Vol. 10, 2015
LSD JOURNAL

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Cusack, Waranius

VISUAL DETECTION OF 
SEX OFFENDERS AND 

CONSEQUENTIAL BIASES AMONG 
CHRISTIANS

Carmen M. Cusack;
Matthew E. Waranius

This pilot study investigated whether 
biases influenced respondents’ perceptions of a 
subject’s history of sex offense convictions.  Biased 
perceptions of subjects’ religion, culture, ethnicity, 
or race may influence whether respondents believe 
that a subject has perpetrated a sex offense.  Potential 
negative impacts for offenders include: hampered 
social dynamics, community coalescence, and 
rehabilitative aims.  Biases may also affect criminal 
justice through witness bias or false conviction.  
Community members and potential victims may be 
negatively impacted by misperceptions of criminal 
history.  Potential victims may be unable to identify 
sex offenders, causing them to misplace their trust 
in people who, to them, appear to be unthreatening. 
In addition, these potential victims may be biased 
against individuals who are less likely to perpetrate 
sex crimes.  Communities and potential mating 



Vol. 10, 2015
LSD JOURNAL

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Cusack, Waranius

populations could suffer from a lack of diversity due 
to unconscious bias.  This knowledge is critical for 
communities, offenders, and potential victims.  

This Article explains the foundation for this 
investigation and pilot study, which considered 
whether physical appearance evidences sex crime 
perpetration. Section II discusses facial features 
associated with non-traditional sexual preferences, 
sexual aggression, and sexual dominance. Section 
III, Methods, explains sampling and data collection 
strategies used to investigate relationships among 
race, bias, and perception of sex-offending. Section 
IV presents the data collected from surveying and 
Section V analyzes this data. Finally, Section VI, 
the Discussion Section, concludes that perception 
of sex offense perpetration may correlate with 
perception that a person is unlikely to be Christians.  
Methodological limitations of this pilot study, which 
may be improved for future studies, are described in 
Section VII.