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A legal analysis of Australian criminal cases involving defendants with autism spectrum disorder charged with online sexual offending

journal contribution
posted on 2019-09-01, 00:00 authored by C S Allely, Sally KennedySally Kennedy, Ian WarrenIan Warren
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd This paper examines how the symptomology of the small number of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) charged with online sexual offenses in Australia is established during legal arguments and conceived by the judiciary to impact legal liability and offending behavior. This study aims to provide empirical support for the proposition that judicial discourses regarding the connection between ASD and online sexual offending, including conduct related to child exploitation material (CEM), have little bearing on overall questions of criminal liability or the use of alternative penal dispositions. It does so by exploring a sample of nine recent Australian criminal cases, involving ten rulings, that examine how evidence of ASD is raised in legal arguments in ways that suggest a diagnosed condition may have contributed significantly to the alleged wrongdoing. We conclude by suggesting current Australian judicial practice requires more sensitivity to the impact of clinical factors associated with ASD in shaping alternative supervisory and non-custodial dispositions for individuals convicted of online sexual offenses.

History

Journal

International journal of law and psychiatry

Volume

66

Article number

101456

Publisher

Elsevier

Location

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

ISSN

0160-2527

eISSN

1873-6386

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2019, Elsevier