High-risk sexual offenders: an examination of sexual fantasy, sexual paraphilia, psychopathy, and offence characteristics.

High-risk sexual offenders are a complex and heterogeneous group of offenders about whom researchers, clinicians, and law enforcement agencies still know relatively little. In response to the paucity of information that is specifically applicable to high-risk offenders, the present study investigated the potential influence of sexual fantasy, sexual paraphilia, and psychopathy on the offending behaviour of 139 of the highest risk sexual offenders in one province of Canada. The sample included 41 child molesters, 42 rapists, 18 rapist/molesters, 30 mixed offenders, and 6 "other" sexual offenders. Two offenders could not be categorized by type due to insufficient file information. Data analyses revealed significant differences between offender types for a number of criminal history variables including past sexual and nonsexual convictions, number of victims, weapon use, and age of offending onset. Further, there were significant differences between offender types for sexual fantasy themes, paraphilia diagnoses, and levels of psychopathy. For example, results revealed that offenders' sexual fantasies were significantly more likely to correspond with the specific type of index sexual offence that they had committed. Further, offenders scoring high in psychopathy were significantly more likely to have a sadistic paraphilia than offenders with either low or moderate psychopathy scores. Results from the current study provide a refined and informed understanding of sexual offending behaviour with important implications for future research, assessment, and treatment, as well as law enforcement practices when working with high-risk sexual offenders.

Use of reversed phase HP liquid chromatography to assay conversion of N-acylglycines to primary fatty acid amides by peptidylglycine-alpha-amidating monooxygenase.

Primary fatty acid amides (R-CO-NH2) and N-acylglycines (R-CO-NH-CH2-COOH) are classes of compounds that have only recently been isolated and characterized from biological sources. Key questions remain regarding how these lipid amides are produced and degraded in biological systems. Relative to the fatty acids, little has been done to develop methods to separate and quantify the fatty acid amides and N-acylglycines. We describe reversed phase HPLC methods for the separation of C2-C12 primary fatty acid amides and N-acylglycines and also C12-C22 fatty acid amides. Separation within each class occurs primarily on the basis of simple interactions between the acyl chain and the chromatographic stationary phase, but the polar headgroups on these and related fatty acids and N-acylethanolamides modulate the absolute retention in reversed phase mode. We use these methods to measure the enzyme-mediated, two-step conversion of N-octanoylglycine to octanoamide.