Juvenile sex-only and sex-plus offenders: an exploratory study on criminal profiles

In this study, research was done on the criminal profiles of a large group of juvenile sex-only and sex-plus (sex and other offenses) delinquents (N = 4,430) in the Netherlands. Use was made of information from police records. Results show that sex-plus offenders start their careers earlier, that more of these offenders are of non-Dutch origin, that they commit more crimes, and will partly continue their criminal career after their adolescence. Juvenile sex-only offenders rarely go on committing crimes. In sex-plus offenders, sexual crimes play only a minor role in their total crime repertory. As time goes by, their criminal career will develop into the direction of property crimes. Finally, the implications and limitations of this study will be discussed.