Last month, Dr. Shawn Rolfe, our Director of Criminological Research, attended the National Institute of Justice’s 2024 Research Conference. This year’s theme was advancing justice through science. The goal was to bring researchers, practitioners, and policymakers together to discuss the latest research evidence and how it can be implemented to promote safety, equity, and justice for all. The conference further provided equitable and community-engaged research design and guidance in law enforcement, forensic science, community safety, violence intervention, data-driven research, and victims of crime.
Dr. Shawn Rolfe also presented a recent project entitled Bias in Sentencing Men for Sexual Offenses Against Minors: Male Victims Bring Harsher Sentences Than Female Victims for the Foundation, which was only one of fifty selected to be included at the conference. The paper is co-authored with Drs. Bruce Rind and Thomas Hubbard.
The paper was well received and highly regarded as research that is much needed to inform our judicial and legislative branches as to the disparity in sentencing based on the victim’s sex even though the offender is charged with the same crime regardless of the victim’s sex. Our paper focused on offenders who were currently incarcerated for contact and/or enticement of sex involving minors (17 years old and younger). One of our key findings was the proportion of offenders receiving harsher sentences (>20 years) as a function of victim sex and age was extraordinarily high for offenders with a male victim compared to a female victim, particularly for those aged 14-17. Moreover, the median sentence decreased as the age of the female victim increased, but not for male victims. This paper is currently under peer review but will be posted to our website once it has been accepted for publication. Please check back to review a copy of this paper, or email Dr. Shawn Rolfe at rolfe@wapercyfoundation.org.