Risk Assessments in Sexual Abuse Cases
WillisPalmer has developed a sound reputation in the field of sexual abuse risk assessment,
based on the Directors' combined experience in this field , which spans over twenty years.
We are frequently commissioned by local authorities and solicitors to provide expert
reports in respect of adults, young people and children who might pose a sexual risk to children.
Our risk assessments are based upon structured professional judgement; self-report
questionnaires; actuarial matrices and psychometric testing. All our Consultants have
attended specific post-qualifying training in respect of child sexual abuse risk assessment.
Their backgrounds derive from local authority children and family social work; probation;
the prison service and the NSPCC.
Assessment of Adults who pose a potential sexual risk to children
WillisPalmer has adopted the Risk for Sexual Violence Protocol
(RSVP: Hart, Kropp and Laws 2003) as the structured
professional judgement tool for risk assessment. The RSVP
is a validated set of structured professional guidelines which
includes 22 risk factors against which the respondent is
assessed. It can be applied in a range of contexts including
community based assessment of risk.
We are also able to undertake assessment of adults found to have viewed child abuse
images on the Internet. We use as a clinical guide the work of Quayle and Taylor from the
COPINE project when assessing so-called Internet offenders.
As part of our assessment we are also able to assess the capacity of the offender's partner to
protect children from any risk present. Thus we will present a full report which includes
detailed analysis and recommendations for future risk management.