Law enforcement records on sex offenses reveal an alarming fact: Two out of five people who sexually abuse children aged 12 and under in New Hampshire and Vermont are themselves 17 or younger.

But experts say there's hope: Treatment seems even more effective on juveniles than on adults, according to a handful of studies and the experience of therapists.

Research on treatment for young sex offenders is not extensive, primarily because juvenile records are not public, said Bill Ballantyne, a West Central Behavioral Health psychologist who has worked with sex offenders for decades. One 1999 Canadian study found that specialized community-based treatment cut the risk of recidivism among 58 adolescent sex offenders by 72 percent, when compared with offenders who got less specialized treatment or no treatment at all. And Ballantyne said he has been heartened by anecdotal evidence, and his own observations, that young people who go through group therapy programs do well.

"Juveniles respond much more quickly," said Ballantyne.

"The big difference between adolescents and adults is that adults have many years of self-reinforcement" in making poor choices.

As with adults, experts caution, the term "sex offender" can include anything from non-contact behavior, such as indecent exposure, to fondling and rape. Some of the youths need only to be educated about proper behavior, while others might require more intensive therapy, said Robert Becker, director of Vermont's juvenile justice system. Sex offender "kind of becomes a blanket term," said Becker, covering "a wide variety of offenses."

Juvenile treatment typically involves approaches similar to ones used with adults, which aim at changing distorted attitudes and teaching offenders ways to prevent themselves from re-offending.

Ballantyne leads therapy sessions for juvenile boys who are put on probation and receive community treatment. He evaluates youths charged in juvenile court with sex offenses and also sees children and teenagers referred by school districts for inappropriate, though not illegal, behavior, such as making sexual remarks or touching other students.

He now holds a weekly group session for eight teenagers, ages 13 to 17, who are in the juvenile court system after being charged with some type of sexual offense, he said.

With adolescent offenders, only a small percentage suffer from a sexual disorder, he said. Most are acting out for a variety of reasons, including a history of being abused themselves or being exposed to aggressive role models.

Sexual behavioral problems are often not about sex, but about power, he said. "They may feel very powerless in their lives."

While experts emphasize early invention and treatment for juveniles who've committed a sex offense, they also say there is no compelling evidence that the majority of those young offenders are likely to become adult sex offenders, according to the Juvenile Forensic Evaluation Resource Center at the University of Virginia. David Burton, a Smith College assistant professor and social worker who treats juvenile sex offenders in residential facilities, agrees that the juveniles' problems often begin in a home where troubles can include abuse or neglect. For that reason, their treatment also includes intensive family counseling.

Mary Jane Egerton, a clinical social worker in Lebanon who also treats juvenile sex offenders, said some may be timid around girls their own age, afraid to ask them on dates. So when a younger girl looks up to one, he may take advantage of her admiration.

"It's self-esteem," she said.

As is the case with adult offenders, most of those juveniles who abuse children are males. That's a significant issue not lost on Burton. "I think males are taught to be aggressive," he said.

He also puts some of the blame on images of sexuality that proliferate in the American cultural landscape. "Go to the romance section of the bookstore," he said. The books have "rape scenes on the covers."

In Vermont, there are about 350 to 400 delinquent youths in state custody, which means the Agency of Health and Human Services can determine where they live. Some 300 to 500 more are on probation, able to live with parents or guardians, but required to abide by certain conditions, said Becker. (Because those numbers are not broken down by the type of offense, it is not easy to determine how many of those are considered sex offenders.)

There is one state-run facility for juveniles. Woodside Detention Center in Colchester, Vt., has 30 beds, 12 of which are for youths receiving some type of treatment, including sex offender treatment, according to Becker. About 10 percent of the 328 admissions to Woodside in 2003 were for reasons of sexual misconduct, which ranged from sexual assault to pornography use, says the Vermont Center for Justice Research.

Other juveniles needing some form of sex offender treatment can get it in a handful of private residential facilities, with which the state contracts, or, more commonly, in community treatment groups, such as Ballantyne's.

New Hampshire's Youth Development Center in Manchester admits about three delinquents who've committed some type of sex offense each year, said Penny Sampson, the manager of clinical services for the Division for Juvenile Justice Services.The state contracts with a licensed psychologist, who visits the center every week to conduct sex offender group therapy and individual therapy, she said.

In every case she has seen, said Sampson, those juveniles have also been sexually abused, which means they also need therapy as victims.

As is the case in Vermont, those juveniles who are on probation or parole — a total of about 2,800 at this time in New Hampshire — get treatment with community providers.

In New Hampshire, the pending sex offender legislation would have a significant impact on the juvenile justice system, said Rod Forey, director of the Division for Juvenile Justice.

One provision of the proposed law would require the creation of a "sexual predator" list of young people convicted as juveniles of sexual offenses against children. That list would have to be shared with school superintendents, he said.