The Ministry of the Solicitor General struck a working group on the Management and Treatment of Sex Offenders as a result of a number of factors, including the rapid growth of the federal sex offender population and the recommendations of formal enquiries (e.g., Pepino, Daubney).

The working group reported its findings and recommendations in March 1990. Some of the key findings follow:

• Practitioners in the field of sex offender treatment do not claim to "cure" sex offenders. Rather, the treatment strategy is to manage the risk of reoffending (relapse prevention).
• Continuity of treatment from the institution to the community is critical.
• There are not enough experts to meet the demand for sex offender treatment.
• There is a need for more and diverse programming, and outcome research is lacking.
• The limitations of treatment are recognized. The risk of future dangerous behaviour must be addressed as an issue separate from progress in treatment.

A sound knowledge of the sex offender population is necessary for a follow-up on these recommendations and those of the Correctional Service of Canada's Task Force on Mental Health.

Recognizing this, the Research and Statistics Branch has developed a statistical information base on sex offenders, pooling information from a number of sources including the National Parole Board and the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. The following is an overview of some of the information available.

• Categorizing offenders by their major admitting offence - the one for which they received the longest sentence - one finds that 11 of 100 federal offenders are sex offenders (11.3% of the total federal offender population, including incarcerated offenders and those on conditional release).
• On 31 July 1991, there were 2,469 offenders under the jurisdiction of the Correctional Service of Canada whose major admitting offence was sexual in nature.
• About two thirds of these sex offenders were in institutions (incarcerated) and about one third were in the community on some form of conditional release.

• Categorizing offenders by their major admitting offence, one finds that 14 of 100 incarcerated offenders are sex offenders (13.9% of the population).
• On 31 July 1991, there were 1,679 offenders incarcerated under federal jurisdiction whose major admitting offence was a sexual offence.
• One half of these incarcerated sex offenders were in medium-security institutions, and about one quarter were in maximum-security institutions. More specifically:
  • minimum security: 18.5% of all sex offenders;
  • medium security: 51.3% of all sex offenders; maximum security: 25.8% of all sex offenders; and
  • regional psychiatric or treatment centres: 4.3% of all sex offenders.

• Categorizing offenders by their major admitting offence, one finds that eight of 100 offenders on conditional release are sex offenders (8.1% of the population).
• On 31 July 1991, there were 790 federal offenders on conditional release whose major admitting offence was a sexual offence.
• One half of these sex offenders on conditional release were on full parole, and a little more than one third were on mandatory supervision. More specifically, of the 790 sex offenders on conditional release:
  • 117 (14.8%) were on day parole;
  • 389 (49.2%) were on full parole; and
  • 284 (35.9%) were on mandatory supervision.

• Regionally, the Ontario and Prairie regions have the most sex offenders, with each being responsible for approximately one quarter of the sex offender population.
• In a comparison of the proportion of sex offenders in each region with the proportion of general offenders, Quebec has a smaller proportion of sex offenders than general offenders. The Prairie and Pacific regions have larger proportions of sex offenders than general offenders.
• More specifically:
  • Atlantic: 10.0% of sex offenders, and 9.7% of all offenders (about the same proportion of each);
  • Quebec: 20.3% of sex offenders, and 29.6% of all offenders (proportionately fewer sex offenders);
  • Ontario: 25.2% of sex offenders, and 26.4% of all offenders (about the same proportion of each);
  • Prairies: 26.2% of sex offenders, and 20.9% of all offenders (proportionately more sex offenders);
  • Pacific: 18.3% of sex offenders, and 13.4% of all offenders (proportionately more sex offenders).

The actual number of sex offenders incarcerated or under some form of conditional release is understated because current computer systems identify offenders by their major admitting offence.

The Correctional Service of Canada's National Sex Offender Census, conducted in March 1990, identified all offenders who had committed a sex offence, not just those whose most serious offence was sexual in nature.

The census included anyone currently serving a sentence for a sex offence (about 85% of those identified through the census fall into this group); anyone who was convicted in the past for a sex offence; anyone who has committed a sexually related offence; and anyone who has previously committed a sex offence but was never convicted.

The census identified about 15% more sex offenders than the computer systems.
Accordingly, the census study showed that sex offenders make up 18.9% of the incarcerated population (compared with 13.9% identified through computer systems) and 9.9% of the conditional release population (compared with 8.1%).

• The incarcerated sex offender population under federal jurisdiction has grown rapidly and disproportionately to the total offender population over the last five years.
• The number of offenders whose major admitting offence was a sex offence has grown from 1,339 (10.6% of the offender population) in 1986/87 to 1,716 (12.4% of the population) at the end of March 1991.
• Only a small proportion of sex offenders in Canada fall under the jurisdiction of the Correctional Service of Canada. In 1987/88 and 1988/89, fewer than one of four sex offenders sentenced to a term of incarceration were given a federal sentence (of two years or more).

• Over the past five years, there has been a 20.4% growth in the rate of admission of offenders whose major admitting offence was a sex offence.
• In 1986/87, there were 545 admissions of sex offenders (8.9% of a total of 6,136 admissions). By 1990/91, this figure had risen to 692 (10.7% of a total of 6,475 admissions).

• Over the past five years, there has been a 17.6% growth in the rate of release of offenders whose major admitting offence was a sex offence.
• In 1986/87, there were 501 releases of sex offenders (8.1% of a total of 6,165 releases). By 1990/91, this figure had risen to 599 (9.6% of a total of 6,266 releases).

• The average sentence length in 1990/91 for all offenders admitted with a sex offence as their major admitting offence was four years and three months.
• The average sentence length for sex offenders has not changed significantly over the last five years, although it has increased slightly (by 1.7%).
• There is no significant difference between the average sentence length of sex offenders and that of all federal offenders.
• In 1990/91, the average sentence length for all federal offenders was 4.13 years, or one month less than for sex offenders.

• The recidivism rate of sex offenders is less than that of offenders in general.
• Sex offenders are more likely than offenders in general to return to prison or to recidivate with a sex offence.
• Compared to all sex offenders, repeat sex offenders (those with a previous federal term for a sex offence) are more than twice as likely to commit further sex offences, much more likely to violate conditional release conditions, and more likely to reoffend with a non-sexual offence.⁽¹⁾ (See Figure 1.)

• More specifically, a three-year follow-up study of all sex offenders released from federal institutions between 1985 and 1987 (N=l,164) found the following (see also Figure 1):
  • no readmissions: repeat sex offenders - 48.8%; all sex offenders - 68.8%
  • new sex offences: repeat sex offenders - 14.6%; all sex offenders - 6.2%
  • new violent offences: repeat sex offenders - 8.5%; all sex offenders - 5.9%
  • new non-violent offences: repeat sex offenders - 6.1%; all sex offenders - 7.7%
  • technical violations: repeat sex offenders - 21.9%; all sex offenders - 11.3%
  • This study also found that sex offenders who were released on mandatory supervision were twice as likely to commit further sex offences than those released on full parole and more than twice as likely to commit violent offences. (See Figure 2.)

• More specifically, the study found the following:
  • no readmissions: mandatory supervision -61.3%; full parole -83.2%
  • new sex offences: mandatory supervision -6.9%; full parole -3.4%
  • new violent offences: mandatory supervision -7%; full parole -3.1%
  • new non-violent offences: mandatory supervision - 8.9%; full parole -6.2%
  • technical violations: mandatory supervision - 15.9%; full parole - 4.1%

Detention Cases

Under normal circumstances, offenders are eligible to be released on day parole after serving one sixth of their sentence, and full parole may come after one third. If an offender poses too great a risk to the public, he or she will not be granted parole. After serving two thirds of their sentence, these offenders must be released on mandatory supervision unless exceptional circumstances warrant their being detained until the end of their sentence.

• Since detention legislation was effected, half (52.6%) of all offenders detained (309 of 587) have been sex offenders, a highly disproportionate number.
• Moreover, the number of sex offenders detained in federal penitentiaries has increased by 150% over the last five years, from 32 in 1986 to 80 in 1990.

• According to the National Sex Offender Census,⁽²⁾ most sex offenders had committed either a sexual assault or "mixed" sex offences. Pedophilia was also common. The least frequent offence was incest.
• More specifically:
  • mixed offences: 27.9% of sex offenders;
  • sexual assault: 25.2% of sex offenders;
  • pedophilia: 21.0% of sex offenders;
  • incest: 6.2% of sex offenders; and
  • other offences or not known: 4.6% of sex offenders.

The National Sex Offender Census also gathered information on the victims of federal sex offenders. While the census looked at offenders' past sex offences, for the purpose of this section on victims, only current sex offences are considered (N=2,561).

• Adults are more frequently the victims of sex offenders. The sex offender census found that an adult was the victim in about half the cases, a child in about one third and an adolescent in about one third.⁽³⁾
• More specifically:
  • adult (18 or over) victims: 1,288 cases;
  • adolescent (12 to 17) victims: 847 cases; and
  • child (under 12) victims: 864 cases.

• The census also showed that in more than half the cases, the victim had slight or no physical injuries.
• In more than one of 20 cases, the victim had injuries severe enough to cause death.
• More specifically:
  • no physical injury: 26.2% of cases;
  • slight physical injury: 31.2% of cases;
  • treated and released: 11.5% of cases;
  • hospitalized: 9.6% of cases;
  • caused death: 6.4% of cases; and
  • not known: 16.1% of cases.

Although psychological harm is more difficult to assess than physical injury, a review of relevant literature, carried out on behalf of the Solicitor General Secretariat, had some important findings.

• The majority of victims suffer severe trauma shortly after a sexual attack.
• One of four adult victims and one of two child victims report long-term negative effects.
• Less than two days after the sexual attack, three quarters of adult victims are unable to do ordinary daily tasks, and almost half suffer severe psychological disturbances.
• More than a year after the incident, one quarter of adult victims report continuing negative effects.
• In the first year following disclosure of the sexual attack, half to almost three quarters of child victims display significant psychological symptoms.
• Half of adults who were sexually abused as children report lasting negative effects.