Case report: Asperger's syndrome and sexual offending

Abstract

Abstract A number of case reports have been published that describe offending behaviour in people with developmental disorders. None of the offences referred to in these case reports however, has been sexual in nature. The authors describe a case of Asperger's Syndrome where the diagnosis was made in adulthood after the patient had committed several sexual offences. This case raises the possibility that developmental disorders may go unrecognized among forensic psychiatric populations and that they could be an important consideration in certain offences. The kind of behavioural problems typical of Asperger's Syndrome are seen to be clearly related to the offending behaviour.