ice Statistics (2000, August 27), reported rapes increased up to 1983 when they crested at 2.3 per 1000, then declined to .9 in 1996 and stayed at that rate through 1999 (p. 1). In 1991 through 1997, according to the same source, 40 percent of sex offenders were juveniles (p. 1).
In response to public pressures, legislators at state and federal levels took measures to criminalize further sex offenses.
Indeterminate sentences were discarded in favor of fixed and often longer sentences for particular sex offenses. At the federal level, sentences were increased for offenses such as sexually exploiting minors, using computers to engage in child pornography, transporting or enticing a minor for purposes of prostitution or other prohibited sexual conduct (Child, 1996, April 30, p. 1). At the state level, sentences were increased for a variety of sex offenses such as wife beating and child molestation. A number of states such as Delaware, Georgia and Massachusetts increased the penalties for statutory rape (Wood, 1996, September 5, p. 4). Accordin
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