The evidence left behind: Perpetrators’ costs when leaving biological materials in sexual assault cases

• In Event: Sex crimes: Stages of crime-commission and police investigation methodologies

Abstract

From a rational choice perspective, one of the perpetrator’s potential costs when committing a contact sexual crime is the possibility of leaving behind identifying biological evidence. This is the topic I examine in the presentation, using a sample of 2,319 sexual assaults committed in Los Angeles, CA, over the time period 1982-2009. Specifically, I investigate what offender, victim, and crime factors are associated with leaving behind biological evidence. The importance of two factors -types of sexual act and use of force- will be discussed. Perpetrators’ costs will be further contextualized by presenting victims’ reporting decisions and different criminal justice actors’ decisions to arrest, charge, and adjudicate in light of the presence of biological evidence in a subsample of the sexual assault cases examined.

Author

• Amelie Pedneault, Washington State University