{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.029634300126103404, 'fraction_numerical': 0.022068095838587643, 'mean_word_length': 5.2976190476190474, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
The prosecution of child sexual assault*

The growing awareness of child sexual assault and, in particular, the recognition that a relatively large proportion of cases involve family members (especially fathers and father-figures), has led to a demand for new ways of dealing with the problem. Changes in legislation concerning the prosecution of child sexual assault offenders are being considered or have been introduced in most Australian States (for example, Law Reform Commission of Victoria, 1988; New South Wales Task Force on Child Sexual Assault, 1985) and in a number of other countries. These reforms deal with a range of areas, including the penalty structure, the role of child witnesses, and the provision of various sentencing options for offenders. Little information, however, is available concerning prosecuted cases of child sexual assault, either in Australia or overseas. Only two studies in Australia have examined the prosecution of sexual assault cases involving children, and one of these was concerned only with incest cases in Victoria, (Heath, 1985). The other dealt with child sexual assault cases as part of a South Australian study of sexual assault (Office of Crime Statistics, 1983). Three studies have provided some information about the treatment of such cases in the United States (Conte and Berliner, 1981; De Francis, 1969; Finkelhor, 1983), and a Canadian study (Report of the Committee on Sexual Offences against Children and Youths, 1984) surveyed over 700 convicted sexual offenders against children. As the Canadian study pointed out, however,