How willing are staff in intellectual disability services to report sexual assaults perpetrated by service users to the police?

Objective: Staff in intellectual disability (ID) services are often reluctant to report alleged sexual offending by service-users to the police. Topography of the event as well as intrinsic cognitive and emotional responses of staff are factors which might influence staff decisions in such circumstances. This study aims to explore factors associated with staff willingness to report allegations of sexual offending by service users. Method: Data were collected from 126 participants via self-report questionnaires and were analysed using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Results: The majority of participants (66%) indicated that they would be willing to report such an event to the Gardaí. Although low levels of reluctance to report were found, 43% of participants stated that they would require 100% certainty that a service user was guilty of a sexual offence before reporting it to the Gardaí. Conclusion: In scenarios where a service user had an ID, a mental health diagnosis, and a history of inappropriate sexualised behaviour, ID service staff were significantly more likely to report an incident of alleged sexual assault than when a mental health diagnosis was absent.