RT Article
T1 When victims refuse and prosecutors decline: examining exceptional clearance in sexual assault cases
JF Crime & delinquency
VO 65
IS 4
SP 474
OP 498
A1 Richards, Tara N.
A2 Skubak Tillyer, Marie
A2 Wright, Emily M.
LA English
YR 2019
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1662589670
AB This study examines the predictors of sexual assault case clearance, with a focus on arrest and two types of exceptional clearance: victim refusal to cooperate and prosecutorial declination to prosecute. Using National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data on crime incidents that contain a sexual offense (N = 21,977), we estimated a multinomial regression model to examine the predictors of different clearance types for cases of sexual assault. Results indicated that the likelihood of victim refusal decreases in cases perpetrated by strangers, involving victim injury, occurring in public, and involving multiple offenses. A similar pattern of findings was observed for the decision to decline to prosecute a case. In addition, prosecutors are more likely to decline to prosecute cases with male victims and older victims. We discuss the implications of our findings and directions for future research.
K1 Sexual assault
K1 Prosecutorial discretion
K1 Secondary victimization
K1 Predictors of arrest
K1 Sexueller Übergriff
K1 Staatsanwaltliches Ermessen
K1 Prädiktoren
K1 NIBRS
DO 10.1177/0011128719828351