Epidemiology and Treatment of Juvenile Sexual Offending

The juvenile sex offender is defined as a youth who commits any sexual act with a person of any age against the victim’s will, or in an aggressive, exploitative, or threatening manner. The term ‘child molester’ refers to those who choose only, or primarily, child victims. In this article, we mostly focus on adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years.

To reduce sex crimes and the risk of adolescent sexual re-offending, effective treatment strategies have to be implemented for adolescent sexual offenders. Supervision and treatment recommendations for juvenile sex offenders initially emerged from the literature on adult sex offenders. Treatment must include behavioral therapy, family therapy, and psychosocial interventions. Pharmacotherapy is not always a first-line treatment. Antidepressants (especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) offer promise in the treatment of adolescent sexual offending but further controlled studies are needed. In some rare situations, however, especially when severe paraphilic behaviors (such as pedophilia) are present, an hormonal intervention such as cyproterone acetate treatment may be needed.