Abusadores sexuais adultos e adolescentes no sul do Brasil: Pesquisa em denúncias e sentenças judiciais

This study investigated sexual abuse perpetrated by adults and teenagers in the criminal proceedings referred to the1st and 2nd Childhood and Youth’s Courts of Porto Alegre between 2003 and 2007. The information collected for abusers, victims, types of abuse and the outcomes of processes aiming to characterize and compare the profi le of abusers and victims and the type of abuse (intrafamilial or extrafamilial). After being collected, the data were tabulated and categorized, and of the 241 cases, 229 were eligible for the study. The results indicated that among adult abusers there was a predominance of intrafamilial sexual abuse against female victims and that the main abusers were fathers and stepfathers. Among adolescents abusers, extrafamilial sexual abuse against male victims predominated, especially against neighbors. These results suggest that there may be differences in the profi le of the victims and the type of abuse perpetrated by adults and adolescents, a hypothesis that should be tested in future studies.