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People with MR/DD charged with Sexual Offenses
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Are people with cognitive, intellectual and developmental disabilities more likely to be charged with committing sexual offenses?
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There is not enough research to determine the answer to this question. These individuals may be more likely to be charged with committing a crime compared to those without a disability whenever illegal sexual behavior is reported. This is due to their inability to hide their behavior as well as others, or they may not even realize their behavior is unhealthy, hurtful or illegal due to receiving little or no sex education.
On the other hand, sexual offenses by people with developmental disabilities sometimes go unreported since law enforcement and others are unsure as to how to handle an individual with this type of disability who is alleged to have committed a sexual offense.
Some studies found that these individuals are more likely to commit sexual offenses, while others found they were not. One comprehensive review of sex offenders found that approximately 10% to 15% of all sexual offenses are committed by people with developmental disabilities, which is only slightly higher than the general population (around 9%) (Murphy et al., 1983). Another study found that almost 50% of incarcerated offenders with developmental disabilities and 34% of those living in the community had been convicted of sex offenses (Gross, 1985).
Research from Day (1997) found sex offenses to be the second most common crime among people with developmental disabilities and that sex offenses are crimes for which most offenders with developmental disabilities are incarcerated.
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