable44%52%

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Howard Snyder National Center for Juvenile Justice 3700 South Water Street Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA