The extent of sexual abuse perpetrated by adolescents is unknown; however, many who work with adult sex offenders believe it to be a serious problem. Adolescent perpetrators may engage in sexually abusive or exploitative behavior toward dates or friends or while employed as babysitters. Like adult child molesters, adolescent offenders are predominantly male and usually known to their victims.

The amount of sibling-to-sibling abuse is thought to be greatly underreported. Parents may view it as harmless sexual play or may be embarrassed to talk about it with others outside the family. In some cases, sexual abuse by a sibling can have more harmful effects on the victim than an incident involving an extrafamilial offender, especially if allowed to continue over an extended period of time. Sexual abuse by a sibling often involves a high degree of coercion. As with other forms of incest this type of exploitation may make it difficult for the victim to form trusting relationships and may result in marital difficulty and a sexual dysfunction later in life.

Sexual abuse by adolescents is often passed off as experimentation or diagnosed as an adolescent adjustment reaction. Many professionals who work with adolescents are reluctant to label them as sex offenders. Adolescents who sexually molest children or other adolescents are seldom brought to court.

Recent evidence indicates that many incarcerated adult sex offenders began their sexually abusive behavior as adolescents. Some professionals who work with sex offenders believe that the seriousness of adolescent sexual assault has been minimized. Some argue that the failure of court- and youth-serving institutions to intervene effectively in such behavior has prevented young offenders from receiving treatment at a critical period. Repeat adult offenders have proven to be especially resistant to treatment. Treatment providers believe that these adult offenders may have been more amenable to intervention at an earlier age.

Another problem associated with the failure to recognize the seriousness of sexual abuse perpetrated by adolescents is that offenses often go undocumented. In the absence of a record of past assaults, each offense may be treated as an isolated incident. Young offenders can sometimes engage in a number of assaults before being charged with a criminal offense.

A large number of adolescent sexual offenders are themselves victims of sexual abuse. This fact suggests that, like physical abuse, there may be a cyclical pattern to sexual abuse. Most psychotherapists believe early intervention with victims as well as offenders is an effective way to break the cycle of abuse.

Though relatively little research has been done on the problem of adolescent sex offenders, most treatment providers agree that it is important for them to be held accountable for their behavior. Further, most providers believe treatment should be specific to the problem and should combine individual treatment with peer group and family counseling. Court involvement can be helpful in making sure offenders follow through with treatment recommendations.

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