When most people in Virginia hear the words "child sex abuse" they may think of grown men or women praying on children, but not all cases of sexual assault are committed by adults. While juvenile sexual assaults are often not talked about, they do exist, leaving many children and teenagers facing punishment that could destroy their lives. According to the director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center, it is difficult to punish children who commit sexual abuse on children because "we fail to protect the public on one hand, or we ruin the lives of young people who might otherwise be headed in a healthy direction."

Of the children who are arrested and convicted on sex crimes charges, between 85 and 95 percent of them will never re-offend, but oftentimes they are punished as if they will. The federal Adam Walsh Act requires that some children who commit sex crimes are required to register with the sex-offender registry. While the federal law requires juveniles as young as 14 to register, some states have even younger children on their state sex-offender registries, including at least one 9-year-old.

A professor of pediatrics believes that the overly harsh punishments for juvenile offenders stems from the legislature's instinct to consider juvenile and adult offenders as virtually the same. Even though it has been shown that juveniles are much less likely to re-offend, many states have failed to update their laws.

In many situations, a child may only need some education on acting appropriately or medication and therapy to deal with a developmental disability. It is clear that some children do belong behind bars for sexual assault, but many of the children who are locked up and registered on a state-wide list of sex offenders could have been better served with a vastly different punishment.

Source: Associated Press, "Child-on-child sex abuse poses complex challenges," David Crary, Jan. 7, 2012