Child sexual abuse. The suspects, the suspicions and the background.

In a study of suspected cases of child sexual abuse, 22 persons (21 men and one woman) were identified as probable perpetrators according to the child psychiatric evaluation. Eight perpetrators admitted abuse, although denying certain aspects of the allegations, and two persons made what was categorized as partial confirmations. Nine cases led to a charge and eight of these to a conviction. Disease, addiction, sexual frustration, unwanted separation, ageing and adolescence were identified as factors which in individual cases seemed to have influenced a person's predisposition to abuse children sexually.