In this policy paper we briefly review the historical predecessors of modern sex crime legislation. We then review modern policies, focusing on those that have been applied to youth who have sexually offended and for which there is at least some empirical evaluation. These include sex offender civil commitment, registration and public notification. None of the existing research validates the use of these strategies with juveniles and indeed there is growing evidence of harm. As such, we recommend that policies be revised to either exclude juveniles altogether or to mitigate the negative effects of policies when applied to juveniles.