Lincoln County sex crime arrest rate below national average

This is the first in a multi-part series about sex offenses and their impact on the communities of Lincoln County.

The rate of arrest and prosecution of sex offenders in Lincoln County during the past five years is less than half the national average rate, according to data obtained from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the data, 238 sex offenses were reported in Lincoln County between Jan. 1, 2010 and Nov. 20, 2015. From those reported crimes, 34 arrests were made, creating a report-to-arrest ratio of 14.2 percent. Nationally, the arrest rate for sex crimes of victims older than six years of age is more than twice that of Lincoln County.

“Arrests are made in 29 percent of the child sexual abuse cases reported to the police,” said Cathy Townsend, National Strategy Manager for the Darkness To Light Foundation. “It is more likely that an arrest will be made in incidents involving older children (32 percent). Arrests are made in only 19 percent of cases involving children under the age of six.”

Statistically, the rate of arrests for sex-related crimes has declined in Lincoln County since 2010. In that year, 31 reports of crimes were made, with seven arrests for a rate of 18.4 percent, the county’s highest arrest rate over the past five years. In those reported cases, 12 of the 31 victims were under the age of 16.

The rate fell to its lowest point in 2012, with just four arrests stemming from 39 complaints, creating an arrest rate of 9.3 percent. In the time period of Jan. 1, 2015, to Nov. 20, 2015, just five arrests were made on 39 complaints of sexual offenses, a rate of 11.6 percent.

Researchers attribute the low rate of arrest and prosecution of sex crimes, especially child sex crimes, to a number of factors, including witness reliability and the quality of evidence, which is often hard to obtain. A 2008 report entitled “Prosecuting Child Sexual Abuse,” by researchers Wendy Walsh, Lisa Jones, Theodore Cross and Tonya Lippert investigated the difficulties inherent in child sexual abuse prosecutions.

“The decision to prosecute child sexual abuse is a complicated process in part because of the special dynamics surrounding child abuse: The crime of sexual abuse is often committed in private; there are rarely eyewitnesses; and the child’s testimony usually provides most of the information about the crime,” they wrote. “When children are young, the quality of their testimony may be compromised by developmental limitations in memory and language. Furthermore, there are potential complications to sexual abuse cases: The child may have a pre-existing close relationship with the offender, thereby increasing the chance of reluctant cooperation in the court process.”

Another potential roadblock to active criminal investigations, according to data received from the Darkness To Light Foundation, is the gap between child protective services investigations and active reports to law enforcement.

“Child protective services agencies investigate about 55 percent of the child sexual abuse incidents reported to them,” Townsend cited in her report. “The rest are ‘screened out’ for lack of adequate information or for other reasons. Of those reports investigated, only a portion meets the criteria for ‘substantiated.’”

In Montana, reports are submitted to a centralized intake system, then distributed to county field offices for investigation and review. Lincoln County has four investigators, in addition to the supervising officer. If the investigator determines the allegations are “founded,” or “substantiated,” the complaint is referred to law enforcement for further investigation and/or prosecution. 

An investigation or allegation can be screened out at any of four steps in the process. Child protective services at centralized intake could determine a more detailed investigation is not called for, the local field office can investigate and screen out claims, law enforcement can decline to submit the case for prosecution to the county attorney’s office and the county attorney’s office can decline to prosecute cases after reviewing law enforcement reports. 

These break-downs occur for a number of reasons. An April 2014 report from Jennifer Long and Elaine Nugent-Barakove suggested that prosecutors weed out a number of cases due to resource issues and concern about conviction rates.

“For many reasons, ranging from bias to resource shortages to concern about conviction rates, prosecutors weed out far too many cases because they wrongly believe they cannot win them,” the researchers wrote. 

One common bias in sexual abuse cases, which precludes some investigations, is the misconception that a number of child sex offense complaints are the result of bitter divorce and custody cases.

While data suggests some false reports stem from custody disputes, less than 10 percent of reports are determined to be fabricated.

“It is estimated that only four percent to eight percent of child sexual abuse reports are fabricated,” Townsend wrote. “Most of the fabricated reports are made by adults involved in custody disputes or by adolescents.”

Elizabeth Warren, Darkness To Light’s national prevention programs manager, said the difficulty in proving child sexual abuse claims should not deter people from reporting instances of abuse. 

“Child sexual abuse is one of the most difficult crimes to prove, as it often involves the word of a child against an adult,” she said. “Law enforcement personnel with specialized training are better equipped to serve as advocates for these children. At Darkness To Light, we believe the best way to protect children is for all adults to be aware and educated. It is a community responsibility to prevent and intervene to keep children safe from those that wish to harm them.”

The Lincoln County Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for data regarding the number of successful prosecutions for sex offenders.

Lincoln County Sheriff Roby Bowe did not reply to a request for comment prior to press time.