A hypothesized sketch of the atypical juvenile sex offender who engages in human sex trafficking is extrapolated from empirical data from the findings of victims of sex traffickers, juvenile sex offenders, and from one of the largest (N = 1056) cross-validation studies of a risk assessment tool in the field for sexually abusive youth. The tool, MEGA♪, assesses risk level of sexually abusive youth (4–19 years, males and females, adjudicated and non-adjudicated, including youth with low intellectual functioning). The compiled empirical data supports a paradigm describing one of the least known, or studied type of sexually abusive youth: the sexually abusive juvenile who engages in sex trafficking. © 2017 Taylor & Francis.

juvenile sex trafficking Juvenile sex offenders Sexually abusive youth sex trafficking

male validation study female major clinical study juvenile victim sexual crime sex trafficking human risk assessment Adolescent