Federal Sex Offense Arrests and Sentences

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, sex offenses were the fastest growing federal arrest offense from 2010 to 2014.

  • Federal law enforcement arrested 3,447 sex offense suspects in 2014, a 4% increase from 2010.
  • The FBI (39%) made the most sex offense arrests in 2014, followed by the USMS (29%) and ICE (20%).
  • The number of suspects arrested for a sex offense doubled from 1994 to 1998, doubled again from 1998 to 2004, and doubled again from 2004 to 2013.
  • From 2010 to 2014, sex offenses made up 2% (16,842) of the total number of federal arrests (882,713).
  • In 2014, there were a total of 79,910 arrests for sex offenses comprised of 76,463 state and local law enforcement arrests and 3,447 federal arrests.
  • In 2014, arrests for federal sex offenses made up just 4% of federal, state, and local sex offense arrests.
  • Seven districts had 80 or more federal sex offense arrests in 2014. Florida Middle (131), Texas Western (120), and Arizona (100) had 100 or more sex offense arrests.
  • The busiest court cities for federal sex offense arrests in 2014 were San Diego, California (62); Phoenix, Arizona (62); Portland, Oregon (57); and Springfield, Illinois (54).
  • Median prison sentences for defendants convicted of sex offenses had the greatest increase from 1994 to 2014.
  • The median prison sentence imposed on defendants convicted for a felony sex offense increased an annual average of 5%, from 36 months in 1994 to 90 months in 2014.
  • In 2014, sex offense convictions (96%) were the most likely to receive a prison sentence, followed by violent (93%), weapons (92%), and drug (89%) offense convictions.