Processing of emotional faces in sexual offenders with and without child victims: An eye-tracking study with pupillometry

•We tested emotional face processing in sex offenders with and without child victims.•Sex offenders without child victims spent longer looking at the eyes.•Looking at afraid eyes was associated with more disinhibited psychopathic traits.•There were no differences in accuracy or autonomic arousal. Socio-affective dysfunction is a risk-factor for sexual offense recidivism. However, it remains unknown whether men who have sexually offended with and without child victims show differences in eye scan paths and autonomic responsivity while viewing facial expressions of emotion. We examined differences in accuracy of emotion recognition, eye movements, and pupil dilation responses between sex offenders with child victims, sex offenders without child victims, and a group of non-offenders living in the community. Sex offenders without child victims looked for longer at the eyes than sex offenders with child victims and non-offenders. Men without child victims also scored higher for psychopathy linked disinhibition, and these traits were associated with looking longer at the eyes of afraid faces. We found no evidence for group differences in accuracy, visual attention to the mouth, or pupil dilation responses. Our findings have implications for understanding the nature of socio-affective dysfunction in sexual offenders.