Judging a Book by its Cover: Examining Children’s First Impressions of their Alleged Sexual Perpetrator

Most of the existing literature on how alleged sexual offenders interact with children is based on the perspectives of offenders themselves. Few studies have explored children's accounts of their relationship with their perpetrator before the abuse and/or disclosure. To address this gap, the current study investigated children’s reported first and later impressions of their alleged sexual perpetrators. Using qualitative content coding, we examined 34 transcripts of forensic interviews relating to child sexual abuse and categorized the impressions into three main types: positive, neutral, and negative. A majority of the first impressions were positive or neutral while most of the later impressions were negative. Impressions were complex and varied widely within a single category. Analyzing children’s rationale for their first impressions can provide insight into their thought processes as well as allow for an analysis of the perpetrator behavior. The examination of first and later impressions can be a crucial variable for practitioners and scholars to study, as it can quickly assess the evolution of the child-offender relationship and elicit information about perpetrator tactics such as grooming and seduction.