Sexual offenses and criminal liability

Authors

  • Alexandre Martins Valença Doutor em Psiquiatria pelo Instituto de Psiquiatria da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (IPUB-UFRJ) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5744-2112
  • Alcina Juliana Soares Barros Doutora em Psiquiatria e Ciências do Comportamento pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7936-0137
  • Lisieux E. DE Borba Telles Doutora em Medicina pela Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4105-5924

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25118/2763-9037.2020.v10.26

Keywords:

Sexual offense, mental disorder, criminal liability

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the sociodemographic features, clinical correlates, criminal behavior characteristics, and the level of criminal liability of sexual offenders who were referred for forensic psychiatric assessment at a forensic unit in the city of Rio de Janeiro in 2008. All written reports made by court-appointed Crimes sexuais e imputabilidade penal Sexual offenses and criminal liability psychiatric experts involving sexual offenses were reviewed. A total of 44 expert reports were identified. All alleged offenders were male. Nineteen (43.2%) offenders did not receive any psychiatric diagnosis. Nine offenders (20.4%) were diagnosed with mental retardation. In 16 cases (36.4%), some form of mental or neurological disorder was diagnosed. Of the total sample, 31 (70.4%) offenders were considered fully liable, eight (18.2%) partially liable, and five (11.4%) not liable by reason of insanity. The sexual crimes allegedly perpetrated by the offenders were rape (n = 14; 32%), attempted rape (n = 4; 9%), indecent assault (n = 26; 59%), and indecent exposure (n = 5, 11.4%). In 10 cases (22.7%), the offender was under the influence of alcohol at the moment of the offense. The systematic psychiatric evaluation of individuals who perpetrate sexual crimes may contribute to improve strategies for intervention, prevention and risk assessment of criminal recurrence of these individuals, in the community, in prisons or in forensic services or psychiatric care communities.

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Published

2020-09-30

How to Cite

1.
Valença AM, Barros AJS, Telles LEDB. Sexual offenses and criminal liability. Debates em Psiquiatria [Internet]. 2020 Sep. 30 [cited 2025 Apr. 2];10(3):24-33. Available from: https://revistardp.org.br/revista/article/view/26

Conference Proceedings Volume

Vol. 10 No. 3 (2020)

Section

Original Articles

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