NCJ Number
206666
Date Published
November 2001
Length
33 pages
Annotation
This report on sex offenses and sex offenders in West Virginia addresses sex offenses reported to law enforcement agencies, sex offenders in criminal justice custody or supervision, admissions of sex offenders to and releases from correctional facilities, registered sex offenders, and sex-offender treatment providers.
Abstract
Just over 1,000 sex offenses were reported to West Virginia law enforcement agencies in 2000, with the majority of offenses being forcible fondling or forcible rape. Most occurred at a residence or home. The majority of offenders were adult males, and the majority of victims were juvenile females related to or otherwise known to the offender. In late 2000, 920 sex offenders were housed in the State's correctional facilities, supervised by parole services, or supervised by county probation officers. The correctional population forecast estimates that 152 sex offenders will be admitted to correctional facilities and 147 will be released on average per year between 2000 and 2010. The number of confined sex offenders is expected to average 620 each December between 2000 and 2010. Discharge without parole was the most common method for releasing sex offenders in 1999. In 2001, there were 1,468 registered sex offenders in West Virginia, one-fourth of whom had been convicted in another State. Since first registering, 60 percent of the registrants reported only one address. A total of 66 counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists provide treatment to sex offenders in the State. Although 58.2 percent of the psychologists and counselors reported that their treatment program was mandated by the criminal justice system and 34.6 percent provide their treatment in a criminal justice facility, only 29.8 percent were named by parole and probation offices as possible treatment providers. This suggests that the use of available treatment providers has been limited. Treatment methods named by survey respondents included counseling, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychotherapy, medication management, medical castration, arousal management, anger management, empathy induction, education, and self-esteem improvement. Some of these providers use the Abel Assessment for sexual interest and other risk assessment instruments to assist in treatment or to provide information to the courts. Of the 24 members of the West Virginia Polygraph Association, 15 work for law enforcement agencies and 10 attended a recent training for postconviction sex offender testing. 18 tables and 10 graphs