ABSTRACT
In 1988, Joseph Fredericks raped and murdered 11-year-old Christopher Stephenson. In 1994, Jesse Timmedequas raped and murdered Megan Kanka in New Jersey. ese horric crimes were both committed by men who had previously been convicted of sexual oenses, prompting new, widespread legislative initiatives to address the risk of sexual oenders in the community (“Christopher’s Law” in Ontario; “Megan’s Law” across the United States). Fortunately, sexual murder is rare, and, contrary to popular opinion, only a minority of sexual oenders are known to commit another sexual oense aer being caught. e observed recidivism rate is 10% to 15% aer ve years, increasing to approximately 20% aer 10 years (Hanson & Bussière, 1998; Harris & Hanson, 2004) Even considering that many oenses go undetected, it is dicult to argue that all sexual oenders will inevitably reoend. Some will and others will not.
