In s id e th e M in d o f a S e x O ffe n d e r

1 Hat does a sex offender look like? Do you picture an unkempt man with scruffy hair,dirty nails and a raincoat?You d be offenders often look just like the guy in thecubicle next to you at work,or the bank teller down the street,and in fact,they are often charming,intelligent and even down-right can be from any economic group,any race,and religious background,someone the child doesn t know andquite often,someone the child Minnesota Department of Corrections warns that themisconception of children being nabbed off the street andmolested by a stranger is far from the article inPathways dispels common myths about sex offenders anddelves into the mindframe of a ,Predator,or Molester? There is a lot of variation in how a sex offender is classified, explains Zook,who with Dawyduk,runsthe sex offender treatment program at Portage Path BehavioralHealth.

2 It s not necessarily about the specific crime,but a vari-ety of factors for the oriented crimes are the lowest .These offenders don t have to register as often and onlyfor a limited ,Habitual Sex Offenders andPredators,the most serious of offenders,must register regular-ly,some for life. These labels are determined by the justice sys-tem and based on how many and type of offenses committed,likelihood to reoffend,risk posed to the community and a vari-ety of other further add to the confusion,child molesters are oftenreferred to as pedophiles,but this isn t always an accuratedescription. The actual definition is those attracted to pre-pubescents for more than 6 months, explains Zook. Everything else falls under paraphilia,which better explainsoffenders who molest adolescents and older,or those thathaven t been attracted to them for more than six months.

3 Zook continues to warn that with overcrowded prisons andsuch variation in classifications,some are labeled predator (theworst and emotionally laden distinction) yet aren t a huge threatto the surrounding community,while others could be quitedangerous but have a lesser legal Dawyduk and Zook warn that the terms like habitual,predator,and oriented arelegal descriptions,while the term pedophelia is a term used intreatment settings. It can be extremely confusing, ,not Causation Every offender is highly factors andthinking styles areRELATEDto offenses,but every case is is no underlying factor that CAUSES someone tobecome an offender, Dawyduk is quick to cor-rect any type of generalization made about offenders but saysthat there are predisposing factors that often correlate withfuture offenses but don t necessarily cause the sexual are two areas of risk factors,explains isDevelopmental,where there is a history of abuse,whether it bephysical,emotional,or sexual,growing second areaconsists of Current factors,such as use and availability ofpornography,substance abuse,self esteem or control issues, all substance users commit sexual offenses,in thesame way that not all offenders abuse substances and notevery predator was molested as a child.

4 She points ,it s not just one thing that leads up to sex offenses,it s a series of decisions and positions that theoffender was in that led to this information and wellness tips for healthy lifestyles and better living. Pathways is published by Portage Path Behavioral Health 330-376-6144 the Mind ofa Sex OffenderWhat you need to know about child molesters Inside: Protecting your childrenfrom predators Internet Exploitation Fast FactsW(continued)Hindsight Is 20/20No matter how impulsive a sex crime may appear,there is a greatdeal of thought and planning that goes into the crime before-hand,experts agree. If you would have told some of the offenders in our programten years ago that they would eventually commit sex crimes,they d have said no way, Zook says. But when you look back atsmaller decisions that made them reach that point,you can seethe pattern.

5 The decisions that brought the offender to committhe act is called the Spiral Model of Child Sexual Abuse,andunfortunately,explains Zook,you can only look back to see can t start at the beginning and look ahead to pre-dict future Spiral Model ofChild Sexual AbuseThe spiral begins with the predisposing factors,both develop-mental and offender might deal with anger or feel-ings of inadequacy and stress by this stage,the offender will fantasize about his perfect formermember of the treatment program was only interested in boys 10and 11 years had zerointerest in younger than tenor older than 11,Zook aren t that discrimi-nating with their offender in the pro-gram abused boys and girls,age six months to 17 the impulse to act onthe deviant sexual fantasy isdetermined,the offender willgo to great lengths to set upopportunities to meet will troll theinternet,making friends withkids or posing as kids them-selves until they convince thechild to meet face to face,orthey exchange sexuallyexplicit jobs or volunteer oppor-tunities which put them incontact with children offend based onproximity and availability,such as a child in their ownhome or they have found apotential victim,they oftenbuild a rapport with at the FBIstate that offenders use this time to gain the potential victim strust,exploiting family problems the child may be having athome,and showering the child with gifts,attention,and love,until eventually the offender commits the molestation.

6 An offender will rationalize the behavior to himself and oth-ers, Zook says. He ll say things such as, Well,it s not really didn t actually penetrate her or I only did it a couple oftimes,at least it wasn t daily for years .Another method theoffender might use is to blame the victim and calmly say he wasalways rubbing up against me,sitting on my lap,what was I sup-posed to do? ,or You need to understand this girl s wanted it. Other methods of rationalization,according tothe Spiral Model,include blaming substance abuse,the devilmade him do it,and absurdly,some offenders feel they are teaching the child about sex .The child keeps the secret for a number of childmay feel that no one will believe offender may haveverbally threatened him or subtly let him know that harm mightcome to him or his family if he many cases,the childfeels guilty and doesn t want to get the offender in trouble.

7 One offender never forced liquor or porn on the kids that cameto his house, Dawyduk remembers one former offender in herprogram. But he had it lying around,available so that the kidswould ask to use it. In this manner,the offender made the chil-dren feel they initiated the situation or somehow caused theabuse to don t want to tell on the offender becausethen they d get themselves in trouble as well for drinking/usingdrugs/watching is the number oneweapon that offenders use to continue committing crimes,experts the secret has been kept,the spiral can con-tinue and begin again with the same victim,or new Myths BrokenOnly men commit sexual offenses,right? Not necessarily true,says Dawyduk. Fewer women are identified as offenders simplybecause they can hide their abuse behind their caretaking ,women offenders are reported less frequently,so fewerinstances are often looks at women as lack-ing the power to be anything other than the recipient of sexualoffense.

8 She also believes that for boys that are molested byfemale offenders,it is seen by society more as a conquest,a doesn't have the negative connotationsthat a 45 year old man being sexual against a high school cheer-leader has,but it is still discrepancy in societyis often confusing for boy abuse by a male offender on a boy is not necessarilyhomosexuality. Most boys who are abused are abused bystraight men, Zook believes that it isn t abouthomosexuality ,but rather who the offender is aroused in the program are aroused equally by an adult womanand a male are primarily aroused by children,someonly by young all depends on the offender.(continued)Fast FactsCompiled by the Department ofCriminal Justic, Senate JudiciaryCommittee reports, and the ** TThheerree aarree 666677 rreeggiisstteerreedd sseexxooffffeennddeerrss iinn SSuummmmiitt * 42 percent of rape victims tell no one.

9 * 22 percent of sexual predators assaultan average of 7 victims before they arecaught and convicted.*The United States has a rape rate 13times higher than Great Britain, almost 4times higher than Germany, and morethan 20 times higher than Japan.* The offender knew the vicitm in over80 percent of rape cases of childrenunder the age of 12. * The Seattle Timesreported that by1998, more than 1,500 supspectedpedophiles in 32 states had been identi-fied through various chatrooms onAmerica s most popular Internet service. Inside the mind ofa sex offender(continued)Treatment for OffendersMost experts agree that treatment is extremely important because people can learn to make good choices and minimize their chances Portage Path,Zook and Dawyduk currently have 35 members enrolled in treatment,most of whom were ordered by thecourt to ultimate goal is to prevent the abuse of future victims and provide safety for past and current sexualoffenses DOoccur against adults,the treatment program is strictly for offenders who act against children.

10 It s not as simple as just saying don t touch children anymore ,says Zook. It s a lot underlying parts are so powerful,think of what it would take to get you to offend a s how much we have to work to get them to the point where they don t want to molest happen slowly over for impulsive people,the deviant thinking did not happen five minutes before the offense. Treatment includes weekly group sessions,extensive homework andregular check-ins with probation and parole officers and the members of the group also have to follow a contract of guidelinesand show up on time or risk getting kicked out of the not permitted to go places where there are crowds of children,suchas Cedar Point or ball of the program should expect to be in weekly therapy 2 to 4years,or longer,Zook maintains. Recovery is a lifelong can be too great,but eventually they can learn to changetheir thinking and monitor their behavior.