Sexual Sadism: Its Role in the Crime-Commission Process of Sexual Homicide of Children

Child and adolescent victims of sexual homicide in Chile between 1998 and 2021: A review of 27 cases and their autopsy reports

Rape followed by murder against children and adolescents is one of the most serious existing crimes. The autopsies of victims of violent crimes can provide fundamental findings for the investigative process and the pursuit of justice. This research conducts a descriptive analysis of the most important findings from the autopsies of 27 cases of children and adolescents who died in Chile between 1998 and 2021 as a result of rape followed by homicide (n = 27), as well as from the judiciary rulings of these cases to gather information related to the perpetrators. It was found that the victims of this crime are mostly girls with an average age of 10, while the perpetrators are primarily single men aged 29 on average, most of whom have not finished high school. A significant relationship was found between the location of the crime and the cause of death and signs of sexual contact, the marital status of the perpetrator and the cause of death, the age of the perpetrator and signs of sexual contact, and the relationship between victim and perpetrator and signs of sexual contact.

The Unusual Case of Sexual Homicide Against Males: Comparisons and Classification

This study examines the specificities of sexual homicides involving male victims. First, this study aims to identify characteristics specific to SH involving male victims by comparing them to SH involving female victims and determine whether rational choice approach and routine activities theories are useful to explain the crime-commission process. Second, this study aims to provide the first empirical classification of SH involving male victims. The sample used in this research comes from the Sexual Homicide International Database (SHIelD) including 662 cases of cases-100 cases involving male victims and 552 involving female victims. Bivariate and multivariate analysis are performed to examine the differences between the two groups and latent class analysis is used to generate an empirical classification of cases involving male victims. Findings indicate the victim's gender plays an important role in the different choices made by sexual homicide offenders of male victims to successfully complete their crime. They adapted their crime-commission process to overcome the risks associated with a physical confrontation with a male victim (i.e., target selection, approach strategy, method of killing). Classification analysis suggests that it exists three different types of sexual murderers assaulting male victims: the robber sexual murderer, the sadistic sexual murderer, and the pedophile murderer. This research proposes the first empirical typology of sexual homicide involving male victims and provides both a true picture of the reality and a comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon.

Grievance-fueled sexual violence

The grievance fueled violence paradigm encompasses various forms of targeted violence but has not yet been extended to the theoretical discussion of sexual violence. In this article, we argue that a wide range of sexual offenses can be usefully conceptualized as forms of grievance fueled violence. Indeed, our assertion that sexual violence is often grievance fueled is unoriginal. More than 40 years of sexual offending research has discussed the pseudosexual nature of much sexual offending, and themes of anger, power, and control – themes that draw clear parallels to the grievance fueled violence paradigm. Therefore, we consider the opportunities for theoretical and practical advancement through the merging of ideas and concepts from the two fields. We examine the scope of grievance in the context of understanding sexual violence, and we look to the role of grievance in the trajectory toward both sexual and nonsexual violence, as well as factors that might distinguish grievance fueled sexual from nonsexual violence. Finally, we discuss future research directions and make recommendations for clinical practice. Specifically, we suggest that grievance represents a promising treatment target where risk is identified for both sexual and nonsexual violence.

Strangulation in sexual homicide: Is it opportunity, victim's vulnerability or sadism?

Although most homicides involve the use of a weapon, some offenders still prefer killing with their own hands, using strangulation. In fact, when disaggregating the various types of homicides, sexual homicide offenders appear as having a preference for "personal weapon" to kill the victim. Personal weapons, such as strangulation, asphyxiation, and beating, are the most commonly used killing methods in sexual homicide. Using a sample of 451 cases of sexual homicide of adult female, the current study examines three hypotheses as to why strangulation is the method of choice to kill in sexual homicide: 1) weapon of opportunity, 2) victim's vulnerability, and 3) sexual sadism. Results from logistic regressions and artificial neural network analysis show that all three hypotheses are supported, sexual homicide offenders using strangulation being less likely to target a victim with a strong build, to bring and use a weapon. However, strangulation is more likely to be used to kill the victim when the offender is characterized with sadism. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of our understanding of the crime-commission process involved in sexual homicide.

Sadistic Sexual Crimes Against Children: Comparing the Manifestation of Sexual Sadism and Crime-Commission Process

Individuals who commit sexual offenses against children have been shown to be distinctive from adult offenders across both individual and crime characteristics. However, an examination of the literature shows that there are gaps in the research related to whether sadism manifests differently between those who target child compared to adult victims. The current study therefore aimed to explore the differences in the characteristics, crime-commission process, and the dimensions of sadism between sadistic crimes of children (n = 101) compared to those of adults (n = 433). Sexual sadism was assessed with the Sexual Sadism Scale (SeSaS) and binary logistic regression analysis and multidimensional scale analysis (MDS) were performed to examine differences between these two groups. Our results showed that sadistic fantasies manifested into four dimensions for both adult and child victims. In terms of differences, sadistic sexual offenses involving children appear to be reflective of deviant fantasies related to overlapping paraphilias (e.g., sadism and pedophilia). Conversely, sadistic crimes involving adult victims involve a crime-commission process that involves a greater degree of structure to control their adult victim and decrease their risk of identification. Implications for clinical assessment and police investigations are discussed.

Homicidal child sexual abuse: Identifying the combinations of factors predicting a lethal outcome

BACKGROUND

Research on sexual homicide of child victims is scarce. Studies focusing on the lethal outcome in sexual crimes involving adult victims suggest that those offenders who end up killing their victims present both specific individual and crimecommission process characteristics. Nevertheless, recent studies indicate that findings with adult victims may not adequately explain the lethal outcome in sexual crimes of children.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to identify specific combination of offenders, victims and crime-commission process factors associated with a lethal outcome in child sexual abuse.

PARTICIPANTS

This study compares and analyzes the characteristics of 646 cases of extrafamilial child abuses with 136 cases of sexual homicide involving children.

METHODS

Bivariate analyses and sequential binomial regression analyses were conducted to identify variables associated with crime outcome. Finally, conjunctive analyses were used to identify combinations of factors that are the most likely associated with the lethal outcome.

RESULTS

Results indicate that both offenders and crime-commission process characteristics are strongly associated with sexual homicides of children.

CONCLUSIONS

Offenders who sexually murder children are extremely instrumental and opportunistic. They are also more likely to have a life history characterized by the manifestation of diverse antisocial conducts. The findings of this study provide important theoretical and practical implications for crime investigations, prevention, and offenders' management.