Understanding the differences between male and female sex offence suspects is vital for the development of appropriate prevention, assessment, and treatment guidance. Previous comparisons of male and female sex offenders have mostly used clinical, prison, or arrest data, or used small samples. Where there are larger scale studies, they have been based in the United States. This study analysed a large sample of sex offences recorded by three police forces in England and Wales to compare the characteristics of male and female sex offence suspects who have been reported once – ‘only-once suspects’ –, or multiple times – ‘repeat suspects’. Suspects were more likely to be male, and a greater proportion of male than female suspects were repeat suspects. However, when separated into only-once suspects versus repeat suspects, male and female suspects did not significantly differ in either the number of sex offence reports in which they were named, nor the number of victims with which they were associated. Despite this, females were significantly less likely to be charged than males, suggesting that authorities are less confident in taking forward cases with female suspects. Implications of findings and how male and female sex offence suspects are policed are further discussed.

Practice impact statement: Repeat male and female sex offence suspects were associated with the same number of victims and crimes. However, females were charged to a lesser extent suggesting there is a gap in sex offender punishment and more needs to be done to increase professional awareness of the risks posed by female sex offenders.