Child Sex Abusers in Protestant Christian Churches: An Offender Typology

Authors

Andrew S. Denney, Loyola University New Orleans

Abstract

Sexual abuse within religious settings has been the focus of prior research for over fifty years. However, most research has focused on the Roman Catholic Church, not Protestant Christian churches. Yet, Protestant Christian Churches are the most prominent religious institutions, both in the physical number of churches and total participants, across the United States. By examining 326 alleged instances of sexual abuse at or through activities provided by U.S. Protestant Christian churches, this study sought to create the first typology of sexual abusers within this setting. This study found that three types of offenders exist within these settings, (1) on-site offenders, (2) off-site offenders, and (3) serial offenders. A discussion will follow on policy implications and future directions for research.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Denney, Andrew S. (2023) "Child Sex Abusers in Protestant Christian Churches: An Offender Typology," Qualitative Criminology (QC): Vol. 12: No. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/qc/vol12/iss1/3