Sex Offender Victim Grooming Paper

Further exploration discovered that the choice of sexual expression correlates more to the child’s age then the offenders (Sanford, 87). Offenders do not form intimate relationships with other adults (Henderson, 39). Eight-five percent of sexual activity was nonorgasmic with one-fourth of activity ending before any stimulation occurred by the offender (Sanford, 83). Now that we know some offenders characteristics, it is paramount that we learn to identify traits that may be common to youthful victims.

Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse, this also includes via the internet. Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males, Women and other children can also commit acts of sexual abuse. This type of abuse is usually committed by someone known to the victim not just by sexual predators. It is important to remember that boys as well as girls can also be the victim of sexual abuse. The signs of sexual abuse as with emotional abuse may not be outwardly visible, because of the shame and self-blame a child will have if this is happening or has happened to them, makes it very difficult for a child

While sexually deviant behavior among juveniles is not a new phenomenon there has been a dramatic increase in the concern of this problem over the last two decades. As the number of juvenile sex offenders arrested increases, the recognition of it as a serious issue also increases. The anxiety over juvenile sex crimes has led to a wide variety of research being conducted to determine if there are antecedent traits in offenders. The tremendous data collected and analyzed to try to understand the factors leading a juvenile to sexually violate has piloted a wide range of theories and also much disagreement among professionals about the appropriate consequences a violator must face.

The treatment process for sex offenders is a staid yet encouraging process that educates the offender on specific tactics for discontinuing offensive behavior, being held accountable and taking blame for actions they have committed (Stop it Now, 2016). For the preponderance of those adults who have committed a sexual offense, treatment considerably diminishes the risk of recidivism. However, it does not offer forgiveness or justify abusive actions, nor is treatment intended to chastise or embarrass participants. The primary focus of treatment is to help the offender create a better life for himself by helping him or her develop their strengths and manage their weaknesses (Stop it Now, 2016). Treatment for sex offenders are accessible by counselors or therapists who concentrate in working with adults as well as youth with sexual behavior

Book Report: Identifying Child Molesters Carla van Dam states in Identifying Child Molesters, Preventing Child Sexual Abuse by Recognizing the Patterns of the Offenders that unlike how it currently is, the primary responsibility to prevent child sexual abuse should be placed on adults, rather than children. Child sexual abuse is the only child safety issue in which the main responsibility is placed on children. Adults take the main responsibility in child road safety, for example, by building cross walks, passing laws to make school buses that are unloading children illegal to pass, and holding children’s hands while crossing the street. It would make sense to establish similar boundaries and guidelines to prevent child sexual abuse. Children, comparably, are often unable to successfully put an end to their sexual abuse after it has already happened.

One of the most common factors with child sex offenders is the act of “grooming”. Grooming is looked at as a process by which the offender commits acts, physical and verbal, to obtain trust and secrecy with the child to prepare for sexual abuse to occur (Williams et al., 2013, p. 135). These initial acts are intended to eventually build a relationship with the child that leads to sexual abuse., The offender will then maintain control of the victim through threats or intimidation to maintain secrecy of the relationship (Black et. Al., 2014, p.141). The offender uses grooming techniques for sexual desensitization (Bennett & O’Donohue, 2014, p. 957), such as hugs, kisses to the cheek, letting a hand linger on a leg, or statements of affection.

Stories of sex offenders have been increasingly a focus of attention by the criminal justice system over the past years. By legal definition, a sex offender “is a person who is convicted of a sexual offense (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition),” an act which is prohibited by the jurisdiction. What constitutes as a sex offense or normal/abnormal sexual behavior varies over time and place, meaning that it also varies by legal jurisdiction and culture. In the United States of America, for example, a person can be convicted of wide range of sexual behavior that includes prostitution, incest, sex with a minor, rape, and other sex offenses (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition). As the nature of sex crimes have long held the

Sexual behaviors and experimentation are very much a part of childhood development. Normative sexual behaviors of children consists of preschool children poking others bodies, and being interested in bathroom functions, while children ages 5 to 7 years are telling dirty jokes, kissing, and holding hands, and children ages 8 to 12 years, are mooning and exhibitionism, kissing, and touching others’ genitals (Caldwell, 2007). However when children are not supervised appropriately they are capable of sexually harming other children. Adolescents are accountable for perpetrating 20% of all sexual assaults, along with 50% of all child sexual abuse cases (Keelan & Fremouw, 2013). However in considering that statistic some sexual harming behaviors can be within the parameters of normal child behavior, and sometimes rarely signal predatory inclinations (Caldwell, 2007). The vast majority of youth harmful sexual acts are manifestations of non-sexual feelings. In fact, many mental health care professionals have found that much of the behavior classified as sex offenses should not necessarily be considered predatory. Therapists point out that many sexual offenses are carried out by naïve experimenters who are overly impulsive and/or immature adolescents that sometimes engage in sexual experimentation (Smith, Wampler, Jones, & Reifman, 2005). Examining the sexual behavior along with the age of the perpetrator and victim helps classify whether or not those behaviors fall

According to Tallon and Terry, (2004), considering the information on youngster molesters who manhandle kids who are known not paying little respect to the particular relevant relationship or who abuse more unusual casualties, it gives the idea that both circumstances and prepping adjust (Tallon and Terry, 2004).With regards to a keeping caregiving relationship, youngster molesters appear to distinctively embrace a prepping arrange as a prelude to the mishandle. The individuals who attack casualties, with whom they have no past relationship, for occurrence, the molester shows up not to receive any delayed planning. Their contact with their casualties is excessively short, making it impossible to allow the improvement of such methodologies (Tallon

Finkelhor (2009) gives the most inclusive definition – “child sexual abuse is the use of force/coercion of a sexual nature either when the victim is younger than age 13 and the age difference between the victim and the perpetrator is at least 5 years, or when the victim is between 13 and 16 and the age difference between the victim and perpetrator is at least 10 years”. Child sexual abusers are typically someone the child or family knows. “The most important distinction among child sexual abusers is whether they are pedophilic or non-pedophilic, because pedophilia is a strong predictor of sexual recidivism” (Simons, 2015).

Child sexual assault has been studied by many criminologists in order to understand offender motivations and causations, and what measures society can adapt to reduce the prevalence of the crime. The offenders, Kurt Werner, Jimmy Warren and Jack Reynolds, have common experiences, as people caught in an almost cyclical life of crime. In other words, each offender was a victim as a child, who went on to victimise others. The Social learning theory, as adapted by Burgess and Akers, relates to the chosen offenders and their common crimes, where each offender’s childhood victimisation served as a model for their later crimes. This will be the main point of theoretical discussion in relation to the chosen offenders.

     Cohen, Seghorn, and Calmas (1969) described three types of child molesters derived from their clinical studies. One type had a history of relatively normal functioning and the incident of molestation appears to reflect a reaction to a severe threat to their sense of sexual adequacy. Another type had a history of poor social-sexual functioning and is regarded as primitive and immature in terms of social-sexual skills. The last type they found in their study had offenses involving cruel and vicious assaults on children and the act of molestation is regarded as more aggressive then sexual. (Mc Creary, 1975)

However, the pedophiles will not only groom the children yet we find that they will also groom the parents, care takers and neighbors of the potential victims. The more information that has been gathered the easier it will be for the pedophile to build trust with the parents, and the victims leaving no thought process that there child will be in any type of danger. While the walls have been dropped there is now room for the offender to gain trust in the victim. The Offender will not start winning over the trust by bribing the child with the needs that they have learned are not being met in there house hold or giving of gifts that have never been given (Briken, 2003). We have not earned trust, fulfilled needs and lowered inhibitions. Once all these processes have been established and the relationship/bond has been made the accidental brush or touching will commence, while the child has built a relationship with the pedophile and the trust of the parents/ care takers have a friendship as well, once the touching goes past an occasional touch and more of a sexual desire the child is now ashamed of what’s happened or afraid to tell their parents (Briken, 2003). In most cases that have been reported states “An adult molester's ability to lie, exaggerate, minimize, rationalize and manipulate people greatly exceeds the ability of a child to sort through her/his fears and emotions and think reasonably about her/his molester. Once the child is emotionally attached to the molester, he/she begins to feel responsible for him and to him. He/she may even believe that they are as much or more to blame for the abuse as the molester is” (Chow,

When a predator is preparing a child to be their next victim they utilize grooming techniques which typically include 5 steps: trust, alienation, secrecy, boundary violations and stepwise progression of abuse and amelioration. (Mottarella, n.d.-b). The very first step the predator takes is to work on gaining the child’s trust. This can be achieved through giving the child gifts, and convincing the child that they can be special friends. This helps make the child feel individualized and important, further ingraining the predator in the child’s life. Through the creation of this bond of trust the predator starts isolating the child from their family and friends. Next the predator tells the child that they share a secret, and secrets are

Being a victim of sexual abuse can change your life from the moment that it happens. Being sexually abused by a caregiver or stranger is a traumatizing experience because many feelings such as helplessness, powerlessness, and hopelessness begin to take over. After reading “Conversations with a Pedophile” and researching on this topic, I have learned how pedophiles choose their victims and how this grooming process does not take days, but years. After learning this information, it saddens me because victims are genuinely comfortable with the individual that then becomes the offender. The offender becomes the person that the victim can go to if they have any type of issue, a person that has shown them nothing but the positive things in life. The person that can bring out a side to you that no one else seems to bring out, a person that you trust and care for.