@article{ref1,
title="When victims refuse and prosecutors decline: examining exceptional clearance in sexual assault cases",
journal="Crime and delinquency",
year="2019",
author="Richards, Tara N. and Tillyer, Marie Skubak and Wright, Emily M.",
volume="65",
number="4",
pages="474-498",
abstract="This study examines the predictors of sexual assault case clearance, with a focus on arrest and two types of exceptional clearance: victim refusal to cooperate and prosecutorial declination to prosecute. Using National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data on crime incidents that contain a sexual offense (N = 21,977), we estimated a multinomial regression model to examine the predictors of different clearance types for cases of sexual assault. <br><br>RESULTS indicated that the likelihood of victim refusal decreases in cases perpetrated by strangers, involving victim injury, occurring in public, and involving multiple offenses. A similar pattern of findings was observed for the decision to decline to prosecute a case. In addition, prosecutors are more likely to decline to prosecute cases with male victims and older victims. We discuss the implications of our findings and directions for future research.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0011-1287",
doi="10.1177/0011128719828351",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0011128719828351"
}