Research articleIdentifying the characteristics of child sexual abuse cases associated with the child or child's parents withdrawing the complaint
Section snippets
Data set
All recorded CSA cases reported in one jurisdiction of Australia from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011 were analyzed (N = 659 cases). These cases were identified through the jurisdiction's police database and included attempted CSA offenses (e.g., attempted penetration) and offenses accompanying the abuse (e.g., trespass). The database contained information from the initial interaction with the complainant right through to the case outcome.
Procedure
Before the commencement of data collection, ethical
Results
The results are presented in three sections. First, we present descriptives about the cases that were withdrawn and those that exited for other reasons. Second, we examined the differences between the three types of case outcomes: withdrawn, exited for other reasons, and charged. Third, we present the case characteristics that predicted case outcomes.
Discussion
The results of the current study extend our knowledge about the case characteristics related to complaint withdrawals by children (or their parents) after the cases were reported to authorities. When case characteristics were used to predict case outcomes (withdrawal, exited for other reasons, or charged) five significant predictors were found: child age, suspect gender, suspect age, child–suspect relationship, and abuse frequency. These findings, along with recommendations for future research,
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the professionals who participated in this research. They also thank Mairi Benson and Chelsea Leach for data assistance and comments on earlier drafts of the paper.
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