Misuse of the Static 99 Risk assessment tool for female sex offenders

Static 99 is simple questionnaire that helps criminal justice agencies determine how likely is a sex offender going to offend again. Based on that risk level summary various court criminal justice agencies will decide what treatments and sanctions are needed for an offender to further reduce likelihood of offending again. Below is a list of sanctions that can be placed on a sex offender. Violate these conditions and face incarceration or extension of time on monitor.

· Halfway housing AKA Part time prison facility. Preapproved official business travel only. Children not allowed.

· House arrest with ankle monitor. The higher the risk, the longer you must stay under house arrest.

· Frequent probation/parole office reporting.

· Not allowed to be around or live with any children including family.

· Removal of your children. In some cases, children have been sent to foster care.

· Allowed to visit your own children, but no others

· Restricted from going to public places where children might be such as a fast food restaurant with a playset.

· Access to internet

· No phone with camera

Decades ago in Canada 595 male sex offenders were studied for reoffending while on probation and parole based on the questions below.

1 Age at Release? (Score range is -3 to 1)

2 Ever lived with (no two year relationship)?

3 Index non-sexual violence, any conviction?

4 Prior non-sexual violence, any convictions?

5 Prior sex offenses? (Score range is 0-3)

6 Prior sentencing dates (excluding index)?

7 Convictions for non-contact sex offenses?

8 Any unrelated victims?

9 Any stranger victims?

10 Any male victims?

The more points assigned, the greater the risk of reoffending. Click here to see the actual scoring mechanism for points assignment. All this looks well and good, but there is a problem. The criminal justice system applies this to ALL offenders regardless of gender. The study was based on male sex offenders. Female sex offenders have a much lower recidivism rate of 1/8 the risk that males do across all levels. That means that mothers are being stripped of child access and the support of living with family based on the scores of true to risk male offenders. Adoption of Static 99 in our legal system was quick when it was released. It is still being used today. There have been some upgraded versions with larger sampling for analysis that improves accuracy, but they are still for men only. Static 99 creators and trainers know that it is being misused, clearly state to not use it for women, but our justice system continues to do so. They live by a code that law or policy be applied regardless of gender. I’ve contacted my state legislature, Department of Public Safety, Department of Corrections, Static 99 Administrators and the Doctor that published it. None of them care or can do anything about it. Who in their right mind would care about a sex offender? I do, because I know that a pedophiles and rapists are forms of sex offenses, but not all sex offenders are pedophiles and rapists. For a list of sex crimes that will get your sanctioned as a pedophile in our justice system, click here.