SEXUAL OFFENSES

Sexual Offenses
 RA No. 8353 (Anti-Rape Law, 1997)
 Acts of Lasciviousness
 Seduction
Seduction
 Act of a man enticing women to have
unlawful intercourse with him by
means of persuasion, solicitation,
promises, bribes or other means
without employment of force
 Qualified seduction
 Simple seduction

Solis P. Legal Medicine. 1987. p51.

Qualified Seduction (Art. 337, Revised Penal Code)

 Seduction of a virgin >12 & <18 years

of age, committed by any person in
public authority, priests, house-servant,
domestic, guardian, teacher, or any
person who, in any capacity, shall be
entrusted with the education or custody
of the woman seduced (ordinary qualified
seduction)
 Any person who shall seduce his sister or
descendant, whether or not she be a
virgin or >18 years of age (incestuous
qualified seduction)

Solis P. Legal Medicine. 1987. p515-516.

Simple Seduction (Art. 338, Revised Penal Code)

 Seduction of a woman who is single or

a widow with good reputation, >12
& <18 years of age, committed by
means of deceit

Solis P. Legal Medicine. 1987. p517-518.

Seduction

“…man enticing women…” >12 to <18 y.o. WOMAN (?)

“Hindi siya bata
because of the
development of
her body.”

Romeo Jalosjos, Jr.

referring to the 11
year-old girl he raped
.
Probe Profiles 2009
You cannot judge a child’s age by
her sexual development.

Mara, 15

Clara, 16

Ana, 17
Seduction or Child Sexual Abuse
 Are the laws on seduction applicable
when a man has “unlawful
intercourse” with a woman aged “>12
to <18 years old”?
WHAT DO CHILDREN KNOW
ABOUT SEX?
 2 – 6 YEARS 7 – 12 YEARS

Understand that boys Learn the correct

and girls have different names for the genitals
private parts but use slang terms
Know labels for sexual Have increased
body parts, but use knowledge about
TYPICAL
slang SEXUAL
words, e.g., bird KNOWLEDGE
masturbation,
for penis intercourse, and
pregnancy
Have limited Understand the physical
information about aspects of puberty by
pregnancy and age 10
childbirth
 AGES 2 - 6 AGES 7 - 12
Do not have a strong sense of Sexual play with children they
modesty, enjoys own nudity know, such as playing “doctor”

Interested in sexual content in Interested in sexual content in

media (TV, movies, radio) media (TV, movies, radio)

May explore body differences Interested in sexual content in

between girls and boys media (TV, movies, radio)
COMMON SEXUAL
Curious about sexual and
BEHAVIORS
Look at nude pictures
genital parts
Touch their private parts, even Interested in the opposite sex
in public
Exhibit sex play with peers and Shy about undressing
siblings; playing “doctor”

Experience pleasure from Shy around strange men

touching their genitals
 AGES 2 - 6 AGES 7 - 12
Puts mouth on sex Asks to engage in sex
parts acts
Puts objects in rectum Imitates intercourse
or vagina
INFREQUENT SEXUAL
Masturbates with Undresses other
objectsBEHAVIORS AGES people 2 - 12
Touches others’ sex Asks to watch sexually
parts after being told explicit television
not to
Touches adults’ sex Makes sexual sounds
parts
Developmentally unusual
sexual knowledge and
behavior are….
Factors in Assessing the Child’s/Teen’s
“Assent” to the Man’s Enticement

 Consent

 Equality

 Coercion
Consent
 Understanding what is proposed
 Knowledge of societal standards for
what is proposed
 Awareness of the consequences and
other choices
 Agreements or disagreements will
be respected equally
 Voluntary decision
 Mental competence
 Cooperation and compliance can occur
even without CONSENT.

 With sexual activity between children

and adults, there can be a CRIME even
if the child “cooperates” or “consents”.

 CONSENT is an issue only for ADULTS.

Equality
 Physical, mental and emotional
development
 Authority
 Power and control
Seduction:
“…any person in public authority, priests,
house-servant, domestic, guardian, teacher,
or any person who, in any capacity, shall be
entrusted with the education or custody…”
Coercion
 Secondary gains  Threats & overt
 Money violence
 Treats
 Friendship
 Nurturance and
caring
Seduction:
“…by means of
persuasion, solicitation,
promises, bribes or other
means without
employment of force…"
Shedding Misconceptions
Police investigating sexual exploitation cases
must start with the principle that the sexual
activity is NOT THE FAULT of the victim even if
the child:
 did not say “no”
 did not fight
 did not tell
 actively cooperated
 accepted gifts or money
 initiated the contact
 enjoyed the sexual activity
Lanning, 2001
Offender Strategies
Seduction

Lower child’s
inhibition

Cooperation,
“consent”
Longitudinal Progression of Child
Sexual Abuse
 Engagement
 Sexual Interaction
 Secrecy
 Disclosure
 Suppression
Engagement
 Engages child around nonsexual
issues
 Becomes friend
 Meets psychological needs
 Develops relationship
 There is access and development of
relationship
Sexual Interaction
 Perpetrator manipulates the
relationship developed in engagement
stage
 Includes age inappropriate sexual
contact
 Even if it does not progress to genital
fondling,may have inappropriate sexual
contact
Secrecy
 Ensure access to the child
 Facilitate a continuation of sexual
contact: secrecy is essential
Suppression
 The case may enter a suppression
phase
 Caregivers may not want to deal with
reality of disclosure
 Perpetrators, caregivers, or relatives
may exert pressure on child that what
happened is fantasy
Children as “perfect victims”
 Vulnerable
 Easily persuaded to cooperate
 Too ashamed to talk about it
 Many unsatisfied needs
 Deference to adults
Compliant, Non-Complaining Victims
 Authority figure and satisfaction
needs
 Feelings of guilt
 Teenagers are highly sexual beings
 Peer-group pressure
 Brainwashing
 Threats
Disclosure
 Accidental disclosure
 Third party observes participants and tells
someone else
 Sign of physical injury
 Diagnosis of sexual transmitted disease:
injury to the genital or anal area
 Pregnancy occurs
 Nonspecific behavior changes take place
 Purposeful
 Consciously reveal the abusive activity
Why some children don’t tell (1)
 Authority figure
 Satisfaction of
needs
 Feelings of guilt
Compliant, non-
 Peer-group
complaining
pressure
victims
 Brainwashing (Do
not believe they
are victims)
 Threats
Why some children don’t tell (2)
 Stigma of homosexuality
 Lack of societal understanding
 Positive feelings for the offender
 Embarrassment over their victimization
 Child accommodation syndrome
 Secrecy
 Helplessness
 Accommodation
 Delayed, unconvincing disclosure
 Retraction
Child vs Adult Sexual Abuse
 Sexual abuse of children tends to
longitudinal pattern of abusive contact over
weeks, months or years prior to ending
with discovery
 Perpetrator is frequently a trusted caregiver
 Physical violence is a much more common
in adult sexual assault since the perpetrator
manipulates the child’s trust and the
perpetrator desire to avoid discovery
WHAT ABOUT THE TEEN-AGERS?
(on sexual knowledge & behavior)
Adolescence
 Period of psychosocial development
 beginning in the preteen years
 usually in conjunction with pubertal
onset
 average age of onset of male puberty: 11
to 12 years; range: 9 to 14 years
 average age of female puberty: 10-11
years; range: 8 to 13 years
 extending until the individual assumes
an adult role in society
Adolescent bodies mature before cognitive
development and emotional maturity.

13 years old 13 years old 14 years old

Majority of the sexually abused children

are girls aged 13 – 15 years old.
Early Adolescence Middle Adolescence Late Adolescence
(10 -14 years) (15-17 years) (17-18 years to early
20s)
May (re)discover Practice masturbation Practice masturbation
masturbation & other with varying frequency with varying frequency
pleasurable self-
stimulation
Form close friendships Engage in sexual Engage in sexual
with same-sex peers & intercourse intercourse & other
may experiment sexual activities
sexually with them: to
satisfy curiosity
Other sexual activities Heterosexual
include oral-genital or relationships
anal sex:
(generally)
experimentation,
learning varieties of
sexual expression
Heterosexual
relationships;
experiment with
homosexual intimacy
The Developing Brain

 The brain
develops in
sequence from
the least to most
complex.

 These different
areas develop &
become fully
functional at
different times
during childhood
and adolescence.
 Brain Development
Abstract Thought
Concrete Thought
Neocortex
Affiliation
"Attachment"
Sexual Behavior
Limbic
Emotional Reactivity
Motor Regulation
"Arousal"
Diencephalon
Appetite/Satiety
Sleep
Blood Pressure
Brainstem Heart Rate
Body Temperature

Courtesy of Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D.

Functions of the Neo-cortex
(Last part of the brain to develop)

 Planning  Regulation of
 Reasoning Emotions
 Impulse  Learning from
Control Experience
 Thinking  Weighing of
Ahead risks and
rewards
“Basic intellectual abilities reach adult levels
(around 16 years) before the process of
psycho-social maturation is complete.”

Immaturity
GAP

Steinberg (2008) Dev Review 28; 88-106

 Cognitive ability

 Capacity to reason
abstractly
 Predict future
consequences
 See things from
different perspective
 The Immature Adolescent Brain
 A preference for physical activity,
(cerebellum)
 Difficulty holding back or
controlling emotions, (amygdala)
 A preference for high excitement
and low effort activities: video
games, sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll
(nucleus accumbens)
 Poor planning and judgment
(rarely thinking of negative
consequences), (prefrontal
cortex)
The Immature Adolescent
 Wants to please friends
(more peer-orientated)
 Difficulty projecting
what will happen next
or in the near future
(lack “future
orientation”)
 Does not think of ways
to extricate self
 Fail to consider options “That won’t happen to me.”
because she lacks
“I can handle anything.”
experience
The Immature Adolescent
 Poor risk assessment
 Less likely to perceive
risks
 Less risk-aversive than
adults

 Lack ability to control

impulsive behavior &
choices, difficulty in
regulating their mood
 Sensation seeking
 “Personal fable”
Adolescent Egocentrism
Personal Fable
 Belief that they alone are having certain
insights and difficulties and no else
could understand or sympathize

 Self is unique, invulnerable and

omnipotent.
“That won’t happen to me.”
“I can handle anything.”
The Adolescent Brain
 Impulsive reward-seeking
behavior (short-term)
 Susceptibility to peer
pressure (peak at 14
years) e.g. commit
crimes together with
peers.
 Poor decision-making-
inexperience, minimal
consideration of negative
consequences,
emotionality
 “Adolescents likely possess the necessary
intellectual skills to make informed choices but
may lack the social and emotional maturity to
control impulses, resist peer pressure and fully
appreciate the riskiness of dangerous
decisions.”
 cognitive and emotional abilities mature at different
rates.

Laurence Steinberg, PhD

“Are Adolescents Less Mature than Adults? Minors’ Access to
Abortion, the Juvenile Death Penalty, and the Alleged APA
‘Flip-Flop’”
American Psychologist, Vol. 64, No. 7
 “It is crucial to understand that brain
systems responsible for logical reasoning
and basic information processing mature
earlier than systems responsible for self-
regulation and the coordination of emotion
and thinking.”

Laurence Steinberg, PhD

“Are Adolescents Less Mature than Adults? Minors’ Access
to Abortion, the Juvenile Death Penalty, and the
Alleged APA ‘Flip-Flop’”
American Psychologist, Vol. 64, No. 7
Morality
 Morality is our ability to learn the
difference between “right” and “wrong”
and understand how to make
choices.

 The child’s physical, intellectual,

emotional and social skills as well as the
home & environment around them
influence the development of morality.

 Morality is learned.
 Any sexual behaviors
Involving children
who are 4 or more years apart
or
any adolescent in a
sexual relationship with someone
4 or more years older
IS NOT NORMAL.
 FORENSIC EXAMINATION
OF VICTIMS OF SEXUAL OFFENSES
Forensic Examination
 Needs to be performed ASAP
 not always possible
 Adequately lit and equipped room where
privacy is guaranteed
 child-friendly
 Informed consent
 limitations of the doctor’s confidentiality
 Qualified doctor
 Child Protection Specialist for children
Interview
 Police or any other legal officer

 Children: social worker or any person

trained in forensic interview

 MD: include relevant medical & sexual

history, details of any pre-existing
conditions or behavioral patterns that
may have an influence on any physical
findings during the examination

Shepherd R. Simpson’s Forensic Medicine. 2003. p131-133

Interview of Children
 Children can give a legal usable
testimony if they are questioned
carefully and professionally
 Language development
 Cognitive development
 Storytelling capacity
 Reluctance to disclose
 Child sensitive forensic interview
Physical Examination
 Head-to-toe examination
 Careful body check for any signs of
injuries, medical problems
 Anogenital check
 non-invasive genital in children

 Emotional assessment, mental state

 Children: growth & development
assessment
Laboratory Examinations
 Blood
 Urine
 Gram staining, culture of vaginal or
penile discharges
 Semen, sperm
 Imaging procedures
 Rape kit - DNA analysis (hair, seminal
fluid, sperm, saliva, blood)
Medical Evidences of Sexual
Offenses
 Disclosure or allegation of the offense
(sexual abuse)
 Physical examination
 Children
 Body injuries nil
 Anogenital findings: more than 95% normal
 Sexually active
 Body injuries nil
 Genital findings – healed injuries
Medical Evidences of Sexual
Offenses
 Laboratory examination
 Sperm in oral, anal &/or vaginal swabs
 DNA identification
 Children
 Pregnancy
 Sexually transmitted infection (Hep B,
gonorrhea, warts, herpes infection,
syphillis, chlamydia, HIV)
Definite for sexual contact
 Pregnancy
 (+) sperm
 (+) sexually transmitted infection
 (+) semen
 (+) Y chromosome
 DNA identification of the alleged
perpetrator
Other Evidences of Sexual Offenses
 Crime scene investigation
 Interview of witnesses

 Investigation by the social worker

 Risks of abuse
Limits in the Medical Examination of a
Sexually Abused Child
 Type of abuse
 Deliberate avoidance to hurt child
 Difference in child and adult views of
“penetration”
 Elasticity of hymen and anal sphincter
 Post-assault activities
 Delay in disclosure / examination
 Limitation of equipment / technique
 Limitation of examiner
Limits in the Medical Examination of a
Sexually Abused Adult Female
 Type of abuse
 Elasticity of hymen and anal sphincter
 Nil acute injuries in sexually active
females or females who have given
birth
 Post-assault activities
 Delay in disclosure / examination
 Limitation of equipment / technique
 Limitation of examiner
 Healing
8 month old raped and sodomized by mother’s boyfriend

hymen

lacerations
posterior
fourchette

Day of assault 2 day follow up 24 day follow up

Child Sexual Abuse Cases
MOST IMPORTANT
 Statement of the victim
 Exactly what object caused injury
 When it occurred, once injury has healed
 How many times it happened
 Who did it
 Police investigation (corroboration)
 Collateral interviews
 Gather evidence at the site
Guidelines in the Formulation of the
Medical Impression in CSA
 Adams
Classification
System for
Assessing Physical,
Laboratory, and
Historical
Information in
Suspect Child
Sexual Abuse
Impressions
(based on info gathered, P.E., &/or lab results)

 Medical Evaluation
 Shows definite evidence of sexual abuse or sexual
contact
 Anogenital findings
 Diagnostic of blunt or penetrative trauma
 Suggestive of blunt or penetrative trauma
 Normal but medical evaluation cannot exclude sexual
abuse
 Further investigation is required when
 There is no disclosure
 P.E. is normal
 There is a strong suspicion of sexual abuse
Some Terms No Longer Used

 “Intact hymen”
 “Marital introitus”
NO
 “Virgin state” SCIENTIFIC
 Size of hymenal opening BASIS.
 “can admit 1 to 2 fingers”
Tanner Classification:
Development of the Secondary Sexual Characteristics
Tanner Stages: Hymen
I. Thin hymen, fine blood vessel pattern in
vestibule, small labia minora
II. Less prominent vascular pattern due to slightly
thickened and vestibule tissue
III. Thick hymen, superficial vessels not seen, small
labia minora, clear vaginal discharge
IV. Redundant hymen with thick projections, adipose
tissue below skin of textured vestibule, more
elastic hymen, pigmented labia minora (clefts
deepen, hymen begins to look like flower with
petals)
V. Long rugated labia minora, secretions
Other Hymenal Issues
 Sexually transmitted infections
 Other causes of hymenal tears
 Vigorous physical activity
 Biking, riding a horse
 Menstrual blood
 Masturbation
 Use of tampons
 Anatomy of the Female Genitalia

FOSSA
POSTERIOR NAVICULARIS
FOURCHETTE

labia
minora

vaginal
hymen opening
What we don’t know: What we know:
 Exactly what object  Majority of children with
caused injury history of SA have
 When it occurred, once normal examination
injury has healed  Complaint of pain /
 How many times it bleeding is important
happened  Children’s injuries heal
 Who did it amazingly well and
early (at times,
completely)
 Many findings mimic
abuse
 Special exam
techniques frequently
needed
Evidence of Sexual Abuse/Non-
consensual Sex
 Convincing disclosure
Corroboration (CSI)
 Witnesses:
 1.Victim (child or adult)
Medical evidence
 2.Doctor
Sexualized behavior
GUILTY or NOT GUILTY?
Sexual Play
 is exploratory and spontaneous;
 occurs intermittently and by mutual
agreement;
 occurs with children of similar age, size, or
developmental level, such as siblings,
cousins, or peers;
 is not associated with high levels of fear,
anger, or anxiety;
 decreases when told by caregivers to stop;
and
 can be controlled by increased supervision
Problematic Sexual Behavior
 Is a frequent, repeated behavior, e.g.
compulsive masturbation
 Occurs between children who do not know each
other well
 Occurs with high frequency and interferes with
normal childhood activities
 Is between children of different ages, size,
developmental level
 Is aggressive, force, or coerced
 Does not decrease after the child is told to stop
 Causes harm to the child or others
Children with Sexualized Behaviors

 Generally children under age 12 years

 Demonstrate developmentally inappropriate
or aggressive sexual behaviors
 Children’s intentions & motivation for these
behaviors may be unrelated to sexual
gratification
 Reasons for the behavior
 Situational factors
 Family characteristics
 Environmental factors