Would a child who was molested be more likely to go out and molest?

There is no proof of this just theories. I was molested as a child and didn't speak up till I was older. I would never even think of harming another child. I've been in many group therapy groups over the years and never had anyone confess that they harmed a child. A few times members would express fear they would harm a child so they avoided children but this was just something they had work through in therapy. Children abused in anyway often grow up fearing they will repeat the abuse and it that fear that often keeps them from doing it. One quote I have hard over the year many times is "I do not want to ruin a child's life because my life was ruined." I actually feared I couldn't be a good mom because of my past but I learned I was wrong about that.

Children who have been molested go on to molest often have other serious issues going on. You can learn this by looking at their history esp. those who go on to be serial killers which is very rare. Out of curiosity I've studied this on my own because I've often wondered what makes someone molest a child and I will say from my own personal research that the old "I abused because I was abused" is rarely found. Many act out in other forms such as sex addicts, prostitution, drugs and so on. Yet they can also act out in positive ways such as over achievers by working hard in school and in their jobs. This can be bad too as it puts too much stress and pressure on them.

But as I said as far as I know there has not been any official study on this claim so it is just a theory.