This article was downloaded by: [University of Southern Queensland]

On: 06 October 2014, At: 15:50

Publisher: Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered
office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Early Child Development and Care

Publication details, including instructions for authors and
subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gecd20

Child sexual abuse in early-childhood

care and education settings
Freda Briggs

Child Development, School of Education, University of South

Australia, Adelaide, Australia
Published online: 23 Apr 2014.

To cite this article: Freda Briggs (2014) Child sexual abuse in early-childhood care
and education settings, Early Child Development and Care, 184:9-10, 1415-1435, DOI:
10.1080/03004430.2014.901011
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2014.901011

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the
Content) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,
our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to
the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions
and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,
and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content
should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources
of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,
proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or
howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising
out of the use of the Content.
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any
substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,
systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &
Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/termsand-conditions

Early Child Development and Care, 2014

Vol. 184, Nos. 910, 14151435, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2014.901011

Child sexual abuse in early-childhood care and education settings

Freda Briggs*
Child Development, School of Education, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

(Received 10 August 2013; accepted 12 November 2014)

When the author was adviser to the Australian Minister for Education for writing
the national Safe Schools Framework (2003), meetings were held with earlychildhood care and education administrators from all state, Catholic and
independent sectors. Their unexpected message was that educators were facing
new problems, those of child sexual abuse in early-childhood settings including
pupils forcing younger children to provide oral sex. In January 2013, the South
Australian Minister for Education lost her position following well-publicised
parental anger that the Education Department had concealed the sexual abuse of
children in early-childhood centres and schools. Parental outrage led to a Royal
Commission and Report of Independent Education Inquiry (2013) conducted
by former Justice Bruce Debelle QC. Public dissatisfaction with some aspects of
the Commission led further to a Parliamentary Select Committee Inquiry
(February 2014) Matters Relating to the Independent Education Inquiry1
Keywords: early childhood education; children with sexually problematic
behaviours; child sexual abuse

This paper discusses issues that have arisen from these cases and inquiries.
Background
It is widely known that sexual predators choose employment and volunteer in sectors
that give them access to children. Furthermore, predators are choosing younger and
younger victims, knowing that they are safe from prosecution if there are no independent, mature witnesses and victims lack the sophisticated communication skills needed
to undergo rigorous cross -examination by barristers. This makes early-childhood
centres and primary schools ideal targets for paedophiles.
Case histories show that predators are popular in early-childhood settings because
they play at the childs level and charm and groom the staff responsible for childrens
safety so that security is relaxed. In outlining New Zealands most controversial case
against openly gay child-care worker Peter Ellis, Hood (2001) showed that his unsafe behaviour was ignored. Adults perceived him as a popular, fun-loving provider of boisterous physical play and, as a result, he was able to push the limits. There are references to
him painting owers on childrens bare buttocks, hanging children by their overall straps
on the washing line, sex talk in the centre, introducing phallic balloons and taking children to his home to look at pets, all of which were dismissed as amusing.
Early-childhood expert Dr Sarah Farquhar wrote:
*Email: freda.briggs@unisa.edu.au
2014 Taylor & Francis

1416

F. Briggs

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

What I nd troubling, as an educationalist, is just how ineffective regulations and regulatory bodies (the Education Review Ofce and the Ministry of Education) are when it
comes to dealing with situations such as the Civic case. The Civic received a glowing
report from the Education Review Ofce not long before the City Council closed it
after pressure from publicity surrounding the police investigation.

The consequence was that early-childhood staff were restricted from touching children
and men stayed clear of employment in early childhood services.
Unlike New Zealand and Britain, Australian states have long had mandatory reporting legislation which requires educators to report suspicions and disclosures of child
abuse and neglect. South Australias educators and child carers have been trained to
report suspicions of abuse and neglect since 1977. They are required to contact the
designated report phone line and are protected from civil action if their reports are
not substantiated. In addition, the South Australian Education Department adopted a
Protective Behaviours (child protection) programme for schools in 1985. In 2009 it
was replaced with a new compulsory curriculum, Keeping Safe. This is explicit
and developmentally appropriate for children from pre-school to Year 12. It is more
on the lines of New Zealands highly successful Keeping Ourselves Safe school curriculum than its American predecessor. Teachers undertake a one-day training programme to teach it and sessions and resources are outlined in detail.

The Debelle Royal Commission (2013)2

In March 2013, it was announced that there had been a 60% increase in serious incidents of a sexual nature in South Australian schools in the last 3 years, 150 reports
involving children (Holderhead, 2013). These were acknowledged to represent only
the tip of the iceberg.
The Hon. B.M. Debelle AO, QC was appointed to inquire into the circumstances
around the arrest and conviction of the manager of the Out-of-School-Hours Care
centre at an Adelaide school in 2010. The Terms of Reference were to review circumstances surrounding the non-disclosure to parents and staff of allegations of rape committed against a seven-year-old child in the centre. The review made recommendations
relating to the actions of the parties involved and the procedures that should have been
in place. The report explored the complexity of issues such as when, how and what to
tell parents if the accused perpetrator had or had not been charged or convicted.
The report conrmed that there had been 75 matters relating to staff employed by
the Department in the previous year. The number of reports involving juvenile offenders was not disclosed. Sixty-four cases involved teachers employed by the Department
that were investigated by the police. Thirty charges were laid. Convictions represented
only 20% of reports investigated by the police.
Startling information showed how successfully offenders groomed and manipulated
school head teachers. For example, a self-employed contracted school counsellor was
arrested in mid-2010 for ve sexual offences, including four of unlawful sexual intercourse with boys. The Education Department had no knowledge of the matter. It was
revealed that on 6 August 2010, the man persuaded a magistrate to delete a condition
from his bail agreement (p. 164) banning unsupervised contact with children under 16
years. As a result of this he continued to work in schools for a further 16 months. When
he eventually informed the school head teacher of the charges, she believed his protests
of innocence and failed to notify the Department.

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

Early Child Development and Care

1417

The case involving the out-of-school-hours care centre occurred on December 1st
2010, The seven-year-old disclosed the crime to the police on the same day. The
police notied the school head teacher late that night. It was noted that the perpetrator
had groomed the parents so effectively that they made a collection for him and paid his
rent when he was ill (242, p. 72). Furthermore, even after the rape was disclosed to her,
the head teacher allowed him to return to the school the next day. The accused was
employed by the School Board whose members later complained that they were
silenced by department administrators, even after the offender had been imprisoned.
In fact, there was no suppression order, only a restriction on naming the offender
and child. Board members were rightly concerned that there might be other victims.
They claimed that police told them falsely that they had investigated this and no
other children had been abused. When the accused pleaded guilty and was sentenced
in February 2012, the media reported it but parents and staff remained in the dark.
Some guessed and asked when they were to be informed and what had been done
about supporting parents and the victim (314, p. 93). The head teacher maintained
that a suppression order was in place. A parent then contacted the Minister to ask
what she was doing to support the children and what procedures had been implemented
to ensure that this did not occur again (315, p. 93). The Minister had not been briefed
about the rape and that led to demands for a Royal Commission.
Despite widespread publicity being given to the case, other complaints have since
been received to the effect that schools have ignored or blatantly disbelieved allegations
of child sexual abuse, especially those involving juvenile perpetrators. Teachers did not
appear to realise that negligence can lead to victims taking civil action against them and
they can be ned heavily for failing in their mandated duty to report suspicions, disclosures or evidence of abuse.

Community ignorance
Despite global publicity, child sexual abuse is still denied. Informations about child sex
offenders, their grooming methods, the signs of abuse and its effects on children are
rarely included in the pre-service education of human service professionals whose
work will bring them in contact with victims or offenders.
When we talk about child sex abusers, people still think of dangerous strangers. Few
adults are aware of the risks to boys and even fewer realise that young children may be
sexually assaulted or raped by school staff, visitors or, increasingly, older children in
toilets, pool changing rooms and behind bicycle sheds. Despite inquiries in every
Australian state and a National Royal Commission into child sexual abuse involving
schools and other institutions, parents and teachers remain complacent about safety
issues. Substantial surveys undertaken by the Australian Childhood Foundation
(ACF) showed that childrens safety came 14 on parents lists of concerns, long after
the price of petrol and the state of footpaths. About a third of parents said they
would not believe a child who reported sexual abuse (and would not know what to
do about it) and an alarming number did not know that it was a crime for an adult to
use children for sex. Some thought that it did no harm (Tucci, Mitchell, & Goddard,
2006).
In March 2013, the author presented a child protection workshop for three combined Sydney junior schools with a population of 1000 pupils. Despite massive publicity, the parents of only 20 children attended and when surveyed later, the absentees

1418

F. Briggs

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

said that child protection is too confronting and we dont have anyone like that in our
family.
An Adelaide school invited parents of 600 children to attend an information session
introducing their new child protection curriculum. Only 10 attended, leaving staff questioning, What do we have to do to convince parents that the problem is real, widespread and involves schools and families in all socio-economic areas?
Our research for New Zealand police over a 21-year period showed consistently that
the children with the best safety knowledge and skills were those who had access to the
school child protection programme from the age of seven (Keeping Ourselves Safe &
remove) which had parent involvement.

How young are young offenders?

Most parents believe that children are safe at school. Most are. Some are safer at school
than they are at home. However, in 2001, Dr Gene Abel and Nora Harlow revealed that,
with a massive sample of 4007 self-confessed child sex offenders, 20% said they began
abusing boys and 12% began abusing girls before the age of ten. Forty-three per cent
began abusing boys when they were aged 1015 years and 32% began abusing girls.
Seventy per cent of adult male offenders were abusing boys by the time they were
aged 19 and 54% were abusing girls. Furthermore, boys abused more boys and were
abused by more offenders than girls and males who were abused by the largest
number of molesters abused the largest number of victims (Abel & Harlow, 2001,
p. 123). Little information is available about girls who molest.
All members of Americas paedophile NAMBLA club who were interviewed for
their YouTube clip said they were sexually abusing younger boys when they were
aged eight. NAMBLA attempts to de-criminalise and normalise child sex offences.
Quite clearly, young children who exhibit inappropriate sexual behaviour should be
taken more seriously and afforded treatment before the behaviour becomes habitual.
In July 2008 (Crawford & Wilkinson, 2008), Victoria (Australia) police conrmed
that most reported sexual offences involved juveniles. This was attributed to the availability of pornography which is associated with sexual fantasies and fantasies in turn
are associated with offending. Fantasisers have four times more victims than offenders
who do not fantasise (Abel, Becker, Cunningham-Rathner, and McHugh, 1983, p. 98).
Victoria police reported that boys aged 10 were among 61 juveniles accused of making
child pornography in 20072008. An 8-year-old boy stored child pornography on his
mobile phone and children outnumbered adults at a ratio of two to one in its
manufacture.
Reports show that boys who molest children in early-childhood settings molest
boys. When this results in emotional disturbance, victims may re-enact their abuse
with other children. Both Bentovim (1996) in the UK and Abel et al., 1983 in the
USA found that about one in 45 boy victims becomes an offender and very young
boys may behave abusively with others soon after the traumatic event. Silovsky and
Niec (2002) found that 37-year-olds were engaged in frequent and severe problematic
behaviours with 54% repeating molestation after being told to desist, 38% attempting
sexual penetration with another child or adult and 20% engaging in oral sex.
Researchers conrmed that the age of the offender does not determine the degree of
harm caused to victims. Abuse by a school peer or sibling can be just as frightening and
harmful as abuse by an adult (Boyd, 2006).

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

Early Child Development and Care

1419

Unfortunately, when they encounter children exhibiting sexually problematic behaviours, adults usually express disgust and reprimand without investigating where and
how they learned the behaviour . who showed them how to play that game .
where was it played is it a secret if so, what will happen if they tell. Simple questions can establish whether they have been traumatised by exposure to pornography or
have been used for sex (both of which constitute reportable child abuse). Educators are
in the best position to seek help for these children but are typically reluctant to make a
report, dismissing serious sexual misbehaviour as boys will be boys or maybe hes
seen porn or maybe hes seen mum and dad having sex at home. School head teachers
have colluded with perpetrators parents dismissing the behaviour as normal sexual
curiosity, thus depriving them of opportunities for assessment and treatment, without
which they may go on to become adolescent, then lifelong, offenders.
Few professionals are trained to handle these distressing situations and, despite
international evidence that schools and early-childhood centres are dealing with
problem sexual behaviours with increasing frequency, there is a lack of knowledge
about their prevalence. The Department of Education in South Australia acknowledged
the size of this problem and published guidelines for handling inappropriate sexual
behaviours.
One of the difculties is that while research literature tells us about adolescent sex
offenders, little is known about the very young. There is a lack of support and practical
assistance for professionals and parents who have to deal with these behaviours.
So, how should schools and pre-schools manage inappropriate sexual
behaviours?
As the Debelle Royal Commission pointed out, the management of these situations can
be complex.
In 2012, South Australian police allegedly banned staff at a private child-care centre
from informing parents when a male worker was caught red-handed sexually abusing a
boy aged two. Police argued that the worker was innocent until proven guilty, that he
had the right to privacy until charged and there was a risk that informing parents may
damage the evidence.
The management responded that the safety of children should take precedence, that
sex offending is habitual behaviour, that the perpetrator views children as sex objects
and there could be other victims.
Child-care management also rejected police arguments when offenders or victims
were too young for there to be a prosecution. A boy frequently visited a centre after
school when his mother, the manager, was at work. He sexually abused boys of 34
years when no adults were present. No charges were laid, no treatment was provided
for the boy or his victims and the boy continued to visit, placing other children at risk.
Educators and carers need to be clear about what should be reported to child protection services, what should be reported to parents and when. The following are issues to
be considered:
(1) Parents of victims want to be (a) informed immediately and (b) be advised by
an expert counsellor on how to handle the situation which may result in the
child having nightmares, emotionally disturbed behaviours or re-enacting
the abuse with peers or younger siblings at home. Given that teachers are
not experts in this eld, a specialist counsellor should be made available.

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

1420

F. Briggs

(2) Traumatised victims should be offered counselling for as long as necessary.

(3) Children who exhibit inappropriate sexual behaviours should be assessed and
treated.
(4) Other parents will want to be informed if the perpetrator had contact with their
children and there is a risk that they may have been abused. Other parents need
advice on how to question their children without causing fear.
(5) In what circumstances should all parents in a school be told that a child has
been sexually abused and when should they be told? How do you preserve
the privacy of the victim?
(6) If the policy restricts the dissemination of information to parents to serious
abuse, what is the denition of serious, bearing in mind that abuse that
adults might dismiss as minor can still be traumatic for victims? Children
told the author that a six-year-old boy was obsessed with sex, exposed
himself and had put his hands in the pants of every boy and girl in the
class. He had never been reported, assessed or referred for therapy nor had
parents been contacted and yet the child caused distress and clearly had
problems.
(7) If the perpetrator is another child, to what extent should staff become involved
with that childs parents or should it be left to child protection services given
the possibility that the origin of the childs problems is in the family?
(8) If the offender is an adult who has not yet been charged, what can parents be
told, if anything? When and how should they be told? Should it be by personal
phone calls from a counsellor, by a meeting with the management, by phone
or by letter? The wording of letters can be problematic but not all parents will
be able to attend a meeting. Affected parents are likely to be angry.
(9) Given that schools cannot guarantee childrens safety, should those with a
history of problematic sexual behaviours be expelled to protect victims and
other potential victims? (This is always advisable if a court appearance is
likely and there is a risk that victims will be bullied into retracting their statements). The schools focus is often minimising the offences and victims
parents have no option but to remove their children for their protection.
Victims in rural areas can be disadvantaged if there is no alternative school
available and they have to resort to home-schooling. Mothers often have to
abandon their employment, the children become socially isolated and are,
in effect, re-victimised by the system.
(10) Should children with problematic sexual behaviours be educated separately?
In New South Wales a ve-year-old has two carers to protect other pupils from
abuse. A victim of sexual abuse living with his abuser by the order of the
Family Court, when asked why he behaved in this way replied, Because I
want to ... and little kids let me. A boy charged with raping a three-yearold told the judge that he was obsessed with porn that he watched on his
Smart-Phone and he wanted to do what men do.
(11) Most abuse by children occurs in school toilets and classrooms when teachers
are elsewhere. Vulnerable children are targeted, often in their rst week at
school. What then are the implications for staff? Some child-care centres
have close circuit television but how can school toilets be supervised
without the risk of staff being accused of perving?
(12) Does the authority responsible for the school or centre have a child protection
policy and guidelines for handling these sensitive situations? If not, why not?

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

Early Child Development and Care

1421

Accused adults are usually suspended and granted paid leave until they are charged.
If they are not charged or convicted, they may demand reinstatement. However, most
sexual misconduct in schools and pre-schools is perpetrated by children, not adults.
These were the complex problems that former Justice Bruce Debelle QC was
appointed to investigate. Paradoxically, while accused of silencing staff at a childcare centre, police joined community groups and child abuse experts in demanding
that parents be told about any incidents of sex abuse in their childrens schools and
pre-schools.
Sex offences can rarely be kept secret forever and when staff complied with the ban
on informing parents, they were left to address a storm of parental anger and their own
integrity and the integrity of their schools and centres was harmed. Although, by then
they were probably the safest in the state, parents transferred their children to other care
and education services.

When should abuse by a child be reported?

The assessment of sexual misbehaviours calls for careful attention to:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

the nature of the behaviour in relation to the perpetrators age/developmental

level,
whether the perpetrator groomed the victim (suggesting learned behaviour),
evidence of pre-meditation and planning,
the perpetrators history of inappropriate behaviours or obsession with sexual
matters,
age and developmental differences between victims and perpetrators,
the nature of the relationship between victim and offender if any,
the level of coercion or aggression used
the power differential between the perpetrator and the target child
the effects or likely effects on the victim,
where this occurred,
evidence suggesting that the perpetrator may be re-enacting his or her own abuse,
evidence that a child persuaded/bullied others into performing sexual acts,
other incidents involving the same or different children/young people.

Reporting is necessary if:

. there is evidence of sex-related violence, the abuse of power, pre-meditation,
grooming, the use of other children, tricks, force, bribes, threats, secrecy or blackmail being used, i.e. the child is replicating abuse by adults,
. a child demands or offers oral sex or attempts to penetrate another with ngers,
penis or an object,
. the targeted child is vulnerable in some way, e.g. new to the centre/school and is
younger or smaller or less well informed than the perpetrator or has a disability,
. the abuser has previously been abused, abused others or is overly interested in sex
matters,
. the child had been warned about the behaviour and ignored the warning.

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

1422

F. Briggs

Problematic behaviours exhibited by children under ve years may include

. a precocious sexual knowledge beyond the norm for their age,
. an obsessive interest in poking ngers into the orices of dolls with genitalia.
While most children will investigate orices, abused childrens interest in genitals per se is often obsessive,
. obsessive masturbation,
. demanding, offering or forcing a child to provide oral sex,
. an obsession with sex talk and behaviour; not easily distracted,
. re-enactment of specic adult sexual behaviour the child has physically experienced or witnessed using others, animals or dolls,
. describing sexual acts in such a way that experience is suggested,
. sexual behaviour that involves self-injury,
. coercion, threats, tricks, force, secrecy, violence, aggression, blackmail,
. targeting younger, uninformed, powerless and/or disabled children for sex,
. threats to keep the behaviour secret,
. asking the target if s/he likes what s/he is doing,
. making sexually explicit drawings.
Additional problematic sexual behaviours by children of six+ years include all
of the above and:
. re-enacting specic adult sexual behaviour the child has physically experienced
or witnessed or teaching others how to do it,
. foreplay with peers under or over clothing,
. sexual grafti and drawings sometimes deliberately brought to the adults attention,
. frequent use of sexual innuendo,
. overly interested in pornography,
. demands for sexual activity involving coercion, force, threats, tricks, secrecy,
violence, aggression and blackmail to gain compliance,
. bullying others into committing sexual acts while they watch
. obsessive pre-occupation with genitals, masturbation, sex talk,
. sexual penetration of a child using ngers, objects or a penis,
. genital or open mouth/tongue kissing,
. asking or forcing another child to wank him,
. simulated or attempted intercourse,
. sexually explicit proposals or threats such as emails, notes or SMS messages,
. inducing fear with threats to rape, etc.
Children who learned that they have to behave sexually to please males may also
behave sexually provocatively with male staff.
When young children force sexual acts on others, beliefs about childhood innocence
are badly shaken. These situations inevitably bring an emotional response and a high
level of staff anxiety. Managers of privately owned centres and schools sometimes
try to conceal sexual abuse fearing that, when revealed, enrolments may suffer. The
headmaster of the school where the author taught pleaded for staff secrecy to
protect the good name of the school when he learned that a peripatetic teacher had
abused all the boys in a group for slow readers.
When staff are inadequately informed, sexual abuse by children may be dismissed
as disgusting behaviour. However, if a child is so psychologically harmed that he is

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

Early Child Development and Care

1423

replicating what he has experienced, the child needs help. Responding emotionally, few
adults consider the possibility that the child was so traumatised by his own inappropriate sexual experiences that he needs treatment. Serious problematic behaviours should
not only be reported to child protection services but therapy should be provided because
of the risk that (a) the perpetrator will continue to create victims; and (b) the childs
premature sexual experience will be recognised by paedophiles and s/he will be
abused repeatedly. Unfortunately, a poor response from social workers has added to
teachers and carers problems.
Globally, there is a lack of government policies and few authorities allocate
resources to programmes that are specically designed to support young offenders
and their families. Quite clearly, staff of schools and early-childhood centres, health
and social workers need to know (a) how to handle these situations in psychologically
helpful ways and (b) the whereabouts of specialist treatment for relevant age groups to
advise parents constructively when needs arise.
Children with problematic sexual behaviours are deprived of help
Given that young sexual abusers are taken less seriously than adult offenders, it follows
that their victims are ignored. There seems to be a widespread belief that sexual abuse is
somehow less harmful when perpetrators are juveniles and yet international and our
Australian research shows that their sex crimes can be just as violent and damaging
as those committed by their adult counterparts.
Unfortunately, when boys are caught abusing others, parents do them a great disservice by making excuses on their behalf. They say:
.
.
.
.
.
.

he wouldnt do that; hes a good kid,

hes never been in any trouble,
weve taught him right from wrong,
its early sexual development (or) hes too young to be interested in sex (or), its
normal sexual curiosity,
the complaint was exaggerated,
the other kid led him on.

The idea that a good kid from a good home could never have an inappropriate
sexual interest in children extends beyond the family to the school. Professionals
have been only too willing to explain juvenile sex crimes as an unimportant aberration
because the perpetrator comes from a good family; his parents go to church or dad is
important in the community.
As a consequence, those who care most about these young people collude and
prevent them from receiving the help they need. Parents often fear that seeking help
for their children will label them. However, short-term therapeutic interventions can
greatly reduce if not eliminate inappropriate sexual behaviours in pre-adolescent children (Pithers, Gibat, Marlatt, & Marques, 1983). Most major cities now have treatment
programmes but they are not well-advertised.
Types of problem sexual behaviour exhibited by juveniles
Problem sexual behaviour is dened as that which far exceeds the mutual exploratory
behaviour normally seen in young children and is outside the normal developmental
sexual activity expected for children (Friedrich & Luecke, 1988).

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

1424

F. Briggs

Five types have been identied:

. Sexually aggressive: mostly males with a history of maltreatment, conduct disorder, penetrative acts, internalising/externalising problems.
. Non-symptomatic: predominantly females with a mixed history of maltreatment,
comparatively low use of force.
. Highly traumatised: boys and girls with the highest number of psychiatric diagnoses, PTSD and an extensive history of maltreatment.
. Rule breakers: mainly females, mixed psychiatric diagnoses (Attention Decit/
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional and Deant Disorder (ODD)),
mixed history of maltreatment, clinical range on nearly all psychological
measures, externalising and internalising problems).
. Abuse reactive children: males; Oppositional Deant Disorder, severe maltreatment; may penetrate victims, high-clinical range on all psychological measures.
Some children with problematic interpersonal sexual behaviour routinely plan and
carry out the abuse of others as well as acting on the spur of the moment. The data
suggest a relationship between the extent of the problematic behaviour and the
abusers psychological problems. The higher levels of those problems are associated
with the more serious types of sexual misbehaviour. Children who abuse others are signicantly more likely to have:
.
.
.
.

psychological problems (i.e. lack empathy, restricted affect, depression) than

children who display self-focussed problematic sexual behaviour
developmentally inappropriate social skills and inability to engage in appropriate
social interactions due to their de-humanising experiences
high levels of anxiety and obsessive behaviour
high levels of depression, internalising, externalising and withdrawal

Toni Cavanagh Johnson (1988) was one of the rst to study very young perpetrators
of sexual abuse. She surveyed males aged 412 years attending a Los Angeles treatment centre. The most common age groups represented were average age was 6. All
knew their victims; 47% were siblings and 18% were close relatives. Offenders
admitted abusing up to seven victims including infants. As with adult perpetrators,
juveniles used excessive physical coercion along with bribes and threats. They recruited
co-perpetrators to restrain victims. The behaviour included anal, vaginal and oral penetration. Johnson was concerned that professionals needed to be more aware of the vulnerability of young children when a boy with problematic sexual behaviours was in
their social environment. She emphasised the need for treatment for young victims
and perpetrators.

Examples of problematic sexual behaviours in schools

All but one of many cases brought to the authors and media attention involved
very young boys who were anally or orally abused on school premises. Parents
invariably complained that head teachers were negligent and concealed what happened. The trend for males to be both perpetrators and victims is again conrmed
(Staiger, 2005).

Early Child Development and Care

.

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

1425

Three ve-year-old boys were sexually assaulted by six-year-olds at a Cairns

(Queensland) state school. A victims parent said his son was totally out of
control thereafter.
Two Queensland ve-year-old boys accosted others going to the toilet. Victims
were forced to remove their pants and the boys urinated on them. The school
head teacher took no action and did not contact parents. One parent only
learned what happened when the boy refused to attend school. After police
became involved, teachers provided better supervision of school toilets but the
boys responsible for the attacks merely took their behaviour to more remote
parts of the playground (Browne, 2008).
On his rst day at a middle-class school, a ve-year-old boy was anally raped and
forced to provide oral sex for a slightly older boy who trapped him over the toilet.
The teacher noted the victims disturbed behaviours when he returned to the
classroom and emotional disturbance was noted when he returned home. When
he refused to return to school his mother assumed that he was simply not
ready for the school experience but she became alarmed when she found him
attempting to anally penetrate his younger brother. One week later, the headmaster had still not contacted child protection services (as was required by law) and a
senior member of staff dismissed the victims parents concerns as over-reacting
to normal sexual experimentation. Stressed staff were offered counselling; the
child was not (Owen, 2008). When the headmaster reported to the child protection service he referred only to inappropriate behaviour and, of course, that was
not investigated. The parents removed their son from the school.
On her rst day at school, an Adelaide ve-year-old girl was set upon by six-yearold boys who followed her into the girls toilet, held her down and urinated on
her, referring to this as Golden showers. Despite using language associated
with pornography, the headmistress merely gave the boys black stars for their
star-charts and deprived them of outdoor play for a week.
At the same school, older boys behaved sexually with a seven-year-old girl
behind the bicycle shed. The boys were blamed. A student teacher found the
girl in tears because boys referred to her as root rat because I showed them
how to root. The girl was dismissed by staff as just promiscuous. The
student found she was being used for sex by her stepfather and she thought
she had to offer sex to please boys.
When, with victims mothers, the author reported that two boys had been anally
raped on several separate occasions at school by an 11-year-old boy, the schools
response was to ask staff to keep an eye on the toilets.
A six-year-old boy in Adelaide persisted in offering and seeking oral sex from a
ve-year-old. When the victims father (a student teacher) complained, his
teacher dismissed his concerns with, The kids in this class love playing at kiss
and tell.
In a Brisbane state school, three six-year-old boys were caught running a sex
club which involved demanding sexual favours from Year 2 classmates.
Similar reports emerged at state schools on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts and
Northern Queensland. The media reported that the sexual abuse of young children by others was now rampant (Houghton, 2008a, 2008b).
A serious sexual assault on a seven-year-old by a male classmate was dismissed
as a childhood experiment by another Queensland head teacher (Houghton,
2008a, September 12). In the meantime, on the Sunshine Coast, a gang of

1426

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

F. Briggs

nine-year-old boys groomed ve-year-olds to engage in sex acts, rewarding

victims with lollies. Parents accused the Education Department of failing to
provide a promised investigation and parents complained that offenders remained
in school and they, not victims, were protected. As often happens, victims
parents felt obliged to nd other schools because their children were scared to
death and needed counselling.
In Southern Queensland, a four-year-old boy obsessively offered and demanded
oral sex at his child-care centre, telling staff in crude language that little boys like
providing oral sex for men. When this was reported to the child safety service, the
centres manager was allegedly told, Youre at the coal face. Ask his mum if he
sees his parents having oral sex. She was shocked but complied. The mothers
bizarre response was that she would not interfere with her sons normal sexual
development. Neither mother nor child was seen again. Staff then expressed
concern that the boy would be enrolled at another centre and the behaviour
would continue.
A seven-year-old girl molested by boys was experiencing nightmares a year later.
Queensland Opposition MP Jann Stuckey said she previously raised similar allegations and the child protection agency failed to get involved in countless cases.
She criticised the State Government for the appalling betrayal of victims. The
Minister responded by ordering an inquiry (Houghton, 2008b, September 13).

Queensland Mental Health professionals claimed that demands for oral sex in
schools and pre-schools are now so common as to be statistically normal. Demands
are incorporated in cyber bullying with threats of harm if there is non-compliance.
Unhelpful reporting
A large study by the ACF showed that, despite massive media publicity, about a third of
parents would not believe a child who reported sexual abuse, a similar number would
not know what to do and others did not believe that sexual abuse did any harm. Instead
of contacting police, victims parents report to the teacher or challenge the perpetrators
or their parents who usually respond with instant denial, blaming victims or accusing
their parents of over-reacting. This does not help to resolve the aggressors problems.
When parents make reports to clergy or managers of schools and centres, they
seldom emerge with any sense that the situation has been handled competently. In
the private sector of education, with risks to enrolments in mind, parents have specically been asked not to report to the police. Some school managers full their mandatory notication obligations but minimise what happened, thus avoiding an
investigation.
Most frequently, young perpetrators are given a warning; on the second occasion
they may be suspended and on the third, expelled without any report being made.
They then enrol at another school. Because of their right to privacy, their history
may not be disclosed and teachers are unaware of the need to be vigilant. Problem behaviour continues but they now recognise the need to take care to avoid being caught.
Restorative justice must not be used in schools as a way of handling these situations.
Children affected must not be put under any pressure to forgive and agree to their
abusers remaining at the same school.
It is apparent that some teachers and social workers do not know the difference
between normal sexual curiosity/experimentation and behaviour that suggests that

Early Child Development and Care

1427

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

the child may be re-enacting abusive experiences. What becomes clear is that such behaviour is tacitly and sometime explicitly condoned within the cultural context of both
home and school.
The widespread nature of dismissive attitudes should not minimise the abusive actions
of young perpetrators and the seriousness of their effects on victims (Boyd, 2006).

Normal v problem sexual behaviours

Staff need to know how to differentiate between childrens normal sexual experimentation and curiosity and evidence that a child is replicating sexual abuse or pornography
(which in itself is child abuse).
Given that sexual experimentation is a normal part of child development, the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault (No. 3: 2006) (Boyd, 2006) suggests that
three factors should be considered: the degree of (a) equality of involvement; (b)
consent and (c) whether coercion was used. An age difference of more than two
years is regarded as unequal.
Healthy sexual exploration by young children involves equal sharing in information-gathering from looking at (rather than touching) each others bodies to see if
they are constructed identically. Its about You show me yours and Ill show you
mine. Participants tend to be friends at the same developmental level. Normal
sexual curiosity is occasional, short-lasting and participants are easily distracted.
There is intermittent activity with high interest at age 46 years and again at 8 years.
It may include fun and teasing, such as, I dare you to This does not usually
leave participants with a sense of shame, fear or anxiety.
Young children act out gender roles playing at mums and dads or doctors and
nurses. They begin to recognise that its naughty when they are caught by adults
who respond emotionally. Thereafter it becomes more daring, exciting and secretive.
Participants are embarrassed when caught but do not understand what the fuss is about.
By contrast, unhealthy sexual behaviour usually stems from emotionally disturbing
experiences which they re-enact with others. Re-enacting traumatic sexual experiences
can have a therapeutic effect but when victims enjoy the power that role reversal brings,
there is a risk that abusive behaviour becomes habitual.
Araji (1997) provided a synthesis of the literature and listed commonly observed
and non-problematic sexual behaviours followed by an analysis of behaviours that
are considered to be problematic. Cunningham and MacFarlane (1991) provided a comprehensive list of problematic and appropriate behaviours across three age groups.
Hackett and Taylor (2008) reproduced a list from Ryan (2000).3
Briggs (1995) and Briggs, Hawkins, and Williams (1994) found that group sexual
play increases boys vulnerability to predators. There is a risk that a participant will
have been sexually abused and introduce paedophiles who pay boys for doing what
they are doing to each other. They then think they are smart but nd themselves trapped.

Prevalence of children who sexually abuse others

It is unclear how many sex offences are committed by children and young people given
that most are not reported. British statistics suggest that harmful sexual assaults perpetrated by children account for one-quarter to one-third of sex offences reported to authorities (Erooga & Masson, 1999).

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

1428

F. Briggs

The ACF (Staiger 2005) conrmed that there have been no Australian attempts to
measure rates. Recognising and understanding these children is a neglected area of
research and clinical practice. International evidence conrms that these behaviours
are increasing and the perpetrators of problem sexual behaviour are younger and
younger (Hackett & Taylor, 2008). It is important to remember that very young children
are used to make pornography and some are sold for this purpose by their own (often
drug dependent) parents.
Primary-school head teachers said that children now take pornography to school on
mobile phones, often with the knowledge of their parents who lodge formal complaints
when their phones are conscated (Kyriacou, 2010).
In February 2010, Tasmanian professionals called for special treatment programmes
for children exhibiting problematic sexual behaviours (Brown, 2010). Liz Little, the
manager of a trauma centre said that they were getting better at identifying young
sex offenders and needed programmes to break the cycle.
We are getting a high number of requests about students displaying problematic
sexualised behaviour at an early age. We have not anything to deal with this. Teachers
reported that they are increasingly overhearing primary-school students boasting about
having oral sex.
Sexologist Arndt (2008) conrmed that current youth culture makes it easy for
young people to behave sexually irresponsibly. Oral sex is common-place and
widely expected by young males, she said. Boys demand it and girls are pushed
into providing it because they think, mistakenly, that it will increase their popularity.
Younger boys cooperate because they are afraid of what will happen if they resist.
Unfortunately, the one thing that has not changed is that while promiscuous boys are
thought of as studs, cooperative girls are still labelled as slags and whores.

Characteristics of young sex offenders

Gender
Almost all studies of young sex offenders surveyed for the ACF (Staiger, 2005) found
that boys were over-represented. In a sample of 271 children with sexually problematic
behaviour, only 12.5% (34) were girls. Pithers et al. (1998) also found that sexually
aggressive children were more likely to be boys. Both sexes were equally likely to
belong to the highly traumatised category but female perpetrators differ substantively
from males in relation to behavioural and psychological characteristics.

Childrens problematic behaviours

Studies reviewed by Staiger for the ACF (2005) showed that children who exhibit
aggressive problematic sexual behaviour also exhibit the highest levels of other
socially deviant behaviours and conduct disorders. Almost half of the boys and
22% of girls were diagnosed with ADHD. Gray, Pithers, Busconi, and Houchens
(1999) found that more than a quarter of these children (27%) also presented with
behaviours consistent with ODD. Several studies found high rates of disobedience,
ghting, arson and property damage. While attending a supervised mental-health
service, large numbers of children who displayed problem sexual behaviours also
engaged in physical ghts (70%), property damage (60%) and disobedience (84%).
Hall, Matthews, and Pearce (2002) also conrmed that these children exhibited

Early Child Development and Care

1429

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

greater levels of hyperactivity, trickery and blaming others for their own crimes
which were usually planned and coercive.
Hackett and Taylor (2008) cited research by Gray et al. (1999) which showed that in
a sample of 127 children receiving therapy for problematic sexual behaviours, 65%
were boys and their average age was 8.8 years. Eighty-four per cent had extensive histories of being sexually abused and 56% were victims of all forms of abuse. Seventy-six
per cent had other conduct disorders and cases of ADHD were prevalent. Most abuse
occurred in the home but the second most common location was the school.

Victimisation experiences
The ACFs survey (Staiger, 2005) of research literature conrmed that while not all
child victims become victimisers, children with sexually abusive carers are at highest
risk of developing problem sexual behaviours. In addition, high rates of physical and
emotional abuse among such children are also reported. The majority of researchers
found that at least 50% of the sample were victims of sexual abuse while others
found that 50% of the children were physically or emotionally abused (Staiger,
2005).
Ray and English (1995) (Staiger, 2005) found that 86% of a sample of 271 children
who displayed problem sexual behaviour were victims of sexual abuse and 85% were
victims of physical abuse. Burton, Nesmith, and Badten (1997) reported that 72% of
287 children were themselves sexually abused while Pithers et al. (1998) and Gray
et al. (1999) found that 48% of the children in their sample were victims of physical
abuse.

Caregiver characteristics
Poor parenting
In eleven studies examined for the ACF, (Staiger, 2005) parents of children reported for
sexual misbehaviours were found to be authoritarian, expecting total obedience by
using excessive levels of control. Forty-nine per cent of male sex offenders studied
by Briggs et al. (1994) reported having an affectionless childhood, never having
been hugged or cuddled in the family setting. Seventy-three per cent said their
parents provided no sex education whatsoever. Thirty-four per cent said they had
severe beatings and 78% described major childhood traumas. Twenty-eight per cent
of male victims (N = 198) reported that children four years older or more had sexually
abused them before they were aged six, namely their older brothers, their friends and
cousins (40% in each category) and neighbours (14%). One-quarter of offences
began in infancy and all continued for many years.
Pithers et al. (1998) found that the parents exhibited higher levels of anger,
anxiety and angry behaviour than foster parents. Families of children with the
most problematic interpersonal sexual behaviours were characterised by greater
levels of violence, sexualisation and harsh/punitive parenting. The ndings are signicant given that social work policy has long focussed on returning children to
their birth families as quickly as possible. In addition, many young offenders
parents suffered from personality disorders (e.g. Dependent Personality Disorder,
Narcissistic Personality Disorder or Borderline Personality Disorder) and major
depressive episodes which can severely hinder the development of strong

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

1430

F. Briggs

parentchild relationships. Problems in relationships were identied as an important

factor in children who engage in problem sexual behaviour. In particular, parents
indicated high levels of insecure attachment and extreme disappointment in the qualities of their children. This led to rejection, which, in turn, disrupted the childs
identication with both societal and parental values, leading to the emergence of
maladaptive or problematic behaviour patterns. Similarly, Friedrich and Luecke
(1988) reported that only 6% of mothers provided good emotional support compared
with 83% of mothers in a comparison group. Consistent with this, Johnson (1989)
found that families were characterised by dysfunctional relationships and that
parents were poor role models for their children.
Hall, Mathews, and Pearce (1998) also found that children who engage in problem
sexual behaviours have problematic relationships with their parents. Eighty-one per
cent of those who exhibited problematic interpersonal sexual behaviour were characterised by inappropriate parentchild roles or role reversal, compared to 58% of children who exhibited problematic self-focussed sexual behaviour and 21% of children
who displayed developmentally expected sexual behaviour. Thus research suggests
that the combination of high levels of anger, anxiety, sexual and substance abuse,
psychological problems/disorders and parentchild relationship problems may be
associated with the development of problem sexual behaviours in their children and
family intervention is essential.

History of abuse and drug dependence

The ACFs literature survey (Staiger, 2005) showed that the majority of young abusers
had a history of sexual, physical and substance abuse and criminality in their immediate
families. Almost 15% of relatives were sexually abused by their own fathers, 17% by
neighbours, 6% by babysitters and 11% by aunts and uncles. Sexually abusive boys had
a mean age of eight years nine months and their victims were, on average, three years
younger. Older boys denied their offences, fearing punishment.
Burton et al. (1997) found that 70% and Johnson (1988) reported that 73% of
parents of child sex offenders had a history of drug dependence. Similar high rates
have been reported by other researchers. Four studies reported that three-quarters of
mothers of young sex offenders were abused and/or physically neglected in childhood;
68% of the mothers were victims of child neglect, and 48% of children who engaged in
problem sexual behaviour had at least one parent (usually their mother) who had been
sexually abused. Johnson (1988) found that over 65% of these parents had been sexually or physically abused in childhood and the sexual victimisation of a parent substantially increases the chances that the child becomes an abuser.

Family structure
Each of the 11 studies analysed by the ACF indicated that children who engage in
serious sexual misbehaviours usually live with one parent and fathers are often
unknown or physically absent. Specically, 50% of these children had permanently
lost their fathers compared with 5% of the children who did not display inappropriate
sexual behaviours. Johnson (1988) found that almost 60% of her sample of abusive
boys aged 412 years lived with single mothers, fewer than 15% lived with both
parents and more than half came from middle-class backgrounds.

Early Child Development and Care

1431

New Zealand ndings

High levels of depression, isolation, chronic stress and post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) were noted in the mothers of children who exhibited problematic sexual
behaviours.
Auckland University researcher Dr Ian Lambie found that the families of New
Zealand young sex offenders were characterised by:
.
.

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

high levels of substance abuse,

larger than average size and incomes below the poverty line,
insecure attachment,
inappropriate parentchild roles,
sexual abuse: a third by their natural fathers,
high levels of physical abuse by fathers/father gures,
witnesses of high levels of domestic violence,
seventy-two per cent of families containing at least one known sex abuse
victim,
grandparents (66.6%) who were sexually and/or physically abused,
parents (33.3%) with criminal histories,
dysfunctional family relationships; a third had divorced parents,
father not functioning (e.g. due to alcoholism or absence).

All of the studies except one investigated for the ACF also found that children presenting with sexual behaviour problems came predominantly from low-income
families, with many living below the poverty line. In an income comparison of the childrens biological parents and other-carers Pithers et al. (1998) found that foster families
earned signicantly more money than the childrens biological parents. One explanation for these ndings might be that children in wealthier families are less likely
than the poor to be reported and referred to treatment.

Ages of children who sexually abuse others

Araji (1997) conrmed that children as young as three and four were referred for
treatment for sexual aggression. Most (76%) had been abused. Silovsky and Niec
(2002) found that that 37-year-olds were engaged in frequent and severe problematic behaviour with 54% repeating molestation after being told to desist, 38%
attempting sexual penetration with another child or adult and 20% engaging in
oral sex.
Lane (1991) reported that at least half of the adolescent offenders were engaged in
problem sexual behaviour before the age of 10. A report by the (Australian) Childrens
Protection Society in Victoria estimated that 2040% of reported child sexual assaults
are committed by juvenile males (Flanagan & White, 1997). Again referring to Victoria, Flanagan and Hayman-White (1999) found that 84.5% of victims of adolescent
offenders were aged 611 years, 94.3% were known to their offenders, 45.9% of
whom were relatives (Flanagan & Hayman-White, 1999). Of the 534 children referred,
one-third had been sexually abused by someone under the age of 18. Twenty-three per
cent of young people undergoing treatment for sexually abusive behaviours at Grifth
University Assessment and Treatment Centre were aged 1012 years. Researchers

1432

F. Briggs

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

conrmed that abuse by a school peer can be just as frightening and harmful as abuse by
an adult (Boyd, 2006).
Family therapy
Therapy for young sex offenders families focusses on educating, supporting and assisting non-offending family members to place responsibility for the offending behaviour
with the perpetrator. This can be a time for the family to re-evaluate its beliefs, values,
lifestyle and priorities. The family is often a large part of the problem and presents with
similar cognitive distortions to the young offender, absolutely denying that the allegations are true or important.
Without family therapy there is a risk that progress will be undermined by the
familys lack of understanding of the seriousness of the problem and the perpetrator
continuing to live with unchanged, dysfunctional family dynamics (Stevenson, Castillo, & Sefarbi, 1990).
Most families know little about young sex offenders, their thinking patterns and
secretive behaviours. Some struggle to comprehend how the child they thought they
knew could have deceived them. It is completely understandable that a respectable
normal family could not possibly be expected to know how a cognitively distorted
child sex offender will think and act. Because of this, one of the main roles of the therapist is to educate the family about sexual abuse (including the effects) and juvenile
sexual offending. This includes:
.
.
.

the reasons for their childs offending,

the techniques to be used for the offender to stop the cycle,
information about treatment.

Another important phase in the latter stages of family therapy is to ensure the
family has a good understanding about relapse prevention, the need for on-going
support and monitoring of their childs behaviour. It is often difcult to engage
families in therapy especially if a relative was responsible for abusing the child.
Families in which inter-generational abuse is a long-kept secret may be resistant to
therapy, fearing that the child may tell all. Parents often minimise abuse, or
believe that they have already successfully dealt with it. Offenders families are
often so disorganised that they cannot address the problem at all. In some families,
denial is so strong that they seek revenge on the victim for disclosing what happened
and refuse to allow their son to be dealt with.
Conclusion
While there has been little research into the problematic sexual behaviours of young
children, the conclusion drawn from the literature is that those who exhibit problematic sexual behaviours are likely to have experienced poor parenting, earlier
sexual victimisation (over 80% on average) and they copy the violence and tactics
of their abusers with a high risk that, untreated, they will become offenders. The
models discussed in the ACFs review Children who engage in problem sexual
behaviours: Context, characteristics and treatment show how cognitive processes
combined with environmental factors facilitate the formation of problem sexual behaviours. The identication of individual and environmental factors has important

Early Child Development and Care

1433

implications for intervention with families and the treatment of both young victims
and offenders.
Parliamentary recommendations
The Report of the Select Committee on Matters relating to the Independent Education
Inquiry (12 February 2014, p. 13) made recommendations that are relevant to jurisdictions far beyond the state of South Australia. They include the following:

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

.
.
.
.
.

Government should work with the university sector to ensure that there is comprehensive training in child abuse issues for health-service professionals and teachers; that is to include child sexual abuse and how abusers groom those
responsible for childrens safety;
Education Authority must ensure that up-to-date and face-to-face training in child
abuse issues is provided for all teachers;
Education Authority should introduce education plans for abused children;
Government should provide an education and childrens ombudsman;
Education Authority should offer counselling as required for those involved as
soon as serious cases of sexual abuse are alleged;
Government should immediately implement classication of high-level alert notications for critical incidents in schools (such as the crimes committed in childcare centres as detailed in this paper) where the chief executive ofcer must
immediately ring the minister and forward a detailed account within 24 hours.

Notes
1. http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/Committees/Pages/Committees.aspx?CTId=3&
CId=282
2. http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/educationinquiry/les/links/DebelleInquiry.pdf
3. Ryan et al. (1996). The most common diagnosis is conduct disorder, with an
increasing number being identied with attention decit hyperactivity disorder
(Becker & Hunter, 1997. Ryan et al. 1996). Also, levels of depressive symptomatology have been reported to be higher among adolescents who sexually abuse than
non-sexually abusive adolescents.
Notes on contributor
Freda Briggs is a former early childhood teacher whose interest in child maltreatment began as a
child protection ofcer attached to Londons Metropolitan Police. She is the author/co-author of
20 books on child protection and early childhood education. She received an Hon.D.Lit from the
University of Shefeld (2009) and numerous awards from Australia and New Zealand, including
the Order of Australia for pioneering research and contributions to education in the child protection eld.

References
Abel, G., & Harlow, N. (2001). Stop child molestation. USA: ExLibris.
Abel, G. G., Becker, J., Cunningham-Rathner, J., & McHugh, J. (1983). Motivating sex
offenders for treatment with feedback of their psychophysical assessment. Paper presented
at the World Congress of Behaviour Therapy, Washington, DC.
Araji, S. K. (1997). Sexually aggressive children: Coming to understand them. London: Sage
Publications.

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

1434

F. Briggs

Arndt, B. (2008, September 18). Interviewed for Morals blurred by sex acts in the noughties.
The Australian, p. 6.
Bentovim, A. (1996). Impromptu paper presented at the ISPCAN Conference. Kuala Lumpur.
Boyd, C. (2006, December). Young people who sexually abuse: Key issues., Melbourne:
Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault (No. 3).
Briggs, F. (Ed.). (1995). From victim to offender. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Briggs, F., Hawkins, R. M. F., & Williams, M. (1994, July). A comparison of the early childhood and family experiences of incarcerated, convicted male child molesters and men
who were sexually abused in childhood and have no convictions for sexual offences
against children. Report for the Criminology Research Council. Magill, Adelaide:
University of South Australia.
Brown, D. (2010, February 22). Sex risks in school, Hobart. The Mercury. Retrieved from http://
prelive.themercury.com.au/article/2010/02/22/129471_tasmania-news.html
Browne, S. (2008, April 30). Preps in sex attacks claims. The Cairns Post.
Burton, D., Nesmith, A., & Badten, L. (1997). Clinicians views on sexually aggressive children
and their families: A theoretical exploration. Child Abuse and Neglect, 21, 157170.
Crawford, C., & Wilkinson, G. (2008, July 2). Making child pornography is now kids stuff.
Herald Sun. Melbourne, p. 15.
Cunningham, C., & MacFarlane, K. (1991). When children molest children: Group treatment
strategies for young sexual offenders. Orvell, VT: Safer Society Program and Press.
Erooga, M., & Masson, H. (1999). Children and young people who sexually abuse others:
Challenges and responses. Florence, KY: Taylor and Francis/Routledge.
Flanagan, K., & Hayman-White, K. (1999). Adolescent sex offender treatment program:
Evaluation/client prole report. Melbourne: Childrens Protection Society.
Flanagan, K., & White, M. (1997). Adolescent sex offender program. Heidelberg: Childrens
Protection Society.
Friedrich, W., & Luecke, W. (1988). Young school age sexually aggressive children.
Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 19, 155164.
Gray, A., Pithers, W., Busconi, A., & Houchens, P. (1999). Developmental and etiological
characteristics of children with sexual behaviour problems: Treatment implications. Child
Abuse and Neglect, 23, 601621.
Hackett, S., & Taylor, A. (2008). School responses to children with harmful sexual behaviours.
In M. Baginsky (Ed.), Safeguarding children and schools (pp. 85103). London: Jessica
Kingsley.
Hall, D., Mathews, F., & Pearce, J. (1998). Factors associated with sexual behaviour problems in
young sexually abused children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 22, 10451063.
Hall, D., Matthews, F., & Pearce, J. (2002). Sexual behaviour problems in sexually abused children: A preliminary typology. Child Abuse and Neglect, 26, 289312.
Holderhead, S. (2013, March 26). Rise in school sexual reports The Advertiser. Adelaide, p. 15.
Hood, L. (2001). A city possesed: The christchurch civic creche case. Dunedin, NZ : Longacre
Press.
Houghton, D. (2008a, September 12). Child sex attack outrage at school. Courier Mail.
Retrieved from http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/school-sex-attack-outrage/
story-e6freoof-1111117457806
Houghton, D. (2008b, September 13). Rampant abuse includes sex club for six year olds.
Courier Mail. Retrieved from http://www.news.com.au/news/school-abuse-sex-club-forsix-year-olds/story-fna7dq6e-1111117468840
Johnson, T. C. (1988). Child perpetrators Children who molest other children: Preliminary
ndings. Child Abuse & Neglect, 12, 210229.
Johnson, T. C. (1989). Female child perpetrators: Children who molest other children. Child
Abuse & Neglect, 13, 571585.
Johnson, T. C. (1998). Children who molest. In W. Marshall & Y. Fernandez (Eds.), Sourcebook
of treatment programs for sexual offenders (pp. 337352). New York: Plenum Press.
Kyriacou, K. (2010, February 26). Alert over child sexting, The Advertiser. Adelaide, p. 13.
Lane, S. (1991). Special offender populations. In G. Ryan & S. Lane (Eds.), Juvenile sexual
offending: Causes, consequences and correction (pp. 299307). Lexington, KY:
Lexington Books.

Downloaded by [University of Southern Queensland] at 15:50 06 October 2014

Early Child Development and Care

1435

Owen, M. (2008, September 6). Boy, 5, in rst day school sex attack, The Advertiser.
Adelaide, p. 2.
Pithers, W., & Gray, A. (1998). The other half of the story: Children with sexual behaviour problems. Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 4, 200217.
Pithers, W. D., Gibat, C. C., Marlatt, G. A., & Marques, J. K. (1983). Relapse prevention: A selfcontrol model of treatment and maintenance of change for sexual aggression. In J. G. Greer
& I. R. Stuart (Eds.), The sexual aggressor: Current perspectives on treatment (pp. 214
239). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Ray, J., & English, D. (1995). Comparison of male and female children with sexual behaviour
problems. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 24, 439451.
Ryan, G. (2000). Childhood sexuality: A decade of study. Part 1 Research and curriculum
development. Child Abuse and Neglect, 24(1), 42, 44.
Silovsky, J., & Niec, L. (2002). Characteristics of young children with sexual behaviour
problems: A pilot study. Child Maltreatment, 7, 187197.
Stevenson, H. C., Castillo, E., & Sefarbi, R. (1990). Treatment of denial in adolescent sex offenders and their families. Journal of Offender Counselling, Services & Rehabilitation, 14(1),
3750.
Staiger, P. (Ed.). (2005). Children who engage in problem sexual behaviours: Context, characteristics and treatment. Ringwood, Vic.: Australian Childhood Foundation.
Tucci, J., Mitchell, J., & Goddard, C. (2006). Out of sight out of mind. Melbourne: Australian
Childhood Foundation.