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Youth-Perpetrated Child Sexual Abuse: The Effects of Age at Court on Legal Outcomes

Drawing from a database of 4,237 cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) heard between 1986 and 2012, we examined 152 cases of youth-perpetrated CSA. We investigated differences in legal outcomes between accused that went to court when they were adults for CSA committed in adolescence, and accused who were juveniles at court. Results indicated that accused who went to court when they were juveniles were less likely to be convicted and received shorter average incarceration sentences than accused who were adults at court. Using a vignette design, we then conducted an experiment with 144 male and female undergraduates to test several age-related questions. This yielded the same pattern of results as the archival analyses. Specifically, undergraduate participants reported that they were less likely to convict and assigned shorter incarceration sentences to accused who were juveniles at court compared with accused who were adults at court. These findings show a potential biasing effect of a defendants’ age at court in cases where adults are tried and sentenced for crimes committed as juveniles. Addressing this bias is critical to protecting the rights of those accused of crimes committed during adolescence.