Cape Fear : Was Max Cady a sex offender or assaulter?

Although Cady intimidates the women in this movie, it's not made very clear what he does.

A lot of movie reviews say that he is a sex offender, who went to jail for raping a girl.

But based on how this movie was executed, it seems that he bashed women up, but not really sexual with them.

Maybe I'm missing something out. Any thoughts on this?

The woman in the hotel who would not sign out a complaint was severely beaten. But that was not why she would not sign the complaint. Max Cady did something that so horrified her she did not want to speak of it to anybody, not to the police, not to a jury, and not to anyone. It is left to our imaginations what that was, but I cannot imagine that it did not include a sexual component, something far more disgusting than simple rape.

There are also other implications that he did things to women off screen.

Yes, he is definitely a sex offender.

The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.

This movie was pushing the envelope as to what was considered suitable material for the big screen. The uncomfortable pauses before saying that Cady hadassaulteda woman were enough to let adults know what was meant without spelling it out.

Add in his adult victim not wanting her home town to read newspaper reports about her, and the parents' conversation about not letting their girl testify if she was assaulted, and it's as clear as they could make it at that time.

In the book he was convicted of raping a 14yr. old girl. They couldn't/wouldn't use it in the movie. I think that should answer your question.