Report Details Connecticut Sex Abuse Statistics

2:40 PM EDT,May 2, 2003

Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Most child sexual abuse victims in Connecticut are white girls between 12 and 15 years old who have been victimized by a parent, according to a study released Friday.

Researchers for the Children's Trust Fund, an independent agency that develops child abuse prevention programs, looked at 844 cases of child sexual abuse reported in 2002. They profiled 188 convicted sex offenders, using data from the state Department of Children and Families, state police, abuser rehabilitation programs and other sources.

"Comprehensive data regarding the nature and prevalence of child sexual abuse is extremely hard to come by," said Karen Foley Schain, the fund's executive director. "That is why this report will prove so valuable."

The research details the characteristics of child sexual abuse victims, perpetrators and the frequency of child sexual abuse in the state.

Among the findings:

- More than 80 percent of child sexual abuse victims were female.

- Sex abuse made up 5 percent of substantiated child abuse cases.

- Almost 80 percent of victims were living with their families when the abuse was reported.

- More than half of abusers were the child's biological parent; 53.6 percent of abusers were male.

- Nearly 90 percent of convicted sex offenders knew or were related to the victim.

The study's findings are being turned over to the state's Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Project Committee, which is expected to issue recommendations based on the data later this year.

DCF spokesman Gary Kleeblatt said Friday he had not reviewed the study and could not immediately comment.

The Hartford Courant

CtNow.com