Sex Offenses: Children - Historical Developments, Fundamental Elements Of Modern Statutes, Variable Elements, The Model Penal Code, Relationship To Other Sex Crimes
sexual criminal united recognition
Crimes against children did not develop into a recognizable class of the criminal law of the United States until the latter half of the twentieth century. As societal recognition of both physical and sexual abuse of children increased in the 1960s and 1970s, legislatures throughout the United States revised criminal codes to more precisely define crimes against children. Although statutes describing sexual offenses against children are far from uniform, the development of the laws demonstrates societal recognition of the existence of such crimes and legislative acknowledgment of the need to define the crimes with specificity.
CHARLES A. PHIPPS
See also CONTRIBUTING TO THE DELINQUENCY OF MINORS; FAMILY ABUSE AND CRIME; RAPE: LEGAL ASPECTS; SEX OFFENSES: CONSENSUAL; SEXUAL PREDATORS.
Additional Topics
Early English laws defining sexual offenses against children provided the foundation upon which later American laws were constructed. The first such law, the Statute of Westminster I from 1275 A.D., stated that none should "ravish, nor take away by force, any Maiden within Age, neither by her own consent, nor without." The offense was a misdemeanor punished by "two years impri…
All modern statutes defining child sex crimes contain two essential elements: the sexual conduct at issue and the age of the child. Sexual conduct is classified by statute into acts of sexual penetration or acts of sexual contact. No longer limited to sexual intercourse between a male adult and a female child, acts of sexual penetration in most states include any intrusion of the sexual organ of o…
A feature found in a majority of states is a separate offense or an enhanced penalty when an offender is in a position of trust or authority with respect to the child victim. Consistent with psychological literature demonstrating that significant harm is caused by a violation of trust, these offenses establish stronger penalties when a person exploits an authority relationship to sexually abuse a …
The Model Penal Code represents a modest advance in the American definition of sex crimes against children. The Model Penal Code, for example, advocates the tiered system, adopted in some form by nearly every state, in which separate offenses are created for acts committed against children at different ages. Similarly, the Model Penal Code introduces the widely accepted concepts of an age differen…
Both federal and state laws establish a large number of sexual crimes against children addressing acts related to, but not directly involving, sexual touching between an adult and a child. For example, crimes such as child prostitution and child pornography—commonly referred to as child sexual exploitation offenses—target manipulation of a child for an adult's sexual gratifica…
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