Dr. Delphine Collin-Vezina Director Centre for Research on Children and Families Tier II Canada Research Chair in Child Welfare Associate Professor, McGill University

1. Dr. Delphine Collin-Vezina
Director, Centre for Research on Children and Families
Tier II Canada Research Chair in Child Welfare
Associate Professor, McGill University
Characteristics of Sibling and
Nonsibling Sexual Abuse Cases
Under Canadian Child Protection
Investigation
BASCPAN Conference
Edinburgh, April 2015
Centre for Research on Children and Families

2. Objectives
The current research was undertaken to answer two main
questions using a representative administrative dataset of
investigated child protection (CP) cases:
(1) What are the characteristics of the suspected incidents
of abuse, alleged victims, alleged perpetrators and the
families in sibling sexual abuse cases under CP
investigation; and (2) How do suspected sibling sexual
abuse cases investigated by CP workers compare with
suspected cases involving nonsibling young offenders.
Its intent is to bring important knowledge to guide child
protection decision processes at the investigation stage.

3. Number of substantiated sexual
abuse cases in CP
Substantiation
Retention
Disclosure and
Reporting
Total number of sexual abuse victims
Investigation stage

4. Complexity of investigation process
The stage of investigation is cornerstone in CP systems:
→ It focuses on documenting the evidence, determining
whether cases are substantiated, and deciding on the
courses of action.
→ Decisions that are made at this stage can influence
tremendously the lives of victims, perpetrators, and their
families.
The challenges associated with this professional activity are
compounded in cases of sibling sexual abuse.

5. Current Scholarship on Sibling Sexual
Abuse
Only a handful of studies have used prospective design to
better understand the characteristics and features of
current sexual abuse cases committed by sibling and
nonsibling young offenders.
To our knowledge, no previous study has attempted to
study alleged sibling and nonsibling sexual abuse cases
under CP investigation.
→ Rather, studies have focused on cases that were
found substantiated.

6. Finkelhor, Ormord and Chaffin (2009)
2004 National Incident-Based Reporting System
→ Young perpetrators (sibling and non-sibling aged up to 17), were
involved in 35.6% of all sexual cases committed against a minor
→ 16% were aged 12 years and under at the time the offense was
committed.
→ 36.5% of offenses involved forcible rape or sodomy.
→ An overwhelming majority were male (92.2%). Most of their victims were
females (any female victim in incident: 78.8%), though, male victims were
more frequently targeted by young offenders (any male victim: 24.7%) than
by adult offenders (13.4%).
→ They were more likely to perpetrate the abuse on a child aged 12 and
under (59%) that adult sex offenders (39%).

7. Krienert and Walsh (2011)
2000-2007 National Incident-Based Reporting System
→ Most sibling sexual abuse cases involved a biological sibling (72.6%),
with about one in four involving a step-sibling (27.4%).
→ Sibling sex offenders were found to share many characteristics with the
non-sibling juvenile offenders described by Finkelhor and colleagues
(2009).
→ A majority of sibling offenders were male (92.2%), and a majority of their
victims were females (71.4%). One fourth of all sibling sexual abuse cases
involved siblings less than five years older than their victims, which
emphasised ‘the importance of using an age-free sibling sexual abuse
definition’ (Krienert & Walsh, 2011, p. 363). In almost 40% of cases
(39.7%), the incidents involved forcible rape or sodomy.
→ However, 31.8% of sibling sex offenders were aged 12 and under.

8. Method
The profile of children aged 0-15 that were investigated as
victims for sexual abuse as a primary form of maltreatment
by a sibling or other young perpetrator (20 years and under)
were obtained by using the third cycle of the Canadian
Incidence Study on Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2008)
(Trocmé et al., 2010).
The decision to include alleged perpetrators aged up to 20 –
as opposed to focusing only on minors aged below 18 - was
determined on the basis of the characteristics of the dataset
given that the information on perpetrators’ age was
aggregated in categories for confidentiality purposes.

9. Results
Among the estimated
10,172 suspected sexual
abuse cases that were
investigated by Canadian
CP agencies in 2008, 974
sexual abuse cases (10%)
involved a sibling alleged
perpetrator and 918 cases
(9%) involved other young
offenders.
All investigated sexual
abuse cases in 2008
Sibling
offenders
Other
juvenile
offenders
Other
offenders

10. Results: Question 1
→ Most sexual abuse sibling cases came to the attention of the
authorities because they were reported by the child’s school or
daycare (34%) and parents (32%).
→ These investigations involved victims from all age groups, with
37% of alleged victims aged from 0 to 7 years old, 31% from 8 to
11 years old, and 32% from 12 to 15.
→ A third of all victims were male (34%).
→ A large majority of alleged perpetrator were male (94%) and
aged under 16 (69%).
→ Most cases (37%) were investigated following allegations of
fondling; penetration or attempted penetration, and oral sex,
made up 19% and 10% of investigation cases respectively.

11. Results: Question 1
→ An investigation for any child in the family had already been
conducted by CP for more than half of all cases (53%).
→ With regards to the current sexual abuse investigation, 52%
were substantiated. During this initial investigation stage, criminal
investigation of alleged perpetrators was fairly common, with 46%
of sibling investigations involving police.
→ Among the cases that were substantiated, 19% of these families
were referred to services. Among these referrals, the most
common was parent-support group/in-home family
counseling/other parent or family counseling (89%), while only 10%
of these referrals were for the victim support.

12. Results: Question 2
→ Investigated sexual abuse cases that involved sibling and
nonsibling young offenders were found to present with similar
features.
→ There was no significant difference with regard to the alleged
victims and perpetrators’ age and gender, or the investigation sexual
abuse subtypes.
→ However, sibling cases were more likely to have been reported to
the authorities by their custodial or non-custodial parents (32%) or
by the school and daycare, than cases involving other young
offenders (10% and 11%, respectively). Alleged young offenders
other than siblings were more often reported to CP services by the
police (37%) than were sibling alleged offenders (5%).

13. Results: Question 2
→ The caregivers in sibling sexual abuse cases were more likely
to be identified as having few social supports, whereas more
caregivers in other young offenders sexual abuse cases were
assessed as displaying alcohol abuse problems.
→ A criminal investigation was taken place more often in cases of
suspected sexual abuse committed by another young offender
(77%) than a sibling perpetrator (46%).
→ Families where suspected sexual abuse was perpetrated by a
young sex offender other than a sibling were 2.7 times more likely
to be referred to at least one service than families and victims of
suspected sibling sexual abuse (the most common was parent-
support group/in-home family)

14. Key findings
→ Young alleged sex perpetrators (20 years of age and under)
were found to be involved in about 20% of all suspected sexual
abuse cases under CP investigation, with half of these incidents
involving a sibling.
→ Suspected sexual abuse incidents perpetrated by alleged
sibling and other young perpetrators involved children of all ages,
including preschool-aged children, and children from both sexes.
→ About one in three suspected incidents involved more severe
forms of abuse, including penetration and oral sex.

15. Key findings
→ Families where sibling sexual abuse was under investigation
were more often characterized as facing low social support in
comparison to families of other young alleged perpetrators that
were assessed in higher proportion as dealing with substance
abuse.
→ Sources of referral were quite distinct across both groups, with
sibling cases more likely to be reported by legal guardians and by
educational setting personnel, and other young offender cases
more often reported by the police.
→ Most families where sexual abuse was confirmed were not
referred for services, at least in the short term.

16. Recommendation
Given the emerging body of research that has demonstrated the
devastating short- and long-term impact of sexual abuse
committed by minors on victims (e.g. Cyr et al., 2003), CP teams
and other service provision systems should be sensitized to the
importance of referring victims early after investigation to
services that can help them heal from the sexual abuse trauma
they experienced.
Evidence-based trauma intervention programs, such as Trauma-
Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, as led to promising
outcomes with CP populations (Dorsey, Pullmann, Berliner,
Koschmann, McKay, & Deblinger, 2014), 2014).

17. To obtain copy of our manuscript, please send
a request to:
delphine.collin-vezina@mcgill.ca
Collin-Vézina, D., Fast, E., Hélie, S., Cyr, M.,
Pelletier, S., & Fallon, B. (accepted). Young
offender sexual abuse cases under protection
investigation: Are sibling cases any different?
Child Welfare Journal.