Lula, what happens if the rehabilitative therapy is successful in her case, and she never re-offends, yet she is registered as a sex offender for the rest of her life? That seems a bit harsh to me, especially because as a 12 year old who was likely abused, I wonder about her capacity to truly understand that what she did was wrong, at this point.

Maybe she should be on the list but able to have herself removed after some period of time without any additional offenses? Especially for juvenile offenders (of either sex), I would be in favor of this, I think.

You’re right, Lula. I was having difficulty figuring out how it could be a positive thing in any way to permanently mar this girls future for some acting out at age 12. Turns out that I, personally, am just against sex offender registries in general. Thanks for helping me figure that out.

I have very mixed feelings about sex offender registries myself, but I also have completely un-mixed feelings about child sexual abuse (which is not unexpected for someone who’s a survivor of child sexual abuse). I’m not a huge fan of registries because I think their purpose is primarily punitive instead of protective. But on the other hand, people who sexually abuse children unfortunately have high recidivism rates – they tend to abuse repeatedly, and they tend to become very good at it as they gain more experience with manipulating victims. I don’t know if research shows at approximately what age the average child sex abuser starts abusing – and since such research would have to be done on abusers who’ve actually been caught, it would be focusing on the minority of abusers anyway. But whatever: I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that a peek into the adolescence of the average adult abuser would show that they didn’t suddenly start abusing at the age of 18 or 21.

12 is young, but it’s the beginning of adolescence. And in terms of child sexual development, the behavior of a 12-year-old who acts out sexually against 4, 5, and 7-year-old children is considered a pretty serious sign of possible future abuse potential. This is why I’m glad this girl was caught abusing the younger children, and why I’m glad she’ll have this criminal offense noted in her record. She needs and deserves intervention and support, and I sincerely hope she can start healing from her own victimization and find a better way to deal with the trauma than to perpetrate it against other children. But *I’ve* never abused anyone as a result of my own sexual abuse history. Lots of survivors don’t. The survivor who does, even in very early adolescence, needs to be helped to take responsibility for both their own healing and their violent actions against others ASAP, before they get worse. And if we as a society have decided that people who are at reasonable risk for sexually abusing children should be watched via sex offender registries or what-have-you, then I think she qualifies as someone who bears watching. What if she DOES sexually assault a younger child again? What if she feels compelled to do so despite therapy and support, and she seeks out jobs as a camp counselor or child-care aide in order to gain access to young children? Do you want to know if your child’s camp counselor or childcare provider has a history of molesting children, or not?

The 4, 5, and 7-year-olds who were victimized by this 12-year-old do not see her as another child, even if we do. Developmentally, the 5-to-8 year age difference here is huge. If this was a 7yo sexual abuse victim acting out with 4- and 5-year-olds, it would not be considered perpetration because 7yos are not developmentally in the same place as 12yos, emotionally or sexually.

Unless they’ve repeatedly committed sexual offenses before age 18, of course. Then I’m totally decided – I want to know.

Managing the impact of child sexual abuse is a lifelong process, so don’t congratulate me until I’m dead. ;) I am doing relatively okay, though, as survivors go. Thanks for your nod, Patricia.

if the girl hangs out with kids of these age usually then she probably see’s them as peers and thought nothing wrong of what she did. She is hitting or already has hit puberty and does not know how to handle the feelings, like i said if she hangs out with kids of this age regularly and see’s them as peers she prob didnt think it was so bad.

Comments I agree with Lula 100%, I am a 19 year old male who was sexually molested at 13 years old, I have met literally “more people who WERE molested that were not as a pre teen or in their early teens”
The sex offender registry does not work at all, nobody uses it to verify the safety of their neighborhood, or to screen day cares or babysitters, but instead it is just clearly a way to embarrass offenders as retaliation. and to force them to move out of the area. Problem is, instead it forces them to provide false information to the authorities and causes them to not be eligable for any decent paying jobs, thus forcing them to work entry level jobs which ironically are mostly filled with our younger workers. Giving them an excuse for why they are surrounded by young boys and girls. SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY SHOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT ONLY

look all i want to say is its wrong but iam in puberty and i cant get the fact of sex out of my head i just try not to think about it

yes it is abuse based on the age difference. but she is a little kid her self and i don’t think that her childhood mistake should be publicized if she only done that such thing once. but she should be put in therapy and evaluated to see if she was abused cause when i was 12 i didn’t even know about sex. but she is to young to know really what she did was wrong. yes it was wrong what she did but give her a second chance, explain to her the consequences if she commits suck a crime again.

who is to say that this 12 yo knew it was wrong. With what is on tv, movies, and in music they are being bombarded with the word sex and images of sex constantly. Society says that children are going to have sex anyway so lets teach them how to use protection early on. But all we are doing is amplyfying childrens natural curiosities. I’m sickened by all the people who want to throw a child away in the name of protecting their own. What if it was your child that commited the offense? Would you want help for that child or would you just rather soicety lable them and let that child struggle for the rest of their lives being ostracized from school, from future jobs etc.? Children have a high rate of NOT recommitting with proper healing and teaching. And it gets even trickier when that child was first a victim and never even rec’d healing or help with that issue. I can tell you from my own experiences that once a child is abused and then told it was a wrong thing to do it and then left to heal it causes so much more confusion in a child, why is it wrong what is sex anyway and what’s the big deal? these were all questions i went through at 10 why my 16 yo cousin molested me. So what happened? I turned to friends to get answers to my confusion.Oh and as an adult I have never offended another person. Then you have the issue where a child is caught offending and did not tell he was offended because he already tried before he offended and the father didn’t believe him and blamed things on him. so then the child goes into treatment for the offending on his part all the while still being offended. So years of therapy and the issue is still being dealt with because a parent chose not to believe a child and that child has rec’d such mixed messages for 3 years. Please tell me how this child will benefit from being put on the offenders list? How will it benefit him to be labled and ostracized and shut out? I am not saying that the offender or the offended do not need therapy, they do and they must. That is the only way to put an end to the cycle. Helping them gain control of those emotions and issues. But for every person out there to know what that child is struggling with will not help that child heal any faster and it may in fact hinder that child’s healing and ability to never offend again.
So before you go putting children on the chopping block, look at the ultimate consequences vs the benefits of putting or not putting a child on the offenders list. We need to stop turning our backs on each other and offer help. Yes I agree if a child is not progressing in their therapy they should be watched or kept in therapy. The justice system is not perfect and some things do need to be worked on but labeling ALL kids in the same category is not fair to the child nor to the families involved. What about those that are listed as offenders for life because they had consentual sex with their girlfriend who was year younger?? They have been labled on the list just the same as anyone else who has committed much more horrendous crimes. There needs to be a balance it is not an all or nothing situation. There are different factors that need to be looked at.

It’s a ton of young 10 11 & 12yr boys in the same pot but no help has come there way. But yes i think boys and girls that offend as kids should be given a second chance. Hell it’s some adults that should be given a second chance. What people need to remember is that Sex offenders are the same as Child Molesters. You can give a playful slap to a girls butt and be arrested then put on the list some go’s if a women slaps a mans butt…Pretty rough seeing as how offenders are treated like monsters