Exploring the Influence of Reporting Delay on Criminal Justice Outcomes: Comparing Child and Adult Reporters of Childhood Sexual Abuse

This study utilizes data from a large sample of police records to examine the relationship between reporting delay and pre-trial criminal justice outcomes for child and adult reporters of CSA. Analyses show that the presence and length of reporting delay significantly influences outcomes for child reporters, with teenagers particularly benefitting from immediate reporting. Length of delay was not a significant influence on outcomes for adult female reporters with the longest delays having the highest probability of detection of all adult groups. Conversely adult males had much lower probabilities of case detection. A trend for increased delay to increase the likelihood of detection for those aged 0-6 years when the offence occurred was also apparent. The implications for criminal justice professionals are discussed.