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Elizabeth
J.
Letourneau
,
PhD

Director, Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse
Professor

Elizabeth Letourneau, PhD, directs the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, leading efforts to prove that child sexual abuse is preventable, not inevitable.

Contact Info

415 N Washington St., Suite 531
Baltimore
Maryland
21231
US        
410-614-7469

Research Interests

child sexual abuse; perpetration; prevention; problem sexual behavior; policy
Experiences & Accomplishments
Education
PhD
Northern Illinois University
1995
MA
Northern Illinois University
1992
BA
State University of New York, Buffalo
1988
Overview
For more than 30 years, I have developed, evaluated, and implemented policies and practices that aim to prevent child sexual abuse. My work helped establish an empirical basis for child sexual abuse perpetration prevention efforts and my colleagues and I continue to refine perpetration prevention efforts. My research on juvenile sex offender registration policies established the inefficacy and harmfulness of such policies and was influential in federal and state efforts to revise or repeal these policies and recommendations by the American Law Institute to end this practice. I am also involved in efforts to establish more effective ways to communicate that child sexual abuse is preventable, not inevitable and to establish more consistent funding for this prevention work, both nationally and globally.

I serve on numerous child sexual abuse prevention groups including as inaugural member of the European Commission Prevention Network. My work has been widely reported, including in Psychology Today, Rolling Stones, Sports Illustrated, This American Life, and TEDMED.
Honors & Awards
Lifetime Significant Achievement Award, Association for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abuse (2022)
BSPH Faculty Practice Award (2017)
APSAC Outstanding Research Article (2008)
Pro Humanitate Literary Award (Herbert A. Raskin Child Welfare Article Award) (2007)
APSAC Outstanding Article in Child Maltreatment (2007)
Significant Achievement Award for Graduate Student Research on Sexual Aggression, ATSA (1992)