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Victims of sex crimes Survey of State inmates The 9,691 prisoners in this study were all men sentenced to prison for sex crimes. Characteristics of the victims of these sex crimes were largely unavailable for the study. For informa- tion on imprisoned sex offenders and their victims, data were drawn from a survey covering the approximately 73,000 male sex offenders in State prisons nationwide in 1997. Of the 73,000 victims of their sex crimes - - about 90% were female - nearly 75% were white - 89% were non-Hispanic - 36% were below age 13 - altogether, 70% were under age 18. Child victims of sex crimes were more likely than adult victims to be male (11% versus 3%). Whites made up 76% of child victims and 66% of adult victims. The biggest difference between child victims and adult victims was their relationship to the man who committed the sex crime: Among cases where the victim was under 18, the boy or girl was the prisoner's own child (16%), stepchild (16%), sibling or stepsibling (2%), or other relative (13%) in nearly half of all child victim cases (46%). Among cases where the victim was an adult, the victim was a relative less often (11%). Among inmates who were in prison for percent of the inmates reported their a sex crime against a child, the child child victims to have been strangers. was the prisoner's own child or step- Among adult victims, 34% were child in a third of the cases. Seven strangers to their attacker. Characteristics of victims of rape or sexual assault, for which male inmates were serving a sentence in State prisons, 1997 Percent of victims of rape or sexual assault Victim age Victim characteristic All 18 years or older Under 18 years Total 1 00% 1 OO % 100% Gender Male 8.8% 2.8 % 11 .1 Female 91.2 97.2 88.9 Race White 73.2% 66.0% 76.4% Black 22.8 30.2 19.4 Other 4.0 3.8 4.2 Hispanic origin Hispanic 11.3% 9.9% 12.1 Non-Hispanic 88.7 90.1 87.9 Age 12 or under 36.4% -- 51 .6 13-17 34.1 -- 48.4 18-24 10.8 36.7% -- 25-34 11.2 37.9 -- 35-34 7.0 23.8 -- 55 or over O.5 1.6 -- Victim was the prisoner's - Spouse 1.1 % 3.8% O% Ex-spouse 0.6 2.0 O ParenVstepparent 0.6 0.4 0.6 Own child 11.5 1.4 15.7 Stepchild 1 1 .2 0.4 15.8 Sibling/stepsibling 1.3 0.4 1.7 Other relative 9.4 2.1 12.7 Boy/girlfriend 5.5 8.2 4.4 Ex-boy/girlfriend 1.1 2.0 O.8 Friend/ex-friend 22.7 24.8 22.0 Acquaintance/other 19.4 20.1 19.6 Stranger 15.6 34.4 6.7 Total estimated number 73,116 20,958 50,027 Note: Data are from the BJS Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, 1997. This table is based on 73,116 prisoners who reported having one victim in the crime for which they were sentenced to prison. (They accounted for approximately 84% of all incarcerated male sex offenders in 1997.) Data identifying victim's sex were reported for 99.8 % of the 73,116 males incarcerated for sex crimes; victim's race were reported for 98.9%; Hispanic origin for 98.2 % ; victim's age for 97.1 %; victim's relationship to prisoner for 98.3 % . Detail may not sum to total due to missing data for age of victim. --Not applicable. 36 Recidivism of Sex Offenders Re/eased from Prison in >994 50A-85