Sexual Predator Panic: A Closer Look

[Morereason]

CSI
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
http://www.csicop.org/si/2006-05/panic.html

Protect the children.” Over the years that mantra has been applied to countless real and perceived threats. America has scrambled to protect its children from a wide variety of dangers including school shooters, cyberbullying, violent video games, snipers, Satanic Ritual Abuse, pornography, the Internet, and drugs.

Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent protecting children from one threat or other, often with little concern for how expensive or effective the remedies are—or how serious the threat actually is in the first place. So it is with America’s latest panic: sexual predators.

According to lawmakers and near-daily news reports, sexual predators lurk everywhere: in parks, at schools, in the malls—even in children’s bedrooms, through the Internet. A few rare (but high-profile) incidents have spawned an unprecedented deluge of new laws enacted in response to the public’s fear. Every state has notification laws to alert communities about former sex offenders. Many states have banned sex offenders from living in certain areas, and are tracking them using satellite technology. Other states have gone even further; state emergency leaders in Florida and Texas, for example, are developing plans to route convicted sex offenders away from public emergency shelters during hurricanes. “We don’t want them in the same shelters as others,” said Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw. (How exactly thousands of desperate and homeless storm victims are to be identified, screened, and routed in an emergency is unclear.)

An Epidemic?
To many people, sex offenders pose a serious and growing threat—especially on the Internet. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has made them a top priority this year, launching raids and arrest sweeps. According to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, “the danger to teens is high.” On the April 18, 2005, CBS Evening News broadcast, correspondent Jim Acosta reported that “when a child is missing, chances are good it was a convicted sex offender.” (Acosta is incorrect: If a child goes missing, a convicted sex offender is among the least likely explanations, far behind runaways, family abductions, and the child being lost or injured.) On his NBC series “To Catch a Predator,” Dateline reporter Chris Hansen claimed that “the scope of the problem is immense,” and “seems to be getting worse.” Hansen claimed that Web predators are “a national epidemic,” while Alberto Gonzales stated that there are 50,000 potential child predators online.
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Click the link for the rest of article.

[itsmesgd]

1. It's a fear tool so that the government will be "asked" to step in and control

the web to "protect our kids" from all those meanies.

Remember how in year's past there were large scale "identity thefts" nearly every week? The government then said that they could step in to "help us" by protecting our inforation. This started at nearly the same time that DARPA's Total Information Awareness program was forced underground. Since that time, Choicepoint, a private sector infomation database company has gone into a partnership with the government to "help us" by protecting our information. The first step to protect our information- get all of the information that is out there on everybody.

So let's protect the kids, but making sure that the government controls the web???

[CoffeeCat]

2. What's really sick about all of this...

...is that sexual predators ARE an epidemic in this country--but not the reality that the
media perpetuates. Research results are pretty consistent--one in four girls and one in seven boys
will be sexually abused before the age of 18.

However, 90 percent of childhood sexual abuse is committed by someone in the home--usually by a close relative.
The abusers are in the homes. Most victims never tell--because their perpetrators are close to them
and these criminals are skilled at threats and instilling horrendous fear in their victims.

This article is correct. Parents are terrorized into believing that strangers in parks will abduct their
children. Stranger abductions account for 3 percent of child sexual abuses. These occurrences are rare,
but the media hypes them as if they are the most pervasive, imminent threat to children. They are not.

The real threat is the epidemic of fathers, stepfathers, uncles, grandfathers and other close relatives--who
are raping children in their beds at night.

I've met hundreds of sexual-abuse survivors. Not one was abducted by a stranger. Not one of them told,
because they were threatened, and they didn't think that they would be believed. Maybe that's because
society is too busy focusing on Polly Klass and ignoring the monsters in their own homes.

And I also agree---these "fifty-foot rules" for convicted sex offenders and the "witch hunt mentality" are
completely absurd and useless to the victims. These things do not help victims. They perpetuate the notion
that the monsters are "out there" somewhere---and they allow society to remain in denial about the painful
truth about sexual abuse of children in this country.

[Morereason]

3. "90 percent of childhood sexual abuse is committed by someone in the home"

Exactly.. But that does not make as good a contributer to fear/control/paranoia and corporate profits

[JackBeck]

4. Agreed.

I received a visit from the police a few months ago. They handed me a flier, informing me that a sexual predator had moved into the neighborhood. It had all his information, where he lived and even a picture of what he looked like. This making of lists is what I have a problem with. As well as, wondering whether this guy would now have a difficult time finding work in the neighborhood.

The numbers pointing out the incredible low recidivism rate would have come in handy back when this turned into a heated discussion on DU. A word of warning: be careful what you say. I got labeled as being "pro-molestation" and "pro-child molester". Those labels walked the fine line of practically calling me a child molester.

[CoffeeCat]

20. I don't think I'd ever accuse someone of...

...being "pro child molestation" unless they admitted to being a pedophile--
or unless they were advocating the sick and evil agenda of a pedophile.

However, there is a great deal of disinformation out there. People like myself--
who are victims of these perpetrators--get really upset when disinformation is
spread--because it sometimes can *appear* to really distort the reality of
these crimes.

For example, you mentioned "incredibly low recidivism rates". I truly understand
that you are not pro-pedophile. However, your mention of low recidivism rates
gives the impression that once pedophiles are caught, they rarely re-offend--which
suggests that they are rehabilitated or that they "learn".

First off, victims rarely tell that they were victimized. Secondly, a pedophile
is not going to be honest and divulge that he molested again. Given those two
facts--I think statistics about recidivism are, at best, highly unreliable.

I see the damage from the pedophiles who are never caught or held accountable. These
people ARE monsters. They terrorize kids into a traumatized state to keep their
secrets hidden. They "groom" children into going along, in order to confuse them into
a stupor. They blame the children for their own abuse. They systematically destroy
the spirits of these children--to emotionally cripple them. It's not about sex, it's
about controlling, manipulating and destroying these innocent children.

Once a person is behaving like this--it's really difficult to envision that rehabilitation
is just around the corner. Especially when our justice system does not give these
pedophiles adequate counseling. Behavior like this takes years of therapy--to unravel.

I imagine that these pedophiles just get better at lying, hiding their crimes and silencing
their victims.

Again, I know you don't have a pro-pedophile mentality. However, I know the boundless
evil of these people--and I don't think we should give them any breaks by suggesting that
they rarely re-offend after they are caught. These people do not deserve an illusion like
that--which discounts how really sick, evil and inhumane they really are.

[JackBeck]

23. Thank you for sharing.

After this topic came up (in the Lounge) many DUers shared personal experiences, including myself. This vile crime is both physical as well as psychological and the wounds can take years to heal. One person, in particular, thought it was cute to label me "pro-molester", put me on ignore, and then go around DU calling me this name. To this day, I still cannot figure out why. I've saved the thread if you ever want me to share it.

As far as recidivism, I was merely referring to the numbers from the article. And since the article also refers to the high number of family members committing the infraction, my point has always been that I don't need a flier with all of this persons information deliver by the police to my front door. Where do the lists end? Should we inform neighbors of a person's HIV status? Whether they were convicted of killing someone while driving drunk? If we were to know everything about our neighbors and what laws they ever broke, we'd probably never let our kids outside.

[Vektor]

27. It's actually 1 in 3 girls, and 1 in 5 boys - and that's only what's reported.

The numbers are likely much higher than that.

Ask any female who has ever left the house alone to run a simple errand how often she gets heckled, cat-called, whistled at, leered at, followed, approached, and propositioned. (And if in a bar, club, or crowded party, or subway, groped.)

It doesn't matter what you wear, how you carry yourself, or whether you wear make-up or dress "girly."

It starts happening at about the age of 9 or 10, and ends, well....I'm still waiting for it to end.

The problem is HUGE, and the punishments for sex crimes not severe enough.

Any sex offender who is ostracized by the community for his crimes might then be able to understand a FRACTION of the humiliation that a woman feels when she cannot even walk outside her home without being objectified, marginalized, and harassed on a daily basis.

[cool user name]

31. I admit to being a bit reactionary when it comes to this ...

... however, what you say completely makes sense. I guess one has to divorce themself from emotion and look at it rationally.

Thanks for an enlightening post. :hi:

[mongo]

5. K & R

But wait for the "who will think of the CHILDREN?" crowd to show up..

:popcorn:

[Pavulon]

6. My wife works in the Medical profession

most hospitals have a group specifically designed to deal with abuse victims. From OB to psych exams. It is a massive problem. Being a victim to assault as a child increases a persons risk of assaulting others.

If people dont want their name in public record, every arrest is, don't rape, fondle, or mess with kids. Or adults for that matter. It is a terrible trial for the victim.

Who gives a shit if public record is made public. If I get arrested for grand theft or some other crime and my passport is revoked and my employer finds out i;m fucked. so be it.

The remedy is to treat all forcible rape or any molestation of a person under the age of 12 as a class a felony and imprison them for terms the same as murder.

Some guy raping his 9 year old sister going to jail for 25 years is not a bad thing.

[mongo]

10. So, if a 13yo acts out sexually

with his 9yo sister, coercively, not violently, the boy should get 25 years?

That's harsh -- and changes a kid who may have been able to be counciled and rehabititated into a life-long criminal.

[MadHound]

14. Trouble is, there is no differentiation between the scenario that you describe

And the guy who gets drunk, go pisses down an alley, and is caught with his pants down by some wigged out parent and their kid. Both people are treated the same, both are labeled as pariahs, both have their personal information published. And we're not talking about merely having your passport revoked and getting fired, no, we're talking about having the rest of your life monitored and controlled, even after you have done the time. You are told where to live, your new neighbors are informed that you just moved in, where, what you did(in a general sort of way) and shown what you look like. Thus you will be now exposed to the scorn and hatred of your neighbors, possibly followed up with murderous violence as somebody decides to take "justice" into their own hands. All of this for having an indiscrete piss while stupified by drink.

Sorry, but that is neither fair nor just, and that is but one example of people being demonized as "child molestors" when the actual reality is much different.

[ms liberty]

15. Or the guy who at 19 slept with his 15 year old girlfriend...

There was a story about that on the news around Halloween. The guy had been convicted years before, of a sex offense for a consensual relationship - and was considered a sex offender. He was MARRIED to that girl, the one he had been convicted of 'abusing' and they had 3 kids...and years later, he's showing up on sex offender lists. That's ridiculous.

[IronLionZion]

32. What man hasn't pissed in an alley?

I think about that every time I have to pee while drunk.

Yeah, the law isn't always applied fairly so all we can do is hope for the best and be prepared for the worst. I can usually find a fast food restaurant to pee in. Most other establishments allow customers only.

It's a real shame when these guys are lumped in with guys who really did molest children.

[BlueIris]

16. Thanks, fellow sane poster.

Some of the other responses in this thread really trouble me.

[JackBeck]

17. Which ones?

[undergroundpanther]

25. excuse me?

You wrote
>Being a victim to assault as a child increases a persons risk of >assaulting others.

That is a MYTH .Abuse does not cause a person to abuse others.
This is the"vampire myth" And frankly it is Insulting to abused people.
There are ALOT of sexually abused kids who are adults now DO NOT and WILL not sexually people or kids.
http://www.aest.org.uk/survivors/vampire_syndrome.html
Cleckley has put his finger on the problem. He has observed "A very large percentage of the psychopaths I have studied showed backgrounds that appear conducive to happy development and excellent adjustment."

So explain why there are psychopath/pedophiles who really did grow up in happy homes and end up raping kids anyway.
I think if a kid is already a psychopath if he is raped as a child or not is not the issue, that matters what matters is the psychopathy.
BUt a non psychopath kid is abused they will NOT want to abuse another person because they can feel empathy and shame. They might think of it in anger but I do not think they'd act upon that unless they are fearing for their lives..

And psychopathy can be detected in kids as young as 2.
http://www.hare.org/links/saturday.html

Here's some links.

[Vektor]

26. Agree (almost) wholly, with one exception.

"The remedy is to treat all forcible rape or any molestation of a person under the age of 12 as a class a felony and imprison them for terms the same as murder."

The remedy should be to treat all forcible rape or any molestation of any person as a class A felony and imprison them for terms the same as murder.

Whether the victim be nine, ninety, or anywhere in between, the crime is equally horrific and inexcusable.

There seems to be a knee jerk reaction of horror when someone hears about the rape of a child, a man by another man, or an elderly person (and rightly so) but less of a backlash when the victim is a woman of childbearing age. Many do not even realize they are doing this, but there almost seems a willingness to see the rape of a young adult woman as slightly more excusable, as if being young and fertile, (but 18 or above) might somehow make the victim responsible for having been assaulted, or at the very least, the rapist seen as "unable to control himself" around a nubile young woman. In other words, it seems, to some, to be "understandable" why a man might rape a young adult female, whereas it's "sick" to rape a child, another man, or an elder.

It's "sick" to rape ANYONE.

When an adult female is assaulted, the question of "was she drinking/out late at night/in a man's room/dressed revealing, etc" always seem to come up, as if she might have "invited" the rape somehow, just by having fun, mingling, partying, being pretty, etc..

Nobody asks what a child or an old lady might have done to "invite rape." (Nor should they, obviously.)

Nobody of any age wants or deserves to be sexually assaulted, and any and every every victim regardless of age, deserves equal sympathy. Every crime deserves equal outrage.

Let us not forget then it's the criminal we're looking at here, and not the victim. ANY sex offender is a monster, no matter whom they assault.

All rapists and molesters deserve that 25 years in prison. (Or longer.)

[walldude]

7. You know what I love about these "scares"

They do their best to scare you so badly that you don't even want your kids to leave the house. Then they tell you how TV and video games are bad for kids. So I shouldn't let my kids out of the house and when they are home they should avoid TV, the Internet, and Video Games. Gee I guess I'll just stay home from work for the rest of my life and play scrabble with my kids. :eyes: Oh and in the event they do go outside to play they should wear a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, eye protection, long pants and carry a flashlight, a whistle and a can of mace. :eyes:

[GrumpyGreg]

8. Great post ! Makes me glad my child rearing days are long gone.

[SoCalDem]

18. Me too. My boys may have been the last generation to "live free"

They scarfed down breakfast, got on their bikes and "explored" the whole day long..stoppiong for lunch at whichever friend's fouse was closes at lunchtime, and were expected back "before dad got home"..

and during school, they walked to school together, and back home again and crammed as much bike exploration time in as they could, before dinner..

They were fearless..

[JackBeck]

9. LOL.

Excellent observation and rant!

[unblock]

13. scrabble!? don't you know kids can choke on the tiles!?

:rofl:

[SoCalDem]

19. New business opportunity.. scrabble tiles made of communion hosts..

they dissolve and are not a choking hazard :)

[unblock]

21. is it, um, "kosher" to put letter values on communion hosts?

this could get theologically complicated....

[SoCalDem]

22. It's not "kosher" to diddle altar boys either, but that never stopped them

:sarcasm:

[unblock]

24. ya had to go there, di'n'cha!

:loveya:

[leftyclimber]

28. You forgot the bubble wrap. nt

[northofdenali]

11. K&R n/t

[JackBeck]

12. Kick.

Really want to know what other people think.

[The Flaming Red Head]

29. What if they're innocent (Remember McMartin Preschool)

http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/psychology/mcmartin_daycare/1.html

Recovered memories or just plain getting a child confused enough to lie would be a great way to get rid of peace protestors, people you don't like, or even impeach a president

[seaglass]

30. I don't know how much of an epidemic it is but it is a real problem.

This line really pissed me off -

"Not a single one of the reported solicitations led to any actual sexual contact or assault. "

What is that supposed to mean? Did the predator chicken out? Did the "victim" alert his/her parents?

My daughter and her friend were subject to sexually explicit talk online by the supervisor of students in their school when they were 14 and 13 yo. My daughter told me and we exposed this guy - he will never as long as I live in this town work in our school system again. I read the IM messages he was sending to these girls and the manipulation was so apparent, how he was trying to soften them up - it was sickening.

I do not know how far he would have gone, but to dismiss as meaningless someone who did not consumate their desires does not hold water for me.

One of my son's classmates was molested by his teacher when he was 12yo and she has spent the last 5 years in jail.

Neither of these people were related to their victims.

Statistically it may mean nothing, for the families involved it means something.