JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Now the numbers that people and law enforcement don't really talk about: Women are also sexual offenders and predators.
When we checked on Nov. 14, just over 2 percent of the 54,356 of the people on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's database of sexual predators and offenders were women.
Of the 2,091 registered sex offenders and predators in Duval County, 43 are women.
In Clay County, of the 392 that are registered, six are women.
In St. Johns County, there are 227 offenders, and 10 are women
Four of the 130 registered offenders and predators in Nassau County are women.
Of the 103 offenders in Bradford County, five are women
Law enforcement officials like Sheriff Gordon Smith of Bradford County admit that police and courts in the past have not prosecuted as thoroughly when the victims were teenage males and the suspects are older women.
"It's come a long way because now you are starting to see the same type of prosecution in either case," Smith said. "But 20 to 25 years ago, you did not see much of it. It was like a trophy."
The State Attorney's Office said it prosecutes each case on its own merit, emphasizing that gender doesn't make a difference..