CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE SEX OFFENCE: COPARTNERS IN THE OFFENSE
The question of the participation of more than one offender in a specific sex offense is of interest in a survey of the circumstances within which the sex offense is committed. While a sex offense is usually committed by a single male, participation may be multiple, as when a sizable group takes part in the offense activity. The latter behavior pattern is often labeled by the appropriate name of “gang-bang” by the male participants. It typically follows the pattern of a number of young males each taking his turn at coitus with a single female, who may be a willing or unwilling partner.
Since sex behavior is by and large a fairly clandestine matter in the American culture, it is not surprising to find that in the present data over four fifths of the offenses in every category are solitary in the sense that they are committed by a single offender.
Joint participation in the incest offenses was essentially nonexistent. Among the 173 incest offenses there were actually three cases in which the offender’s wife, because of her acquiescence in the incestuous relationship, was convicted of various charges such as contributing to the delinquency of a minor, aiding and abetting the act of rape, and perjury. These wives, however, could scarcely be classified as active copartners in the incest.
It is clear from the tabulation that certain types of offenses are less likely to be joint undertakings than others. Homosexual offenses, for example, rank consistently low in multiple participants. There were less than 3 per cent of such offenses in any of the three homosexual-offense groups, and a count shows only 12 cases out of all 603 homosexual offenses. Since from many sources it is evident that there is a greater amount of group sex activity among homosexuals than among heterosexuals, these low figures represent something of a paradox. A likely explanation is that homosexual group activities doubtless take place in a more protected environment chosen with an eye to caution, and hence are less likely to lead to discovery and conviction. Both the aggression and nonaggression offenses against children similarly show a minimum of partnership in the offense. Specifically, there were only three instances of joint participation among the total of 302 cases. Apparently pedophiles are not likely to seek the aid or encouragement of an acquaintance or a friend. Undoubtedly the strong moral strictures regarding these offenses against children make it difficult to share plans or actions of this kind with others. As was pointed out earlier, pedophilic behavior, even among sex offenders themselves, is considered on the lowest rung of the moral ladder. It is also likely that the complusive nature of some pedophilic behavior is predisposing toward its solitary nature—that is, the offender needs no outside encouragement or bolstering of his nerve to the “sticking point” to reach the necessary resolution to carry through his act. On the contrary, he may be virtually propelled through it by the compulsive nature of his drives. The older average age of the pedophile is another factor which would tend to lessen gang or group activity, as would the fact that there is less need for Jd when using force against a child than there is when force is used against an adult. Setting aside incest, homosexual, and pedophilic offenses as typically involving only one person, we can then examine the remaining four groups, the heterosexual force and nonforce offenses vs. minor and adult females. Here Table 147 shows multiple participation in from 10 to 18 per cent of the cases, with the two groups of offenses vs. minors at the higher end of the scale. This provides the first clue to the relation between copartnership and the age of those involved in the sex offense. The pattern in these cases was typically an offense committed by two males, the subject and a single accomplice, and less often involved three offenders, that is, two accomplices. What might be termed actual “gang-bang” offenses, with three or more males participating with the offender, are represented in the sample by eight cases, six of them not involving force. Since such group gang activity, especially by juveniles, arouses strong feelings on the part of the public, it is worthwhile examining these ten cases more closely even though they are actually a minute part of the total sample
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