Talk Points, Questions & Information about Sexual Predators
- What makes these sexual predators tick?"
- What should parents be looking for...how can they be vigilant?
- Are all sexual predators the same? (No - and important clues can tell a victim whether resistance or compliance will save their life..)
- How do we know which of these sex offenders are dangerous (who will kill a victim and who will not)?
- How can we better track the whereabouts of sex offenders?
- What can parents do to know more about possible neighborhood predators (those who are not registered)?
- What can the public do to protect their children from predators?
- Which States are the best at tracking, and which ones have the worst record?
- What motivates a sexual predator?
- What goes through the mind of a sexual predator in selecting his den?
- How exactly can behavior of an individual be predicted? Who becomes a sexual predator? Why? Can they be cured?
What are the typical occupations of sex offenders?
The number one occupation is truck driving,
and the number two occupation is [incredibly] police officers
Facts & Information
A fair amount is known about sex crimes and sex
criminals. The challenge is getting this knowledge into the hands of the legal system who
must be the first line of defense from these dangerous offenders.
Profiling plays a crucial role at several points:
1) When a crime is committed, profiling of the crime helps investigators identify the
perpetrator type. In cases where victims have to be recovered, analysis of the
perpetrator's behavior and the crime scene help classify the type of offender, which in
turn gives law enforcement the basis for their strategies in apprehension, and in some
cases, hostage negotiation, etc. These are composite profiles - based on
building the identify of the offender from the compilation of all available data - and
matching to known types. This profiling of unknown individuals is the forte' of the
FBI /BSU, and
several forensic experts who consult and train.
2) When offenders are tried, profiling of their type is crucially important in sentencing.
This work is usually done at the local jurisdictional level. After
sentencing, offenders who "do their time" are again evaluated for probation
& parole considerations. Again, this is most often done by local probation
departments and state parole systems. It is here that expert knowledge has to inform the
process. and THIS is where the system breaks down:
Although we have a very good classification system for sex crimes and criminals, it is not always used. This means, in simple terms, that often the wrong guys get out. It also means that they are not properly supervised in the community with a method that truly keeps track of their deviant behavior. Thus, they go on to re-offend.
The most important facts about offenders are:
1) Sexual deviancy (called paraphilia) is persistent. It doesn't go away. It has to be controlled, and in some cases, can be changed with proper supervision and a very specialized cognitive-behavioral
re-programming therapy. "In general, though, it (a deviant sex drive) is a powerful engine driving very dangerous behavior."
2) Most often, sexual deviancy escalates over time, between adolescence and mature adulthood, and only diminishes when the libido drops in the 50s. That means that "predatory offenders have a lifetime of dangerous impulse, and many years in which to practice their criminal skills." We've already discussed the escalating trajectory of a sex crime career from "flashing" (exhibitionism) to forcible rape.
3) Sexual deviancy is usually multiple - offenders display a range of behaviors, only some of which they admit. Naive clinicians always make the mistake of believing that what they can see is the scope of the problem. There are notorious cases in which the offense that was discovered was just the tip of the iceberg.. I have NEVER seen a predator with only one kind of deviant behavior. Once they cross a threshold, they branch out..
There are several reasons for the multifaceted and escalating nature of sexual deviancy
Much of it has to do with the fact that the offender's behavior is done to feed a fantasy life.
After
awhile, the behavior loses its ability to arouse the offender via memory, and he has to go
out and
offend again, and more dramatically as well, to feed his fantasy.
The
important thing to know is that these three elements must be correctly recognized and
assessed in individual profiling of known offenders so that WE KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH
THESE PEOPLE. There are many tragic examples of offenders going on to commit
even more heinous crimes because their pathology was underestimated and they were returned
to the community without proper supervision and programming.
What Are Various States Doing about this Growing Problem?
Some states have model programs with proven successes. Others, like
California, are all over the block, with unfortunate results. (an
example, next message) When the Feds (Justice Dept) presented a
national training on the state-of-the-art programs for evaluation and
intervention of serial sexual offenders a couple of years ago, they
brought in as faculty, the teams from the states of Washington and
Oregon who pioneered in and perfected the "Containment Model" of sexual
offender assessment, treatment and supervision.
Briefly, in this model, three key personnel form a corral in which the
offender is kept under control, (if he is judged to be suitable for
community release, at all.) The supervising parole or probation
officer, the cognitive-behavioral treatment provider and the specialized
polygraph examiner form a team. They operate a very rigorous program. It
works. It reduces recidivism. It shields victims and the community. It
rips the deceitful veil off predators, who are, after all, often masters
of manipulation. And it educates the entire community in how to
understand and identify the risk that these people
represent.
Some features: Community agencies are involved in the identification of
known predators who are now among them. Offenders are prohibited from
living near schools, for instance and their pictures and identifying
characteristics are circulated. They must take polygraphs to confirm
their required reporting of ALL sexual behavior. They must attend
cognitive-behavioral treatment for several years. They must disclose
all previous deviant behaviors (confirmed by polygraph) to supervising
officers and therapists and everyone they have relationships. They
cannot be around children (even their own) until they pass key
milestones in treatment. This system works and should be implemented
everywhere..
I must say that I had no role in designing the Containment Model, but
was quickly converted when I took on a contract with the Oregon Dept of
Corrections to evaluate offenders and profile crimes for law
enforcement, criminal justice and correctional agencies. I evaluated
close to 1000 offenders and many, many crimes, and became convinced that
the only way to curb this growing problem is to use the classification
systems that work, to put in place the right sentencing guidelines and
to educate the public.
There are several other important elements to this process - e.g. how
forensic examiners find out the TRUE sexual preferences of predators -
that would be interesting to discuss.
(This is a key reason why profiling of predators is so important. After all - not only to describe, but to be able to predict what & when someone will offend, based on what we know. The intuition of profilers portrayed by TV & movies is informed on data - millions and millions of data points
that have been aggregated and analyzed for several years).
Interesting factoids about profiling:
One of the first, best modern profiles was done on Hitler - it helped the allies predict his responses to various scenarios, and to some extent, to manipulate him with misinformation.
This kind of work continues, as we speak. We did a little research recently on the psychological differences between Arabs and other Middle Eastern groups. Not a project we can talk about
broadly, yet, but very affective in intelligence gathering.
Another interesting area - the way some high-profile American CEOs have used profiling of their competitors to a great strategic advantage.
Marta Weber's Bio I Marta Weber Web Site I Schedule Interview