Crimes Against 

Children by 

Babysitters

David Finkelhor and Richard Ormrod

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is committed to

improving the justice system’s response to crimes against children. OJJDP recognizes

that children are at increased risk for crime victimization. Not only are children the victims of many of the same crimes that victimize adults, they are subject to other crimes,

like child abuse and neglect, that are specific to childhood. The impact of these crimes

on young victims can be devastating, and the violent or sexual victimization of children

can often lead to an intergenerational cycle of violence and abuse. The purpose of

OJJDP’s Crimes Against Children Series is to improve and expand the Nation’s efforts

to better serve child victims by presenting the latest information about child victimization,

including analyses of crime victimization statistics, studies of child victims and their special needs, and descriptions of programs and approaches that address these needs. 

In recent years, parents and policymakers

have become increasingly concerned with

ensuring the safety of children when they

are in the custody of childcare workers.

Such concerns have sparked extensive

debates about how childcare providers

should be hired and screened and whether

routine criminal background checks should

be used to uncover potential offenders.

These safety concerns have even prompted the use of surveillance devices to monitor workers who care for children (Wen,

2000).

Unfortunately, information that might clarify these issues is limited. For example,

public data on juvenile abuse and crime

victimization do not routinely present the

identity of perpetrators in a way that allows identification of specific groups of

offenders, such as teachers or daycare

operators. Instead, perpetrators are

grouped more generally, either as undifferentiated childcare providers or simply

as acquaintances of the victim.

Parents are particularly concerned about

babysitters, whose recruitment and

screening are often informal. Nonfamilial

paid babysitters have generated anxiety

ever since they became a nearly universal

social phenomenon in the post-World War

II childrearing environment (Kourany,

Gwinn, and Martin, 1980). As mothers entered the workforce and fewer families

lived with other relatives, more and more

parents relied on babysitters to care for

their children. Concerns about babysitters may have increased in recent years,

especially in the wake of cases like that of

Louise Woodward, the Boston-area au-pair

convicted of killing 8-month-old Matthew

Eappen, who was in her full-time care (Doherty, 1997; Kahn, 1997).

A Message From OJJDP

Although only 14 percent of our Nation’s 18.5 million children less than 5

years old are cared for regularly by a

nonrelated inhome childcare or family

daycare provider, many—perhaps

most—have been cared for by a babysitter on occasion.

Highly publicized criminal cases such

as the conviction of au-pair Louise

Woodward in the tragic death of 

8-month-old Matthew Eappen have

raised public concern about children’s

safety and the manner in which childcare providers are screened and

monitored. Such regard for the welfare of children is both understandable and laudable, but what are the

facts about the risks involved in

childcare?

Until recently, little was known about

the prevalence of criminal offenses

among babysitters. This Bulletin, part

of OJJDP’s Crimes Against Children

Series, draws on the FBI’s National

Incident-Based Reporting System to

provide data on the frequency and

nature of crimes against children

committed by babysitters.

The fact that babysitters account for

approximately 4 percent of crimes

committed against children less than

6 years old—a rate below that of complete strangers—helps put the matter

in perspective.

Of course, the victimization of any

child is unacceptable, and it is hoped

that the information that this Bulletin

offers will enhance efforts to combat

such crimes.

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

September 2001
2

Despite such publicity, the literature on

the offenses of babysitters is scant (Margolin, 1990; Margolin and Craft, 1990; Martin

and Kourany, 1980). However, this lack of

information is beginning to change. Babysitters are one of the new categories of offenders for whom specific information is

now being collected within the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) growing National Incident-Based Reporting System

(NIBRS). The availability of these data for

the first time, combined with public and

policy interest, makes babysitter offenses

worthy of analysis.

Analysis of NIBRS data on crimes against

juveniles (ages 0 to 17) reveals the following information:

◆ Babysitters are responsible for a relatively small portion of the reported

criminal offenses against children: 

4.2 percent of all offenses for children

under age 6—less than the percentage

accounted for by family members or

strangers.

◆ Among the reported offenses that babysitters commit, sex crimes outnumber

physical assaults nearly two to one.

◆ Children most at risk of physical

assaults by babysitters are younger

(ages 1–3) than those at risk of sex

crimes (ages 3–5).

◆ Males constitute the majority of sexoffending babysitters reported to the

police (77 percent); females make up

the majority of physical assaulters

(64 percent).

◆ Juvenile offenders are responsible for

nearly half the babysitter sex crimes

known to police (48 percent) but only

15 percent of the physical assaults.

◆ Babysitter offenses rarely result in

death, but victims of babysitter crimes

known to police are more likely than

other child crime victims to suffer an

injury (75 percent versus 53 percent 

for victims under age 6).

The Data

NIBRS, which compiled the data that are the

basis of this analysis, was created to eventually supplant the existing Uniform Crime

Reports (UCR) program as the national

statistical database of crimes reported to

the police. NIBRS can collect considerably

more detailed information about crime

incidents than UCR, including the range of

offenses committed, victim characteristics

(including age), offender characteristics,

and incident circumstances. While NIBRS

is not yet national in scope and only encompasses jurisdictions in 17 States (see

sidebar on p. 3 for further discussion of

NIBRS), the combined reports for 1995,

1996, 1997, and 1998 yielded 1,427 babysitter victimizations for analysis. Given the

general absence of data on this group of

offenders, this large number of cases merits investigation—even though the cases

are not nationally representative and the

findings drawn from them are preliminary.

“Babysitter” is a term with some ambiguity. Children are cared for by a variety

of people, including close and extended

family, friends, family daycare operators,

professional daycare centers, and schools;

some of these providers may be paid

while others are not. The term “babysitter”

may be loosely applied to any of these

providers, with the exception of schools

and, possibly, daycare centers. Fortunately, the NIBRS system uses the more common meaning of the term, following the

usage typical of many State child protective agencies (Margolin, 1990; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001).

NIBRS considers babysitters to be those

persons who temporarily care for children

for pay, usually in the child’s or babysitter’s home. This usage excludes preschool

and commercial daycare center staff members but includes both licensed and unlicenced home-based daycare providers.

NIBRS protocols, like those of many State

child protective services, also exclude family offenders from the babysitter category.

Offenders who commit crimes against family members are identified in NIBRS by

their family relationship to the victim, and

not as babysitters, because NIBRS only

categorizes offenders in a single relationship category. As a result, babysitters

identified by NIBRS reporting agencies are

not members of the victim’s family. Thus,

the majority of babysitter offenders identified in NIBRS are paid nonfamily juveniles

or adults caring for children in a home

setting. However, NIBRS relies on local law

enforcement agencies to collect data, and

specification practices may vary somewhat from agency to agency.

An accurate number of children in the United States cared for by babysitters (as defined in NIBRS) is difficult to estimate. The

National Child Care Survey (NCCS) estimated that, in 1990, 14 percent of the 18.5 million children under age 5 had a nonrelative

inhome provider or family daycare as their

primary childcare arrangement (Hofferth

et al., 1991). However, NCCS and other

childcare surveys tally only children’s

“primary arrangements.” Large numbers

of children whose primary arrangements

involve care by their own mother, another

relative, or a daycare center are also occasionally cared for by babysitters. Therefore, it seems likely that a majority of all

young children are exposed to paid babysitters at some time.

Findings

Reporting

Babysitters were only a small portion of

the offenders in NIBRS jurisdictions who

committed violent crimes against children.

They accounted for 0.5 percent of offenders who committed crimes against juveniles (youth under age 18) and 4.2 percent

of those who committed crimes against

young children (those under age 6) (figure

1).1 In contrast, family members (including nonparental offenders) accounted for

21.4 percent of offenders who committed

crimes against all juveniles and 53.5 percent of those who committed crimes

against young children. (Parental family

offenders alone are 12 percent and 36 percent, respectively.) Complete strangers

accounted for 11.0 percent of offenders

against juveniles and 5.6 percent of offenders against young children. In assessing

these figures, it would be useful to compare babysitters with other categories of

professional childcare providers, such as

teachers or youth workers, but such comparisons are not possible because these

categories are not separately identified

in NIBRS.

Victim Characteristics

Children under age 6, the group most likely to be cared for by babysitters, are also

those most likely to be victimized by them

(figure 2). Children in this age group made

up 60 percent of the victims of babysitter

crimes in the NIBRS jurisdictions, although

youth 12 and older were sometimes victimized. (The victims in the older age group

may have included disabled youth who

1 Counts of offenders by relationship to victim are

based only on victimizations where perpetrators can

be identified as family members, strangers, babysitters, or other acquaintances, thus excluding the

“unknown” category. Furthermore, comparisons of

babysitter-perpetrated offenses with those committed

by nonbabysitters are limited to only incidents involving crimes against persons (homicide, sexual assault,

assault, kidnapping, and nonforcible sex offenses)

because these are the only crimes linked in NIBRS

data to babysitter offenders. 
3

still require some professional childcare.)

In terms of racial distribution, juvenile

victims of babysitter offenses known to

police were more likely to be white (92

percent) than juvenile crime victims in

general (75 percent). This racial disparity

may exist because nonwhite children are

less likely to be cared for by paid nonfamily babysitters due to cost factors and the

greater availability of care by relatives

(Casper, 1997).

Among babysitter offenses that were

reported to the police, sex offenses outnumbered physical assaults 65 percent to

34 percent (figure 3). Most of the sex offenses involved fondling rather than the

more serious crimes of rape or sodomy

(41 percent, 9 percent, and 11 percent of

all babysitter offenses, respectively). Simple assaults made up 25 percent of all reported babysitter offenses, whereas aggravated assaults accounted for 9 percent. A

very small fraction of the offenses entailed

a kidnapping (0.5 percent) or homicide

(0.6 percent).

The age distribution of victims in NIBRS

reports varies, depending on the type of

offense. Children ages 1 to 3 faced the

The National Incident-Based Reporting System

Figure 1: Percentage of Offenders Who Committed Violent Crimes

Against Juveniles, by Relationship to the Victim

67.1%

21.4%

11.0%

0.5%

Babysitter Stranger Acquaintance Family

53.5% 36.7%

4.2% 5.6%

(N=299,839 offenders) (N=22,393 offenders)

All Juvenile Victims Victims Under 6 Years of Age

Note: The data also include nonforcible sex offenses. Data are provided only for incidents

with identified offender(s). Juveniles are persons under 18 years of age.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), National Incident-Based

Reporting System (NIBRS) computer file (17 States only), Washington, DC: U.S. Department

of Justice. Tabulations undertaken by Crimes against Children Research Center.

The U.S. Department of Justice is replacing its long-established Uniform

Crime Reports (UCR) program with a

more comprehensive National IncidentBased Reporting System (NIBRS).

While UCR monitors a limited number

of index crimes and, with the exception

of homicides, gathers few details on

each crime event, NIBRS collects a

wide range of information on victims,

offenders, and circumstances for a

greater variety of offenses. Offenses

tracked in NIBRS include violent crimes

(e.g., homicide, assault, rape, robbery),

property crimes (e.g., theft, arson, vandalism, fraud, embezzlement), and

crimes against society (e.g., drug offenses, gambling, prostitution). Moreover, NIBRS collects information on

multiple victims, multiple offenders, and

multiple crimes that may be part of the

same episode.

Under the new system, as with the old,

local law enforcement personnel compile information on crimes coming to

their attention, and this information is 

aggregated in turn at the State and national levels. For a crime to be counted in

the system, it simply needs to be reported

and investigated. The incident does not

need to be cleared or an arrest made,

although unfounded reports are deleted

from the record.

NIBRS holds great promise, but it is still

far from a national system. Its implementation by the FBI began in 1988, and participation by States and local agencies is

voluntary and incremental. By 1995, jurisdictions in 9 States had agencies contributing data; by 1997, the number was 12;

and by the end of 1999, jurisdictions in 17

States submitted reports, providing coverage for 11 percent of the Nation’s population and 9 percent of its crime. Only three

States (Idaho, Iowa, and South Carolina)

have participation from all local jurisdictions, and only one city with a population

greater than 500,000 (Austin, TX) is reporting. The crime experiences of large

urban areas are particularly underrepresented. The system, therefore, is not yet

nationally representative, nor do its data 

represent national trends or national

statistics. Nevertheless, the system is

assembling large amounts of crime information and providing a richness of

detail about juvenile victimizations previously unavailable. The patterns and

associations these data reveal are real

and represent the experiences of a

large number of youth. For 1998, the

17 participating States1 reported a total

of 1,344,361 crimes against individuals, with 143,523 occurring against juveniles. Nevertheless, patterns may

change as more jurisdictions join the

system.

More information about NIBRS data

collection can be found at these Web

sites: (1) www.fbi.gov/ucr/nibrs.htm,

(2) www.search.org/nibrs/default.asp,

(3) www.jrsa.org/ibrrc/.

1 Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky,

Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota,

Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah,

Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.
4

greatest risk of physical assault, whereas

children ages 3 to 5 were most vulnerable

to sex offenses (figure 2). Victim gender

also varied by type of offense. More boys

than girls were victims of physical assault

by babysitters (54 percent versus 46 percent), whereas girls made up 65 percent of

the sex offense victims (figure 4).

Offender Characteristics

Overall, among babysitters, male offenders outnumbered female offenders (63 to

37 percent) in police reports.2 However,

this percentage masks the true disproportion in the risk of male offending, in that

most children are exposed to more female

than male babysitters, both in terms of

numbers and the amount of time spent

in their care. No reliable information is

available about the overall gender ratio

of babysitters, but one teen survey found

that females were twice as likely as males

to have had babysitting experience (Kourany, Martin, and LaBarbera, 1980).

Among adult babysitters, the ratio is considerably higher (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2001). Therefore, the true risk of a

male babysitter offending is likely much

greater than the two-to-one ratio of male

to female offenders found in the data.

Males were disproportionately involved 

in sex offenses (77 percent of offenders

known to police). Females committed the

majority of the physical assaults (64 percent of offenders). Of babysitters who

committed sex offenses, males were more

likely than females to target female victims and victims ages 6 and older (figure

5). They were also more likely to be adults

(58 percent), whereas female sex offenders were predominantly juveniles (67 percent), mostly ages 13 to 15.

In addition to gender of the offenders, one

of the most dramatic differences between

sex offenses and physical assaults reported in NIBRS jurisdictions was the offender

Percentage of All Victims

Victim Age

Physical assaults

(N=490 victims) (N=922 victims)

Sex offenses

0

5

10

15

20

<1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Figure 2: Age of Victims of Physical Assaults and Sex Offenses

Committed by Babysitters

Note: Percentages calculated separately for physical assaults and sex offenses.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), National Incident-Based

Reporting System (NIBRS) computer file (17 States only), Washington, DC: U.S. Department 

of Justice. Tabulations undertaken by Crimes against Children Research Center.

Percentage of All Offenses

(N=1,435 offenses)

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Forcible Fondling

Forcible Sodomy

Forcible Rape

Sexual Assault 

With Object

Nonforcible Offenses

Simple Assault

Aggravated Assault

Kidnaping

Homicide

Sex offenses Physical assaults Other crimes

Figure 3: Types of Crime Committed Against Juveniles by Babysitters

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), National Incident-Based

Reporting System (NIBRS) computer file (17 States only), Washington, DC: U.S. Department 

of Justice. Tabulations undertaken by Crimes against Children Research Center.

2 Some babysitter victimizations are perpetrated by

multiple sitters, or by one sitter and other offender(s),

yielding mixed offender patterns and offender-victim

associations. In cases with multiple offenders, nonbabysitter offenders are identified by their relationship to the victim, not to the babysitter. To avoid

ambiguity, only incidents containing a single babysitter acting alone are used when specifying offender

characteristics and describing offender-victim links.

Single babysitters acting alone accounted for 93 percent of all babysitter victimizations reported in 1995,

1996, 1997, and 1998 NIBRS data.
5

age profile (figure 6). Nearly half (48 percent) of the babysitter sex offenders were

themselves juveniles. On the other hand,

only 15 percent of the physically assaultive babysitters were under age 18. This

age pattern—teens overrepresented in the

commission of sex offenses and adults in

the commission of physical offenses—

held true for both male and female offenders. One possible explanation for this pattern may be that adult babysitters are

more likely to be given responsibility for

young children for longer periods (e.g., a

whole day or several days a week) than

teenage babysitters, and this continuous

exposure creates the kind of stress and

control-related conflicts that tend to trigger physical assaults on young children.

Sex offenses, by contrast, are often crimes

of opportunity that occur during the more

occasional exposures that children have

with teen babysitters.

Injury

Death was a relatively uncommon outcome

for victims of babysitter crimes in NIBRS

jurisdictions (0.6 percent). However, babysitter victims were more likely to sustain

injuries than juvenile victims of other offenders. Among juvenile victims of physical assault, 67 percent of those assaulted

by babysitters incurred a major or minor

injury, compared with 52 percent of victims of other offenders (figure 7). For assault victims under age 6, the injury discrepancy was even larger (75 percent of

babysitter victims injured versus 53 percent of victims of other offenders). Sexual

assault injury rates are fairly low and similar for babysitters and nonsitters alike.

Implications

Police data reveal that babysitters do indeed commit serious crimes against children in their care. While NIBRS data cannot be used to estimate national crime

statistics, the numbers extrapolated from

NIBRS jurisdictions (which represent

about 6 percent of the Nation’s crimes for

1997 and 1998) suggest that roughly 7,000

to 8,000 babysitter offenses—the majority

of which are sex crimes—are reported to

police over the course of a year. This estimate is certainly large enough to justify

that precautions be taken by parents in

screening and hiring care providers.

However, the threat posed by babysitters,

especially when compared with other

childhood threats, should not be overemphasized. Babysitters were responsible for

Figure 4: Gender of Juvenile Victims of Babysitters, by Type of

Offense

Female victims Male victims

46%

54%

65%

35%

Physical Assaults

(N=490 victims) (N=922 victims)

Sex Offenses

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), National Incident-Based

Reporting System (NIBRS) computer file (17 States only), Washington, DC: U.S. Department

of Justice. Tabulations undertaken by Crimes against Children Research Center.

Figure 5: Gender and Age of Juvenile Victims of Sex Offenses

Committed by Babysitters, by Offender Gender

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), National Incident-Based

Reporting System (NIBRS) computer file (17 States only), Washington, DC: U.S. Department

of Justice. Tabulations undertaken by Crimes against Children Research Center.

71%

29%

46%

54%

54%

47%

68%

32%

Male

Sitters

(N=666 victims)

(N=203 victims)

Female

Sitters

Female

Male

6–17 years

Under 6 years

Victim Gender Victim Age
6

only 4.2 percent of the reported crimes

against children under 6 years—fewer than

crimes committed by family members,

other acquaintances, or even strangers.

Given the large number of children exposed to babysitters, this is a relatively

small percentage. The data reinforce other

studies that suggest primary efforts should

seek to shield young children from crimes

committed by family perpetrators, not

childcare providers (Finkelhor and Ormrod, 2001). It is important to keep in mind,

however, that the numbers in NIBRS represent only the most serious criminal acts,

the ones reported to the police; therefore,

they do not fully reflect the scope of babysitter misconduct. Although sexual acts

toward children are usually considered

very serious and reported to police, many

acts of physical assault by babysitters,

even those resulting in injury, are unlikely

to be reported. In addition, episodes of

babysitter neglect and emotional abuse

are rarely reported to police. Data from

child protection agencies might document

more instances of physical abuse, neglect,

and emotional abuse, but parents are probably more inclined to simply terminate

a babysitter’s services than bother with

official police or child protection reports.

In addition, babysitter crimes may be

disproportionately obscured because

younger victims are often unable to communicate this abuse to their parents.

In short, crime reports on babysitters are

only a crude guide to the perils children

face in the company of babysitters. For example, the finding of NIBRS data that sex

offenses by babysitters outnumber physical assaults may only reflect the kind of

crime considered serious enough to be reported to police. In reality, physical assaults may be more common than sex offenses but less reported. Similarly, to the

extent that physical assaults are underreported compared with sex offenses, the

offenses of female babysitters may be underreported compared with those of males.

Other NIBRS findings may not be so tainted by reporting biases. Children under 

6 are likely the main targets of babysitter

offenses because they spend the most

time with babysitters. Teenagers likely

commit more of the sex offenses against

children because the sexual pressures

and conflicts of their adolescence may

motivate them to take advantage of the

children in their care. Male babysitters

probably outnumber female babysitters

among offenders because males outnumber females in virtually all categories of

crime, including family offenses and

offenses against children.

Also, despite their limitations, NIBRS data

highlight the diversity of offenders and

victims. It is now clear that both female

and male babysitters commit sexual offenses. Sexual assaults do occur against

some very young children, and some

older children also are being criminally

victimized by babysitters.

These data are neither comprehensive nor

detailed enough to offer strong guidance

about preventive efforts. However, the

young age of sexual abuse victims does

confirm the potential value of providing

preschool children with age-appropriate

awareness about inappropriate touching

(Wurtele et al., 1989). The frequent appearance of adolescent sexual abusers in

NIBRS babysitter data suggests that parents may need to carefully screen and

train young babysitters with this in mind.

The preponderance of male offenders,

given the relatively small number of males

in the childcare workforce, certainly contributes to the already evident dilemma of

those who would increase children’s exposure to nurturant males. Unfortunately,

the implications of all these findings have

policy complexities that require better

data than NIBRS can currently provide

about the particular features of offenders,

victims, their families, and the process by

which potential babysitters are screened

and chosen.

NIBRS is still in its formative stage, and its

data may prompt more questions rather

than provide firm answers. However, to

the extent that its data remind the public

and policymakers of the diverse perils

that confront children, including threats

from babysitters and other care providers,

NIBRS may eventually improve the entire

effort of crime prevention and detection

for this vulnerable population.

References

Casper, L.M. 1997. Who’s minding our preschoolers? Fall 1994 (Update). Current Population Reports (P70–62). Washington, DC:

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of

the Census, pp. 1–89.

Doherty, W.F. 1997. Manslaughter and she

walks. Boston Globe (November 11). Retrieved August 8, 2000, from the Web:

www.bostonglobe.com.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. 1995–98.

National Incident-Based Reporting System

Figure 6: Age of Babysitters Who Committed Physical Assaults and 

Sex Offenses Against Juveniles

Note: Percentages calculated separately for physical assaults and sex offenses.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), National Incident-Based

Reporting System (NIBRS) computer file (17 States only), Washington, DC: U.S. Department

of Justice. Tabulations undertaken by Crimes against Children Research Center.

0

10

20

30

40

50

Offender Age

Physical assaults

(N=425 offenders) (N=843 offenders)

Sex offenses

8–11 12–17 18–24 25–34 35–44 45–54 55–64 65 and

older

Percentage of Offenders
7

(NIBRS). Master computer files of final

data for each year. Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of

Investigation. 

Finkelhor, D., and Ormrod, R.K. 2001.

Child Abuse Reported to the Police. Bulletin. Washington, DC: U.S. Department 

of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency

Prevention.

Hofferth, S.L., Brayfield, A., Deich, S., and

Holcomb, P. 1991. National Child Care 

Survey, 1990. Washington, DC: The Urban

Institute Press.

Kahn, R. 1997. Prosecutors detail case

against au pair. Boston Globe (March 8).

Retrieved August 8, 2000, from the Web:

www.bostonglobe.com.

Kourany, R.F.C., Gwinn, M., and Martin, 

J.E. 1980. Adolescent babysitting: A 

30-year-old phenomenon. Adolescence

15(60):939–945.

Kourany, R.F.C., Martin, J.E., and LaBarbera, J.E. 1980. Adolescents as babysitters. Adolescence 15(57):155–158.

Margolin, L. 1990. Child abuse by babysitters: An ecological-interactional interpretation. Journal of Family Violence

5(2):95–105.

Margolin, L., and Craft, J.L. 1990. Child

abuse by adolescent caregivers. Child

Abuse and Neglect 14:365–373.

Martin, J.E., and Kourany, R.F.C. 1980.

Child abuse by adolescent babysitters.

Child Abuse and Neglect 4:15–22.

U.S. Bureau of the Census. 2001. Tables 

of Detailed Occupation, 1990. Retrieved

June 21, 2001, from the Web: www.

census.gov/hhes/www/occupation.html.

U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services, Administration on Children,

Youth and Families. 2001. Child Maltreatment 1999. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Wen, P. 2000. Wary parents using cameras,

criminal checks on caregivers. Boston

Globe (July 17). Retrieved August 8, 2000,

from the Web: www.bostonglobe.com.

Wurtele, S.K., Kast, L.C., Miller-Perrin, C.L.,

and Kondrick, P.A. 1989. Comparison of

programs for teaching personal safety

skills to preschoolers. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 57(4):505–511.

58%

33%

9%

63%

25%

12%

47%

48%

5%

47%

46%

7%

Major injury

(N=447 victims) (N=194,416 victims)

(N=311 victims) (N=10,156 victims)

Minor injury No injury

Babysitters Other Offenders

All Juvenile

Assault Victims

Assault Victims

Under 6 Years

of Age

Figure 7: Injuries Sustained by Juvenile Victims of Physical Assaults

Committed by Babysitters and Other Offenders

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), National Incident-Based

Reporting System (NIBRS) computer file (17 States only), Washington, DC: U.S. Department

of Justice. Tabulations undertaken by Crimes against Children Research Center.

Acknowledgments

This Bulletin was prepared by David

Finkelhor, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology and Director, Crimes against

Children Research Center, University

of New Hampshire, david.finkelhor@

unh.edu; and Richard Ormrod, Ph.D.,

Research Professor, Crimes against

Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, rormrod

@cisunix.unh.edu.

This Bulletin was prepared under grant number

98–JN–FX–0012 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this

document are those of the authors and do not

necessarily represent the official position or

policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of

Justice.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes 

the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau 

of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of 

Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.
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