• • • A young first offender, one incident, should not be confused with pedophiles or predators
    • Scientific data says the male brain isn’t fully mature until about age 25. 
    • Young men in general are: 
      • Sexually curious
      • Bombarded with sexual messages in media, music, etc.
      • Have likely had exposure to pornography by age 11.
      • Approaching the prime of their physical and sexual development. 
      • (See “Less Guilty by Reason of Adolescence,” American Psychologist Dec 2003, 1909-1018,         https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14664689)
    • Definitions: 
      • Sex offender – any male or female, any age (states very from age 12 and up), convicted of any sex offense (including streakers, flashers and sexually active teens if one is under age 18).
      • Pedophile –  Primary sexual attraction is to children
        • Usually have many victims
        • Spend time grooming, gaining trust of victims and/or parents
        • Those who molest boys have highest recidivism rate
      • Sexual Predator – The most dangerous.
        • Primary purpose is to find, victimize and usually kidnap someone
        • There can be some crossover in definitions, as a pedophile who kidnaps
          

About 1% of sex crimes involve murder. Many current laws are based on these, widely publicized, very tragic cases.