“Only 1 percent to 7 percent of children who commit sexual offenses will do it again…”

The expansion of sex offender laws to include juveniles was based on the assumption that kids who sexually transgress cannot be reformed. However, research has shown this assumption to be false. Only 1 percent to 7 percent of children who commit sexual offenses will do it again — much lower than the 13 percent recidivism rates for adult sexual offenders.

The policy seems to succeed only in making life difficult for offenders, subjecting them to harassment and isolation.

Eric Berkowitz, “Punishment That Doesn’t Fit the Crime”, The New York Times (31 July 2016), SR7.