Sex Offenders Who Are They & Can We Predict if They Will Reoffend

1. Sex OffendersWho Are They &Can We Predict if They Will Reoffend Anna C. Salter, Ph.D.

2. Agenda • Types & Motivations of Sex Offenders • How They Get Access to Kids • Risk Assessment: Predicting Recidivism • Impact of Treatment Vs. Sanctions

3. Child Molesters Why Do Some Men Molest Children?

4. 1. Deviant Arousal Pattern Sexually attracted to children Otherwise responsible E.g., teachers, priests, youth leaders, doctors, businessmen, etc.

5. Successful Predators Charming Responsible in Other Ways Do Favors Genial, Affable, Likeable

6. Sexually Attracted to Children Q. “How old were you when you began to have fantasies about children? A. About 13 or 14 Q. How often would you say during masturbation you had sexual fantasies involving children? A. All the time.”

7. Sexually Attracted to Children Q. How much of the time do you fantasize about boys?’’ A. I’d say about half the day. It’s when I’m not doing anything.”

8. Minister Who Molested Grandchildren “I suppose that being a devout religious person, if I had believed with all of my mind and heart that the earth was going to open up and swallow me into hell, I would have went ahead and done it anyway.”

9. “People often confuse issues of traits of character with issues of . . . the type of sexual interest an individual has. Persons who may be compulsive pedophiles, for instance, may obey the law in other ways, may be responsible in their work, may have concern for other persons.” (Berlin, quoted in Knopp, 1984, p. 9)

10. 2. Antisocial Motivation Criminals Variety of other crimes Want sex; violate anybody’s rights

11. “I plain and simple needed to get some good, hot, kinky sex but resented having to rely on the generosity of women. . . My days of begging . . . Were over.” (Athens, 1997, p. 10)

12. Antisocial “The way she moved made my rocks shake. I had to have her. So I pretended to look for my dog. . . She was polite but bitchy, you know. . . She goes, yea like get lost. Now I don’t give a f. . ., you know. I reach for her neck. F. . . you, I goes and drag her inside the f. . . shed.” (Stevens, 2001, p. 40)

13. 3. Loneliness Relate poorly to adults Intimidated by women Children accepting, nonjudgmental, open-hearted

14. 4. Incest Offenders Deviant Arousal Pattern Some Antisocial Some Victims of Opportunity Yes Entitled Yes

15. Incest Offender “I had it in my head that she’s not just a girl, but she’s mine and always will be mine.” (Gilgun & Connor, 1989, p. 250)

16. Incest Offender “My home is my castle, and I’ll do what I goddamn please.”

17. Child Molesters 1. Deviant Arousal Pattern 2. Anti-social Attitudes & Beliefs (Includes Psychopaths) 3. Emotional Loneliness 4. Incest Offenders

18. Thinking Errors of Nonsadistic Sex Offenders • She wanted me to do those things to her. • She enjoyed it as much as I did. • She was just a little flirt. • He knew what he was doing. • He came on to me.

19. 5. Sadists Sexually Aroused By Pain, Suffering, Terror and Humiliation

20. Sadistic Behavior A man shot off a teenage girl’s arm for the sexual thrill it gave him. ( Abel, 1981)

21. Sadistic Behavior A serial killer would smother his wife with a plastic bag until she passed out and then would have sex. He beat her with belts and burned her with cigarettes. (Groth, 1979, p. 48)

22. Sadistic Behavior A rapist of thirteen-year girls preferred to anally rape them on cement floors so that the rapes would be more painful. (Abel, 1977)

23. “At no point during the incident was I aware of any anger towards the victim, although I now recognize a resentment or jealousy of girls.” ( Groth, 1979)

24. Sadistic Offenders 5% of sex offenders

25. 6. Status Offenders 18 year-old with 15-year-old girlfriend

26. Status Offenders • No violence or threats • No conning or manipulation • Girlfriend within 3 years of age • No pattern of dating younger girls

27. Typology of Rapists • Opportunistic • Pervasively Angry • Vindictive • Sexual Sadistic Non-Sadistic (Knight, 1990)

28. Who Reoffends More: Child Molesters or Rapists(Knight & Prentky, 1999)

29. How They Find Victims

30. Jobs Teaching Ministry and Priesthood Medicine Sports Camp Counselors Children’s Choirs Any Jobs with Children

31. Leisure Activities Mentoring/Tutoring Coaching Babysitting Dating Child’s Mother Boy Scouts, etc. Special Olympics Local Church Choirs Youth Groups Any Volunteer Activities InvolvingChildren

33. Vocational & Avocational Access Not Geographic

34. Living Near Schools?

35. Legislative History of Residence Restrictions • In 2004, 14 states had residence restrictions, most commonly 500 – 1000 feet. • By 2006, 21 states had residence restrictions • Hundreds of local jurisdictions nationwide have passed zoning laws, often 2500 feet (about one-half mile).

36. Does proximity to schools increase recidivism? N = 130 Colorado Recidivists & Nonrecidivists Scattered Geographically Recidivists Lived No Closer to Schools that Non-recidivists

37. Offenders Living Closer to a School Were Not More Likely to Reoffend

38. Does proximity to schools increase recidivism? N = 329 Minnesota 2003 High Risk Offenders Follow-up 3 – 6 Years 13 Recidivists • None of the offenses occurred in or near schools. • 2 offenses in parks: Offenders drove there

39. Does proximity to schools increase recidivism? Minnesota April 2007 N = 224 sexual recidivists Released between 1990 and 2002 “Not one of the 224 sex offenses would likely have been deterred by a residency restrictions law.”

40. “It doesn’t matter where a sex offender lives if he sets his mind on reoffending… he can just get closer by walking or driving.”

41. Consequences N = 109 Fort Lauderdale, FL 2,500-foot zoning laws. Live farther away from social services & mental health treatment 40% Live farther away from employment 57% Live farther away from family support 62% Average number of days spent homeless or staying with someone 62 Levenson (2006), in progress.

42. Homeless • Unemployed • Without social services • Without mental health treatment • Without family support Less or more likely to reoffend?

43. Impact “Sex offenders with positive support systems reoffended and violated . . . their probation less often than those who had negative or no support .” (Colorado Department of Public Safety, 2004).

44. Impact Sex offenders with stable employment and social relationships had lower recidivism rates than those without jobs or significant others (Kruttschnitt et al., 2000).

45. Iowa • 2000-foot exclusion zone passed in 2002. • Upheld by Iowa Supreme Court and 8th Circuit Court of Appeals (2005)

46. Impact in Iowa • Within six months, the number of sex offenders across the state whose whereabouts were unknown nearly tripled (Davey, 2006; Rood, 2006).

47. Impact in Iowa • Approximately 6,000 sex offenders and their families were displaced by the law, and many reported becoming homeless (Rood, 2006).

48. Iowa County Attorneys Assn (2006) as more sex offenders become homeless and transient, law enforcement authorities are less able to monitor their day-to-day activities (Iowa County Attorneys Association, 2006)

49. Victims groups oppose residence restrictions • National Alliance to End Sexual Violence “Sex offenders who continually move or become homeless as a result of residency restrictions are more difficult to supervise and monitor, thereby increasing the risk of re-offense….”

50. National Alliance to End Sexual Violence • “Because residency requirements cause instability, which may increase the risk of re-offense, NAESV opposes residency restrictions. ”