Posted: August 1st, 2023

Sexual Offenses

Each essay response is to be a minimum of three to four fully developed paragraphs in length. The essays shall be written using a minimum of one scholarly reference and all references are to be notated in Help write my thesis – APA style.

1) Explain the differences between obscenity and pornography. Considering child and adult pornography, state the cases both for and against the belief that viewing pornography contributes to the commission of sex crimes.

2)What factors influence the accuracy of reporting sexual assault crimes years after the offense?

3) What role do social skills play in sexual offending? Why is it important to diagnose paraphilias?

4)Compare and contrast online and offline sexual abusers. What are the similarities and differences between the two types of offenders?
Sexual Offenses
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Sexual Offenses
1. Over the years, obscenity has been controversial in the first amendment with the Supreme Court struggling to define it. Obscenity is, therefore, any content that is contrary to accepted morality or rather a category of pornography that violates community standards and has no value artistically or scientifically (Morrow,Fahmy, and Fradella, 2016). Pornography, on the other hand, is any sexually depicting images or content that sexually excites the viewer.
Pornography is also defined as any material involving sexual activities between consenting individuals as well as activities involving violence and torture to the unconsented party where the definition of pornography is based on the type of sexual activity (Montgomery-Graham, et, al.,2015) . Not all obscene materials are considered pornographic where obscene materials are available over the counter in the form of publications only allowed to adults while pornography is available and accessed through websites and email importation.
Obscenity is delicately treated specially in cases where children are involved. The availability of obscene materials over the internet has been a debate between age restriction as well as freedom of speech in the first amendment. The controversy between pornography, obscenity and sexually provoking content has created great attention over the years both religiously and politically (Morrow, Fahmy, and Fradella, 2016). Religion has defined pornography and obscenity as immoral while politically the practices are debated in the Supreme Court where the Supreme Court outlines the effects of pornography on viewers and society. Pornography is the most frequently debated about compared to obscenity. After various arguments, obscenity is legally defined as any material that is sexually explicit where obscene simply means disgust.
Access of pornography in public libraries has been an issue in the United States where through a congress, children internet protection Act was proposed where libraries are urged to use special software to block access to obscene content and child pornography which is harmful to children. The exploitation of children sexually began in the year 1970 where laws banned the use of children in pornography films as well as restricted trafficking children for sexual exploitation. During this era, child pornographic materials were permanently seized but the biggest challenge is the production and distribution of materials. Production of child pornography materials is considered homemade to make a profit as well as trade the content directly to traders.
Child pornography is a type of sexual exploitation in children or minors below the age of eighteen which involves images, written content, videos referred to as child abuse content. Violation of child pornographic laws is punishable and considered as a sex crime (Eneman, 2016). Digital explosion and advancement of technology have contributed to child pornography where sexually explicit content is readily available over the internet for instance through the sharing of files, children’s gaming devices and so on.
The United States’ fight towards child pornography has been challenging because most purveyors follow a certain security protocol to evade laws. For instance the use of encryption techniques and use of the dark web. Child pornography is considered a sex crime when individuals download content over the internet as well as possession of child pornography materials. For an individual to be charged with child pornography one has to possess, produce, distribute or receive materials and images although accidentally possessing child pornographic materials is not a crime. For one to be convicted internet investigators possess pieces of evidence acquired through tracking computer systems as well as websites running the business.
Possession of adult pornography is legally protected by the first amendment while child pornography does not receive protection according to the ruling done in 982. The law prohibits sexual exploitation in minors through seizing distribution and destroying child pornography markets as well as punishing public and private viewers of child pornography. Defendants of child pornography are allowed to raise various issues for instance in cases where police officers went against the laws of a criminal investigation, for instance, warrantless search or a search with no probable cause (Eneman, 2016). Child pornography is prosecuted by both the federal and state government where offenders of the crime are charged for sex crime resulting in fifteen to twenty years in prison. Nevertheless, the offender is registered in a database of sexual offenders.
2. What factors influence the accuracy of reporting sexual assault crimes years after the offense?
According to the justice department analysis, sexual assault goes unreported, especially in women. Reporting related to sexual crime is considered low caused by factors such as fear of retaliation by the society, stigma together with victims blaming themselves for the act. Most individuals are sexually assaulted when young and decide to come up later. Although various states consider a statute of limitations which considered a certain time limit which varies according to the state of the offense (Schultz, 2018). Sexual assault crimes are considered as serious felony crimes and offenders are imprisoned for more years. Sexual assault is a sex crime that can be reported at any given time.
Statute of limitation is put in place to discourage cases with no pieces of evidence but cases with clear shreds of evidence such as video recordings and emails can be used especially in sexual assault cases. Most state statute of limitation goes beyond ten years and some no limitation is considered for example, in Massachusetts rape cases can be reported before fifteen years of limitation. In Alaska, no limitation is given to cases of rape and sexual assault one can report at any given time (Schultz, 2018). The statute of limitations considers questions such as, what type of crime is reported, time at which the crime occurred, parties involved in the crime and exceptions available for instance DNA reports or any readily available evidence available.
The law considers delays in reporting crimes related to sexual assault especially unique instances such as injuries and trauma especially if a person was assaulted when young. Every state has a different statute of limitations which appears to be complicated. Before reporting a case individuals are advised to acquire information about the deadline, especially from the state attorney. For example in New York, one can report only within the five years of the incident.
3. What role do social skills play in sexual offending? Why is it important to diagnose paraphilias?
According to several meta-analyses, social skills play a vital role in sexual offending. According to results, sexual offenders are considered to have low social skills compared to no-offenders where communication and competence skills determine the nature of offenders. Although not all sex offenders have low social skills but the majority of offenders. The inability of a person to develop social skills for instance communication skills may lead to isolation, loneliness and low performance in school (Völlm, et, al., 2019). Lack of satisfactory relationships from peers drives one to seek other ways to satisfy the social needs which may be involved in sexual crimes for instance rape.
Additionally, individuals working competently have less time for sexual offending activities compared to low competent individuals with a higher risk of being sexual offenders. Establishing positive social skills reduces the level of isolation in individuals, therefore, reducing the rate of sexual offenders. For instance, rapists cannot define and interpret various cues from people, believing that wearing short dresses is provocative and is a justification for committing rape (Völlm, et, al., 2019). Additionally, some believe that alcohol and drug intoxication leads to sexual offending which is a wrong interpretation brought about by low social skills and knowledge that sexual offense is a mental and a result of decisions made by sexual offenders concerning their environment. Lack of social skills further leads to heterosexual behaviors and relationships where the individual lacks the courage to interact with peers of the opposite sex, therefore, dating from the same sex.
Paraphilia is a condition viewed by society as abnormal and unwanted. Paraphilia is a conditioning process that develops mentally through observing, repeating and reverting various sexual habits (Snell, 2019). Paraphilia is diagnosed and treated through cognitive behavioral therapy which is important in assisting an individual to identify their sexual identity, change sexual behaviors and reduce sexual triggers. Diagnosis of paraphilia is important because the process has reduced cases of child molestation as well as rape cases.
Individuals involved in sexual offenses are first taken through clinical diagnosis and treatment before being convicted. Diagnosis of paraphilia has reduced most cases as well as enables individuals to realize behaviors and symptoms of individuals with paraphilia making it easier to seek treatment as well as monitor such kinds of people (Snell, 2019). Diagnosis of paraphilia has also enhanced better parenting through protecting children against sexual recurrent behaviors, monitoring children’s behaviors and seeking counseling in case of any children’s sexual abnormal behavior that could lead to paraphilia.
4. Compare and contrast online and offline sexual abusers. What are the similarities and differences between the two types of offenders?
Sexual assault is a social problem that most states are fighting and discouraging through the application of law and placing devastating consequences to offenders. Both online and offline offenders engage in child sexual abuse than adult sexual abuse (Babchishin, Hanson, and VanZuylen, 2015). Online offenders are considered to be younger compared to offline sexual abusers. Online offenders are considered unemployed and working from home as well as single and with lower social skills compared to offline offenders.
Psychologically, online offenders are highly empathetic, shy, have a higher sexual urge compared to offline abusers, have issues with the management of impression compared to offline abusers. Additionally, online offenders have better self-control compared to offline offenders who have no psychological barrier to a sexual offense. Online abusers voluntarily engage in the act targeting most vulnerable groups such as adolescents and individuals confused about their sexual identities.
Online and offline abusers overlap because some offenders operate from online to offline. Some of the offline sexual offenders include exhibitionists and voyeurs where some go to the extent of committing the crime through rape and other sexual assaults (Babchishin, Hanson, and VanZuylen, 2015). Offline offenders are more courageous and with lower self-control evident when the abusers satisfy their online fantasy offline. Offline abusers experience contact with the individual while online abusers possess a wide array of pornographic content, both children and adult pornographies but have limited attention and contact with individuals.
Offline sexual abusers focus on developing a relationship with the individual, enticing them and intimately engaging sexually through unconsented touch. Both online and offline abusers adjust their approach to adjust with that of the targeted individual to attain the specific aim of engaging in sexual behaviors. According to most arguments, contact authorities should not wait for the offline extent of assault but should concentrate on online offenders who need to be investigated upon.

References
Babchishin, K. M., Hanson, R. K., & VanZuylen, H. (2015). Online child pornography offenders are different: A meta-analysis of the characteristics of online and offline sex offenders against children. Archives of sexual behavior, 44(1), 45-66.
Eneman, M. (2016). The new face of child pornography. In Human rights in the digital age (pp. 41-54). Routledge-Cavendish.
Montgomery-Graham, S., Kohut, T., Fisher, W., & Campbell, L. (2015). How the popular media rushes to judgment about pornography and relationships while research lags behind. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 24(3), 243-256.
Morrow, W., Fahmy, C., & Fradella, H. F. (2016). Obscenity and Pornography. In Sex, Sexuality, Law, and (In) justice (pp. 256-293). Routledge.
Schultz, R. (2018). To the Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse-Whenever You’re Ready: Eliminating the Criminal Statute of Limitations on Childhood Sexual Assault Crimes in Light of Pennsylvania’s Catholic Dioceses Grand Jury Investigation. Rich. Pub. Int. L. Rev., 22, 145.
Seto, M. C., & Eke, A. W. (2015). Predicting recidivism among adult male child pornography offenders: Development of the Child Pornography Offender Risk Tool (CPORT). Law and human behavior, 39(4), 416.
Snell, J. M. (2019). Static-99r Scores in a Population of Civilly Committed Sexual Offenders with a Diagnosis of Paraphilic Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder (Doctoral dissertation).
Stefanović, D. M., & Knežević, S. (2019). SPECIAL MEASURES FOR PREVENTING THE COMMISSION OF SEX CRIMES AGAINST MINORS: the example of Serbia. Facta Universitatis, Series: Law and Politics, 109-120.
Völlm, B., Craissati, J., Grubin, D., & Skett, S. (2019). Learning from research: Adapting interventions for sexual offending to improve outcomes. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 29(4), 227-238.

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