"These people are intellectually dishonest. They start by pretending that it's just another form of love" (Jessie Helms)
Child sexual abuse comes in many forms and is an extremely difficult crime to deal with, but it is important to remain emotionally detached and have an open mind. Abuse of children and sexual perversion has been a fact of life throughout history. That particular topic tends to be taboo, so rather than finding a history of reasoned discourse, one is more likely to encounter only glimmers of good insight in the extant literature. Of interest is the growing investigative expertise in this area, as in forensic psychology (see this Lecture on The Psychology of Sexual Predation). As can be expected, though, there are a number of controversies and/or myths in this area. Whole pages could be written on the myths, but one of the most important, at least according to most mental health and medical professionals, is that pedophilia is truly a disease (and should never be considered normal), while none of the things which make homosexuality a normal variation of human sexuality apply to pedophilia (all mention of homosexuality was purged from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in 1987). This is important, since it is easy to confuse pedophilia and homosexuality, especially under "do something" pressure conditions. This document analyzes some basic forms of crimes involving children and related behaviors that investigators need to understand in order to more cooly, calmly, and effectively apprehend these kind of offenders:
STATUTORY RAPE, indecent liberties, window peeping, and indecent exposure
JUVENILE RAPE, disseminating harmful material, sexual exploitation of a minor
INCEST, crimes against nature, bigamy, fornication, adultery, wives of molesters
PEDOPHILIA, common characteristics, typologies, offender profiles
Statutory Rape involves a consensual situation in which force is not involved and the only consideration is the age of consent, established by each state legislature (usually 13, 14, or 15 years old), and the age of the perpetrator (usually more than 4 years older than the victim). The victim is almost always a female and the perpetrator almost always male. American culture reflects this in the notion of "jail bait" and "I didn't know she was underage." Punishments vary widely, but statutory rape is usually a lower-level felony crime. As anyone knows who has looked at the teenage pregnancy statistics, there is a considerable amount of sex taking place with this age group. Therefore, it is seldom prosecuted, and when it is, it is usually plea bargained down from a rape (being in the violent crime category) to an indecent liberties charge (or something else in the offenses against public morality and decency). Indecent liberties is usually a misdemeanor and covers sex between or with anybody below a certain age (usually 16 years of age). The charge of indecent liberties is sometimes used to avoid getting into whether vaginal or anal penetration occurred. The settled law on this, as with many sex crimes, is that the most important element is any lewd or lascivious intent to arouse or gratify sexual desire (i.e., motive as the critical criminal element).
Some crimes that are related to statutory rape might include window peeping because typically the same age group is involved, and the offense always (by law usually) involves a female victim. An oddity is that no law prohibits women from peeping on men. Another related offense is indecent exposure, or "flashing" as it's called. Although the common stereotype is of some old man in a trench coat, the reality is that this behavior often involves people of young age. Both peeping and flashing are relatively simple misdemeanors that have not attracted much criminological interest.
Juvenile Rape, on the other hand, involves a forcible situation in which the victim is a juvenile (age 13, 14, or 15) or there is an age difference between perpetrator (over age 1
and victim (like statutory rape). The victim can be male or female, and if we counted all these kinds of offenses that occur in an institutionalized setting (juvenile prisons, camps, hospitals, military schools, etc.), we might find that males are the predominant victim. In most cases, however, the perpetrator fits one of the profiles of ordinary serial rapists with two exceptions, there is more of a chance the perpetrator is white and an acquaintance of the victim. There is also some small evidence to suggest that if the juvenile victim screams and resists, this tends to help the situation, whereas the reverse is more likely true with adult victims. Juvenile rape is a serious offense deserving of more criminological attention.Juvenile rape tends to come in two forms, first- and second-degree, depending upon whether injury or harm comes to the victim. The behavior must be against the will of the other person, thus raising the nonconsent factor which is ironic because "shield laws" protect adult victims but not juvenile victims. Fortunately, nonconsent does not come up much with juvenile rape because the victim is usually presented in court as mentally incapacitated or physically helpless in some way due to their youthful age. Also, whereas statutory rape is usually limited to vaginal or anal intercourse, juvenile rape and related offenses cover a wide ground of sexual acts: including cunnilingus, fellatio, anilingus, touching, etc. A number of related offenses exist on the basis of behavioral similarity, such as disseminating harmful material to a minor and sexual exploitation of a minor. The former would involve providing the minor with any material that depicts sexually explicit nudity or activity (a common seductive ploy of some rapists and pedophiles), and the latter would involve videotaping the victim while engaged in sexual activity.
Juvenile sex offenders are typically between the ages of 13 and 17, male, and have difficulties with impulse control and judgment. About 40% have some type of learning disability, and as many as 80% have some type of diagnosed psychiatric disorder. 30% have a history of physical abuse, and 60% have a history of sexual abuse. While a history of sexual abuse is significant, it should not alone be considered the cause of future abusing. A number of other factors play into the creation of a sex offender, and there are documented numbers of cases where someone was sexually abused as a child and never became a sex offender (Becker & Murphy 199
.Incest is a sexual relationship with a near relative (including parent-child, grandparent-grandchild, brother-sister, uncles, aunts, first or second cousins, although in the majority of states, SEX BETWEEN COUSINS IS NOT CONSIDERED INCEST). The law of Incest covers stepchildren and half as well as whole blood relatives. Parent and child relationships are the most frequently reported, although brother and sister relationships are not uncommon. The following table (which also provides some information about pedophiles) should help to understand the incestual offender:
Incestual offenders are often behaviorally similar to those who commit crimes against nature, bigamy, fornication, and adultery. Crimes against nature involves sex with animals or birds. Bigamy is having more than one wife. Fornication is cohabiting with someone who is not your wife, and adultery is bedding with someone who is not your wife. The punishments vary widely, with perhaps crimes against nature carrying the stiffest penalty. Incest penalties are usually a low-level felony or misdemeanor. The study of incest has been conducted in a variety of fields, and there is little interdisciplinary agreement to be found in the literature.
One of the interesting areas of work with incestual (enmeshed) families is to focus upon the wives of perpetrators. There are some interesting dynamics involved in the extremes to which the wives of perpetrators will defend their husband. An interesting typology (I think) can be attributed to the Giaretto model (a California-based form of treatment) which offers the following classification of wives of men who molest:
the WORN OUT
the SILENT
the ZOMBIE
the COERCED INVOLVEMENT
the SEXUAL PSYCHOPATH
the INNOCENT
the GEISHA
Pedophilia has peculiar characteristics. It is regarded as an incurable condition in which the preferred sexual object (or fetish) is a child, but it also involves some obsessive-compulsive characteristics similar to the fantasy-driven cycles of serial killers. The pedophile may be any adult, male or female, heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, married, or single. Heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual men and women may become sexually attracted to children even though they're also attracted to adults. When this happens, the offender is usually a regressed offender who "bounces back and forth" between normal sexual relationships and criminal relations with children. This is the group that most people think of when they talk about "child molesters." Some peculiar characteristics include:
they have MULTIPLE VICTIMS (they will often brag about how they've had sex with hundreds and perhaps over a thousand children) This bragging behavior will often be accompanied by other forms of narcissism.
they lock into A CERTAIN AGE RANGE (most prefer them young because this minimizes the chance of pregnancy and vaginal infection) In fact, some pedophile groups have the saying "Eight is too late." They also lock into a certain gender. A pedophile who prefers boys will usually not molest girls, and vice versa. There is an 11:1 ratio of heterosexual pedophiles to homosexual ones.
they actively seek out OPPORTUNITIES TO BE AROUND CHILDREN in their preferred age range. It is not uncommon for a pedophile to be a teacher, coach, youth director at church, YMCA, boy scout leader, day care worker, babysitter, child psychologist, child photographer, or in some other way be in trusted and daily contact with children. They stalk their victims no matter where it takes them.
they are usually actively involved or at least associated with RELIGION. This is also true of the Incest perpetrator. Church involvement may be out of guilt, but in most cases is suspected to be done simply to throw off suspicion. The pedophile, particularly, works hard to establish a good reputation in the community as an outstanding citizen or community leader.
they are COLLECTORS (of sex toys, sexual aids, tape recordings, erotic literature, pictures, books on human sexuality, diaries, lists of victims, photographic equipment and darkrooms, videotapes and music in their preferred age range), and they enjoy one or more sexual perversions which may or may not be their signature pattern.
they are masters at the art of SEDUCTION. They will take however much time as it takes to seduce the child, and are usually patient, and like to have several "prospects" in various stages of seduction at any one time. Seductive bonding takes place between molester and victim and should not be confused with consent, complicity, or guilt.
In the most common typology (the Burgess, Groth, and Holmstrom model), there are two (2) main types of pedophiles: the SITUATIONAL and the PREFERENTIAL. The difference between these two main types is that situational pedophiles will stalk almost any vulnerable group (the elderly, the handicapped, etc.) and the preferential pedophile will stick to children of a certain age range. The situational type also prefers children, but will select "second-best" victims when under stress. The preferential type doesn't experience stress.
Within the SITUATIONAL type, there are three (3) subtypes:
(1) the REGRESSED pedophile. This subtype leads the most stable life of the situational types. They prefer female victims, and enjoy seducing strangers. Oral and vaginal intercourse is their goal. They are the only one of the situational types who use child pornography and may surf the Internet looking for victims, but will settle for old ladies in nursing homes or just about any vulnerable group when there is a crisis in their life. They tend to always keep a "stable" of potential victims in various stages of seduction. Although they often "bounce back and forth" between normal sexual relationships and criminal relations with children, they generally have some insecurity, stress, or frustration relating to the demands of social skills in adult relationships. Some are remorseful; others are not.
(2) the INDISCRIMINATE pedophile. This subtype behaves like a wife-swapper, a charming, "cool" character who is willing to try anything, even incest, bestiality, you-name-it. This person waits a long time until they get to know you, and then they want to bring you into their "world". That world often consists of child pornography and helping them obtain child victims, or any other vulnerable group, but they will soon make it clear they prefer children and at a certain age. THE MAIN SOURCE OF NEW VICTIMS FOR PEDOPHILES IS A REFERRAL (SNOWBALL) FROM AN OLD VICTIM.
(3) the IMMATURE pedophile. This subtype, also known as the naive pedophile, will appear to be "mental" or quite strange. They tend to stalk around their own neighborhood, and will usually not travel great distances to get new victims. Their preferred form of intercourse is anal, then oral, but there are often times when they are completely happy just having fondled their victims. There are also times when they don't care what age their victim is. They tend to lead stressful lives.
Within the PREFERENTIAL type, there are two (2) subtypes:
(4) the SEDUCTIVE pedophile. This subtype, also know as the fixated type, will seduce or court their victims, often buying them gifts, flowers, toys, or loaning them money. As this person slowly becomes more intimate with the child, they begin to introduce sexual innuendo and eventually sexual pornography and paraphenalia. This type is almost always homosexual and prefers boys only. They operate on a referral network, and are very likely to surf the Internet looking for stimulation and potential victims, although, they almost always seem to have a "stable" of victims in various stages of seduction. They go wherever a good pool of potential victims can be found.
(5) the SADISTIC pedophile. This subtype, also called a mysoped, stalks, prefers anal sex, mutilates the genitals, and in some cases, kills and cannibalizes their victim. They usually will travel great geographic distances to stalk just the right victim, and have an elaborate, blitz attack or abduction ploy worked out to sidetrack the parents and authorities. This individual leads a rather transient existence, but is likely to have a fairly good-paying, white-collar job and a dependable car.
(kidding!)
But...thats my klondike bar. Could you use the three dollas I'm giving to you to buy another Klondike bar so I can watch you eat it again and could you do it in slow motion so it can be painfully dramatic?
