The average homosexual offender vs. minors was 32.6 years old at the time of his first offense of this nature. He was apt to be unmarried, inasmuch as 71 per cent of the offenses were committed by never-married men and nearly one quarter were committed by the separated, divorced, or widowed, leaving a mere 5 per cent married at the time of offense. No group had fewer married men at this strategic point in time.
For 44 per cent it was their first sex offense, for about one quarter it was their second, for 17 per cent their third, for 9 per cent their fourth, and 4 per cent had five or more sex-offense convictions before being convicted of a homosexual offense vs. a minor.
As a group only a moderate proportion had prior histories of mental or emotional illness (5 per cent), relatively few were drunk at the time of offense, and none were under the influence of narcotics.
A number large both relatively and absolutely (87 per cent) of the offenses were clearly premeditated and very few were wholly opportunistic (3 per cent). In only three instances were there copartners involved.
The average minor, the object of the offense, was 14.1 years old. Slightly over half of the offenders regarded the boys as friends (third rank) and 13 per cent (again third rank) regarded them as acquaintances. In one third of the cases the two were strangers, a moderate proportion, and in only two cases were they related.
In about one offense in ten there was no physical contact—the relationship ended before contact occurred. In the cases where contact took place a relatively very large proportion, somewhat over half, involved fellation; about one fifth consisted of masturbation; 11 to 12 per cent involved anal coitus; and 8 per cent consisted only of nongenital contact. In comparison to the other homosexual groups these offenders vs. minors have the largest proportion of anal coitus, an incidence of fellation equal to that of the homosexual offenders vs. adults, and moderate amounts of genital and nongenital petting.
The minor objects of these homosexual offenses showed a somewhat higher degree of participation than did the younger objects of the homosexual offenders vs. children. Among the 83 cases where we have both the official and the offender’s version, 83 per cent agreed that the minor boy was either encouraging or passive and 6 per cent agreed that he resisted. In another 6 per cent the official record reports resistance while the offender claimed otherwise.
In only eight instances was force employed, and it appears to have been mild to moderate, never severe. Three cases of threat appear, but two of these were in conjunction with the force cases just mentioned. By and large, it is quite clear that force and threat are infrequent and quite atypical of homosexual offenses against minor males.
As usual in homosexual acts involving minors and children, the probability that the activity will attract legal attention is almost wholly dependent upon the minor or child. In only a small minority of cases were the circumstances such that arrest was probable for intrinsic reasons. The object of the offense reported it directly in nearly 15 per cent of the cases (the other homosexual-offender groups having fewer such complaints), while friends and relatives of the boy accounted for 43 per cent of the arrests. All in all, over half of the convictions stemmed directly from voluntary or involuntary reporting by the minor boy. A comparatively high percentage (12 per cent) of arrests came from witnesses who were neither friends nor relatives of the boy. A full quarter resulted from police investigations, most of which originally had nothing to do with the offense.
Full admissions of guilt were made in from three quarters (to the officials) to four fifths (to us) of the cases. These proportions are quite similar to those of the homosexual offenders vs. adults. From 11 to 16 per cent stoutly denied the behavior, a handful gave qualified admissions, and only 1 per cent claimed they were unable to confirm or deny their guilt because of amnesia induced by alcohol or emotion.
In final pleas, 77 per cent pleaded guilty, 18 per cent not guilty, and nearly 5 per cent made no plea. All homosexual offenders are remarkably uniform in this matter, the percentages of those pleading guilty being 78, 77, and 78 per cent (homosexual offenders vs. children, minors, and adults, respectively), and the not guilty being 18, 18, and 17 per cent.
*196\161\2*
