Citation

Stathis MJ, Marinakis MM. J. Child Sex. Abus. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

University of Phoenix, Las Vegas, NV, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10538712.2019.1697780

PMID

31900070

Abstract

Over 390,000 child sexual abuse victims in the United States have not yet been identified. Due to the increased prevalence of Internet-driven child-sex offenders (e.g., child pornographers and travelers), detection becomes more elusive, and disclosure elicitations are more challenging for law enforcement. The current study examines an innovative, investigative method of voice stress analysis use, and describes its effectiveness in identifying previously undetected sexual offending within these two offender populations. In the total sample of 82 suspects with no known history of "hands-on" sexual offending, 0% initially admitted to sexually abusing at least one child. However, as a result of voice stress analysis procedures, 40.2% of the suspect pool (57.1% of child pornographers and 36.7% of travelers) provided admissions to hands-on offenses. Also, 80.5% admitted to at least one sex crime offense during the pre and posttest stages of the investigation. Compellingly, 100% of voice stress analysis "Stress Indicated" examinations resulted in verifiable disclosures (of victims and sex crimes). Critically, as a result of voice stress analysis procedures, 87 previously undiscovered live victims were identified. Finally, this study's description of specific characteristics and predictive qualities of victimizers vs. non-victimizers in each offender-type should benefit future investigators, researchers, and therapists alike.

Language: en

Keywords

Adolescent; child pornographers; child sexual abuse; internet sexual offender; interrogation tools; travelers; victim detection; voice stress analysis