Study identifies 15 risk factors that can contribute to child sexual abuse

Experts say the rate of child sexual abuse offending in Queensland "is going in the wrong direction", with more than 1,400 people dealt with for related crimes in the state every year.

Twenty years of sentencing data shows convictions for one of the most serious related offences are up by more than 60 per cent.

Meanwhile, a new study has identified 15 "risk factors" Australian researchers say can contribute to a person first committing child sexual abuse.

Child safety advocates have also highlighted a need for intervention among today's youth, who are engaging in more harmful sexual behaviour towards other children than any generation before.

"The reality is we've got rates that are terrifying", Beth McNamara from The Daniel Morcombe Foundation said.

"It's going up."

Dr Sarah Napier from the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) said the issue must not be "swept under the rug", and noted it was also important to address child-on-child sexual abuse.

"It's something that not many people want to talk about because it's involving children as perpetrators," she said.

"We have to address it through early intervention, getting support for both the child perpetrator and the child victim so that the offending doesn't escalate."

One month in a Brisbane court

Reviewing one month of Brisbane Magistrate Court lists shows more than 120 adults faced over 750 child abuse-specific charges, including indecent treatment of a child, carnal knowledge and grooming offences.

"It's a tsunami," Ms McNamara said.

These figures do not include offences committed by youths, or most adult rape, attempted rape or sexual assault charges, since they are not categorised by victim age.

Still, ABS data shows more than 4,000 sexual assault victims who reported to Queensland Police last year were under the age of 18, and more than 90 per cent of adults abused as children have never reported it.

Most common perpetrators

Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council figures dating back to 2005 show more than 95 per cent of people sentenced for child abuse specific crimes during that time were men.

"This is a gendered crime, the same as domestic and family violence," Ms McNamara said.

The most common demographic sentenced for repeated sexual conduct with a child between 2005 and 2021 was non-Indigenous men in their mid to late 30s, living in south-east Queensland, with comparable per capita rates in north and Far North Queensland.

However, offenders spanned every age group, from children through to adults in their 80s.

Beth McNamara, a career therapist and child safety advocate, stressed that women also commit these crimes.

"It's really important that we acknowledge that because there's people in the community who have been impacted by female offending," she said.

She said those people often felt "invisible".

Nationally, a 2023 child maltreatment study found sexual abuse against boys has declined slightly over generations, but not for girls, who make up majority of victims.

Online child abuse offending has also increased, with the Australian Federal Police saying the rise reflects actual increased offending, not just better reporting.

Early porn a path to extreme material

Both Ms McNamara and Dr Napier pointed to the internet's role, particularly through access to child exploitation material.

Ms McNamara said many people being apprehended did not start out with paedophilic tendencies.

"They're having arousal as they're watching it and that is progressing to them having further witnessing of child sexual abuse material," she said.

"We need to prevent it at scale."

Dr Napier, who has researched this offending for over a decade, said there is a "significant" association between offenders and whether a person's first sexual exposure was appropriate for their age and development.

Pornography overall was not deemed problematic, rather early exposure which desensitises some consumers.

"A very common pathway to child sexual abuse material was viewing adult pornography, and moving on to more atypical pornography, involving adults, bestiality, rape, violence or force … or other paraphilias," she said.

"The fantasy sort of happened before they made the first step to commit a sexual offence against a child.

"Obviously this doesn't happen to everyone … but we know it is a risk factor."

According to Dr Napier, psychological treatment can intervene when someone first recognises they are having problematic fantasies, potentially preventing future offending.

New research finds risk factors

The AIC review Dr Napier co-authored drew on 15 years of studies from Australia, the United States, Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom.

It identified a range of factors it said could contribute to the onset of "contact" child sexual abuse offending, including adverse experiences during pivotal brain development years.

Among them was a lack of sexual education, or "zero tolerance" approach to adolescence sexuality and premarital sex.

"Rather than … how you can engage in sex safely," Dr Napier said.

"Instead, they might be repressing their desires, and it later comes out in very unhealthy ways."

'No recipe for child sex offender'

However, Dr Napier said a person experiencing one or several of these factors does not mean they will become a sexual offender.

"There isn't one factor that a person might have that will lead them to sexual offending against children," she said.

For example, being abused as a child was listed as another possible contributor, though findings over decades have been inconclusive — statistically, girls are abused at higher rates as children but that does not translate to higher offending rates among women.

Ms McNamara said this context matters, given survivors often already carry shame and stigma.

"The vast majority of people who get sexually abused do not go on to cause abuse to others," she said.

"In fact, they're actually the champions within our sector trying to prevent them.

"There's certainly not a recipe for someone who engages in offending."