title: The use of pornography during the commission of sexual offenses.
abstract: The goal of this study was to examine the use of pornographic materials by sex offenders during the commission of their crimes. A sample of 561 sex offenders was examined. There were 181 offenders against children, 144 offenders against adults, 223 incest offenders, 8 exhibitionists, and 5 miscellaneous cases. All but four cases were men. A total of 96 (17%) offenders had used pornography at the time of their offenses. More offenders against children than against adults used pornography in the offenses. Of the users, 55% showed pornographic materials to their victims and 36% took pictures, mostly of child victims. Nine cases were involved in the distribution of pornography. Results showed that pornography plays only a minor role in the commission of sexual offenses, however the current findings raise a major concern that pornography use in the commission of sexual crimes primarily involved child victims.
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Department of Psychiatry, Ontario M9B 6E3, Canada. rlangevin@sprint.ca
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Langevin
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Curnoe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004882:Erotica; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires