Sex offenders fill geriatric wards in US prisons
In the geriatric ward of Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands Prison,the floors are squeaky clean linoleum. The walls are painted in dullpastels. Dozens of inmates in hospital gowns line the hallways inwheelchairs, doing absolutely nothing. Almost half ofthese men are sex offenders. They were once simply “dirty old men.”Now, sex offenders in their 60s, 70s and 80s — like the men here –are a growing problem in the nation’s prisons. Experts say it’s theonly crime that offenders are more likely to repeat with age. Theresult has been an explosion in the number of elderly men behind bars.
Two studies, one from 2003 from the Justice Department (Recidivismof Sex Offenders Released From Prison in 1994) and another from Norway(Recidivism Among Sex Offenders: A Follow-Up Study of 541 Norwegian SexOffenders) suggest sex offenders are more likely to start committingcrimes, or keep committing them, in old age. The Norwaystudy found, “Young boys presented a favorable prognosis…For adults andolder men, the prognosis was less favorable. The likelihood ofrecidivism increased with age.” It also found, “The older the offenderwas at the time of the first conviction, the more likely he would tendto repeat the crime.”