When Kids End Up On Child Abuse Registries

Child abuse registries have many controversial aspects, but few people realize that children as young as preteen can end up on sex offender registries in many states. This fact is true despite the fact that there is no evidence showing that placing juveniles on registries protects the public. According to many experts, most kids end up on the registries for stupid mistakes that reflect the fact that “adolescent brains still are developing, resulting in some youthful wrong decisions that an older, more mature person might not make.”

The only analysis of studies focused on juvenile offenders found extremely low rates of recidivism (lower than 5%). On the other end of the balance, children placed on the registries are at much higher rate of victimization:

[C]hildren who are put on sex offender registries are twice as likely as other youth to experience sexual assault; five times as likely to be approached by an adult for sex; and four times as likely to report a suicide attempt, the report stated. They experience 52% more harassment and violence and are 44% more likely to be homeless because registries restrict where they can live.

Sex offender registries are popular with voters and legislators, regardless of whether there is any evidence supporting them. For juveniles, however, the existing research shows significantly more harms than benefits to placement on registries. Certainly, there is enough research for us to look much more closely at this practice.