Links between childhood sexual abuse victimisation and adolescent offending

By Lisa Thomsen, Carleen Thompson, Amanda Robertson, Amanda Bodker, Yolonda Adams, John Rynne and James Ogilvie  

Child sexual abuse (CSA) victimisation has been linked to a greater risk of engaging in juvenile offending broadly, and sexual offending specifically, for male youth. This study used both administrative youth justice data (n=7,800 youth) and clinical information from a specialised service providing interventions to youth who perpetrate sexual offences (n=377 youth) to examine the links between CSA victimisation experiences and sexual offending. CSA victimisation was more prominent among young people who sexually offended than those with non-sexual offences. CSA typically co-occurred with other forms of maltreatment and adverse developmental experiences. Findings highlight the need for early intervention to prevent the emergence of sexual harm.