In criminal justice, the clearance rate is the rate at which the police agencies lay offenders at the start or the conclusion of a trial. Various agencies have different clearance criteria. The clearance rates of child sexual abuse cases are low in many police agencies, and this is directly attributed to the legal environment from which the cases are decided. The legal environment determines the clearance rates; it is essential to note that child sexual abuse is a serious offense that is whose deciding follows an elaborate legal procedure. Some police and law enforcement officers believe that a case can be cleared when a warrant has been issued for the suspect (Petherick, 2020). In as much as this is the routine for many cases and agencies, child sexual abuse cases are treated differently; they follow the full legal procedures. The legal environment lengthens the clearance period since the suspects are physically presented to the court, taken into custody, charged and handed over to the court for prosecution. This legal environment criterion minimizes the chances of clearing the offender during the arrest.
Moreover, it is essential to note that there are various circumstances that the offender can be cleared; these include agency characteristics. However, these characteristics do not have much influence over the legal environment. Thus, many child sexual abusers do not have the chance to be cleared since the legal environment is the sole determinant of most serious cases that need the offender to be physically present in court. Most sexual abuse cases take longer since enough evidence must be sought, verified, and this sometimes takes time to be concluded. However, it is essential to understand that various agencies have distinctive methods of clearance; there are agencies that clear cases faster than others, depending on their policies. Despite this being an essential determinant of clearance rates, almost all agencies take child abuse cases severe, thus elongating the clearance time.