A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment for the Degree of Master of Education (Endorsed in Child and Family Psychology) Original URL: http://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/1664

This master's dissertation sought to explore officially reported allegations of child sexual abuse made to the Christchurch Police Child Abuse Unit. Demographic details of the victim and alleged offender, case characteristics and the proportion of investigated cases that progressed to the court system were analysed. Two samples were used for the investigation. The first sample consisted of all 125 reported allegations of child sexual abuse from 1 January 2004 to 28 July 2004. The second sample consisted of all 67 prosecuted child sexual abuse cases from 20 February 2003 to 28 July 2004. Differences were found between prosecuted and not prosecuted cases with respect to child age and gender and the alleged offender's age, sex and relationship to the child. Child sexual abuse was likely to involve an offender who is known to the victim and male alleged offenders were significantly more likely to be prosecuted than females. Sixty percent of offenders had previous convictions, which were twice as likely to be for non-sexual offences as for sexual offences. Of the investigated cases, 33% resulted in charges being laid against the alleged offender. Of these prosecuted cases, 81% resulted in a conviction and 89% of convicted adult offenders received a prison sentence. The dissertation discusses the legal situation surrounding child sexual abuse and the investigation process. Recommendations are made for similar studies within other police regions of New Zealand to enable regional comparisons of trends and differences.

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