Female Offenders Driven by More Than Sex

Original Article

By Bryan Robinson

What would drive a woman to sexually abuse a child? Experts say it's not just sex.
- The same applies to sexual abuse by men.

According to the Justice Department's most recent statistics, sex offenses are still very much a man's crime. Female sex offenders are very rare: 96 percent of the sex assaults reported in 1999 involved male perpetrators.
- We doubt that!  Most men / boys who are sexually abused do not tell because it's seen as a "badge of honor" or they'd be seen as a wimp if they told.  We believe women commit many sexual assaults as well, they are just not reported, but that is just a guess.

Women were most commonly involved in sex abuse cases involving victims under age 6, making up 12 percent of those offenders. Women were involved in 3 percent of the sex cases involving victims age 6 through 12, and 3 percent for victims ages 13 through 17.
- Again, this is only for those reported cases.

Because they are so rare, experts are not able to draw an accurate profile of a typical female sex offender. However, some say loneliness drives female offenders more than sex.

"They don't seem to be pedophiles like men," said Hollida Wakefield, who has studied and treated sex offenders for more than 20 years at the Institute of Psychological Therapies in Minnesota.
- Most men who commit sexual assaults against children, based on the definition, are not "pedophiles" either, but they are continually portrayed as "pedophiles" by the media.

"There are some cases where some people are in bad relationships or marriages and are just really lonely, and they find themselves in a relationship with these children," she said. "It isn't so much that women are sexually aroused. Keep in mind that the definition of a pedophile is someone infatuated with the idea of being sexually aroused by someone who has not come of age."

"And I would think it would be really difficult for a woman to become aroused by a boy — a 6-, 7-, 8-year-old — just beginning to be a young man," she said.

"Not all pedophiles are sexual offenders and not all sexual offenders are pedophiles," Wakefield continued. "A female being aroused by a 6-year-old, that's got to be pretty rare — it's rare in males generally, but it's even more rare in females."

Teenage female offenders, Wakefield said, typically commit their crimes when they are experimenting or discovering their sexuality. Many cases tend to involve women who are in a position of power over children, such as teachers.

In Utah, a female gymnastics coach awaits trial for allegedly raping and sodomizing a 12-year-old male student. A 24-year-old New York teacher is charged with having a sexual relationship two 16-year-old male students at the high school where she worked. And this past August, a former Bentonville, Ark., special education teacher pleaded guilty to first-degree violation of a minor for having sex with one of her 16-year-old students.

Double Standards Facing Suspects

Women are not all
sugar and spice!

But shock does not necessarily mean outrage. Male and female sex offenders may experience a double standard in the social perceptions of men and women. Male offenders may receive less sympathy because their cases are more common. The public, some experts believe, is always more shocked — but perhaps not as outraged — by stories about female-on-male rape because of women's perceived traditional roles in society.

"I think the first reaction is denial," said Gail Ryan, who has studied hundreds of sex offender cases. "Then people think, 'She has to be crazy.' I think the public feels that a woman who does such things must be mentally ill, as opposed to the whole population of men [who are sex offenders]. That's because women are regarded as nurturers and mothers."

No wonder experts say that _____, the former school teacher serving time for having an affair with one of her students (and ultimately bearing him two children), never would have generated headlines and a made-for-TV movie, if she had been male and her victim female. No wonder the general public is shocked by the case of _____, a former Wisconsin social worker who goes on trial today of sexually abusing four boys over a 10-year period.

Male Victims' Quandary

Still, abuse cases involving male victims and female perpetrators may be underreported because of the societal attitudes and myths surrounding boys' sexual development. One girl's rape may be a boy's "rite of passage."
- Exactly!

"In society, it used to be that with a 13- or 14-year-old male, if his first sexual experience involved a 25-year-old girl who may well have taken advantage of him, his male counterparts may say, 'Hey, you lucked out,'" said Dr. Richard Gartner, who has treated male sex-abuse victims. "It was almost seen as a right of passage. That's the only group that later recalls such experiences as 'lucking out.' You don't find that in females. Today, that kind of behavior is regarded as sexual assault."

Male victims, some experts believe, can be more confused than females because of the myths. Because boys tend to be easily sexually aroused, Gartner said, adults can manipulate their victims into thinking they were equal and willing participants in sexual acts. Males can also believe that they allowed themselves to be abused and therefore are "sissies" or that they must be gay. Male victims may also believe they will be "turned gay," especially if the abuser is male.

Because of these various myths, male victims may not admit or even realize they've been abused until they reach adulthood.

"Adults can be very clever," said Gartner. "With female assault of boys, children, the abuse can often happen in the guise of something dealing with cleanliness, like during bathing. … There seems to be very little [in society] out there for a boy to feel like his betrayal is validated."

Static-99 developers embrace redemption

Original Article

The politicians pushing these draconian laws, the media and other organizations don't care about facts! They need to continue the fear campaign to keep the money rolling in, and to keep people distracted from the REAL problems in this country! Sex offenders are today's scapegoat!

11/05/2013

By Karen Franklin, Ph.D.

Criminals reform.

Violent criminals reform.

And now -- drum roll -- the authors of the most widely used actuarial tool for assessing sex offender recidivism are conceding that even sex offenders cross a "redemption threshold" over time, such that their risk of committing a new sexual crime may become "indistinguishable from the risk presented by non-sexual offenders."

Tracking a large group of 7,740 sexual offenders drawn from 21 different samples around the world, the researchers found that those who remain free in the community for five years or more after their release are at drastically reduced risk of committing a new sex offense.

The offenders identified as at the highest risk on the Static-99R saw their rates of reoffending fall the most, from 22 percent at the time of release to 8.6 percent after five years and only 4.2 percent after 10 years in the community. Based on their findings, the researchers say that risk factors such as number of prior offenses are time-dependent rather than truly static or never-changing.

Read the rest of the article

The Lies About Sex Offenders

Original Article

11/04/2013

The more the evidence (PDF) shows otherwise, the more places pop up wanting sex offender residency restrictions and "child-safe zones."

Almost every day brings another town or another county proposing some sort of restriction limiting where those on the registry can legally live, go, or work, or placing some special conditions on their being there.

The concept of a "child-safe" area, just like all areas of restrictions to those on the registry, is flawed at the core. It makes assumptions that are untrue. One is that those who abuse children are strangers seeking out places where children congregate. This is true of the tiniest fraction, less than 1% most data shows. Virtually all child sexual abuse is committed by those close to the children in their lives, specifically their family members, their peers, and their authority figures.

Read the rest of the article

OH - Is Halloween law needed?

Original Article

10/23/2013

By MARGARET THOMPSON

Rumors of razor blades in apples, children walking by themselves on busy streets at night, strangers wearing masks - Halloween festivities can conjure up a parent's worst nightmares.

For the second year, Girard is hoping to eliminate some perceived risks by preventing registered sexual offenders from participating in the activities, but whether the ordinance will be effective in preventing reoffense has yet to be seen.

The Girard ordinance prohibits registered sex offenders from using exterior lights on their homes and opening their doors to trick-or-treaters on city designated trick-or-treat days. They are also forbidden from decorating their homes and yard for Halloween.

"The following regulations impose reasonable time, place and manner regulations and are rationally related to the advance the city's interest in protecting children and the general public," the ordinance reads.

"Obviously we can't do enough to protect our children," Girard Mayor James Melfi said. "We're taking that step to show people we are thinking. It sets the stage for more awareness."

Similar ordinances have been passed in municipalities across the nation, several weeks ago in nearby Orwell and several years ago in multiple Texas cities. Last year, Simi Valley, Calif., passed an ordinance similar to Girard's but with the additional mandate that offenders post a sign in their yards announcing that no candy will be passed out at their residence.

Fact Box

---

Most common Halloween violations:

• Theft - 32%
• Destruction or vandalism - 21%
• Assault - 19%
• Burglary - 9%
• Sex crimes - 1%

Source: Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment

The city was sued for encroaching on offenders' freedom of speech (Wikipedia) and ordered to remove the sign requirement.

Janice Bellucci, an attorney and president of the California Reform Sex Offender Laws group, led the lawsuit on behalf of the offenders. RSOL has state chapters across the country including one in Ohio. Bellucci said there is a common misconception nationwide that "once a sex offender, always a sex offender." She said, however, according to a study by the Department of Justice only 5.3 percent of offenders were found to recommit sex crimes within three years after being released from prison.

The study followed about 9,700 sex offenders, about 4,300 of whom were child molesters. Because of the low rate of reoffense, Bellucci said she believes the extra Halloween regulations are not effective and actually impose on the offenders' First Amendment rights.

Girard Law Director Brian Kren said the local ordinance was drafted to be "as respectful of peoples' rights as possible" even in the "limited circumstance" that offenders may attract children to their homes.

There are "no significant increases in sex crimes on or around Halloween," according to a study prepared for Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment. The study lead by Lynn University Associate Professor Jill Levenson Ph.D. drew conclusions by analyzing more than 67,000 non-familial sex crimes against children ages 12 and under. The study also concluded that any Halloween policies adopted during the 1997 to 2005 time period "appear not to have impacted the overall offense rate."

"You need to look at who it is that commits the crimes," Bellucci said, "93 percent of people who commit the crimes are not on the register. They are family members, teachers, members of the clergy, coaches and unfortunately in this time Boy Scouts leaders."

She said the Halloween ordinances are missing the target.

"In some cases these regulations give people a false sense of security. They think 'Oh, I am going to let my kids go out on their own.'"

When her children were young enough to trick-or-treat, she said she always made sure they were accompanied out of fear they might get hit by vehicles on the road. That is a well-placed fear, according to the CDC, since children are four times more likely to be killed in a vehicle accident on Halloween night.

Nevertheless, Melfi said Girard will uphold its ordinance even if it had never had a past incident in the city - home to six registered sex offenders.

"We're not taking that chance. That is her concern defending her clients as an attorney, ours is keeping our children safe," he said. "I don't think it's done anything at this time, but it's made an awareness."

FL - Sex Offender Residency Restrictions by FAC

FAC Website

ME - Few sex offenders commit new crimes

Original Article

10/13/2013

By Keith Edwards

AUGUSTA - Sex offenders are the only type of criminal with their own registry so the public can keep an eye on them, so they must be the most likely to commit more crimes, right?

Wrong.

Contrary to the seemingly widespread public perception that sex offenders are more likely than other criminals to commit another crime, state and national statistics show that sex offenders are less likely to commit another criminal act than other criminals.

A 2010 study (PDF) by researchers at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service found “sex offenders had statistically significant lower rates of return to prison for a new crime than other offenders at one, two, and three years after release from prison.”

The study found that 4 percent of sex offenders were returned to prison within one year of their release for any new crime, compared to 7.1 percent of other offenders. Sex offenders were returned to prison for committing new crimes after two and three years at rates of 8.8 percent and 15 percent, respectively, compared to 15.1 percent and 21 percent for all other offenders.

However, the same study noted sex offenders were much more likely to end up back in prison than other criminals for committing, specifically, another sex offense.

“Sex offender return rates for sex offenses at one, two and three years were .7 percent, 1.8 percent, and 3.8 percent, which were 14, 18, and 38 times higher than the return rate of other offenders,” according to the report (PDF), “Sexual Assault Trends and Sex Offender Recidivism in Maine.”

Police Chief Robert Gregoire said he was not aware of any reoffenses by sex offenders in Augusta.

Nor was Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty aware of reoffenses by sex offenders in the county.

Mayor William Stokes, who is also deputy attorney general and head of the criminal division of the Maine attorney general’s office, said sex offenses tend to be of more concern than many other crimes because of the nature of the offense.

He noted he’s seen data indicating some sex offenders, specifically those who commit criminal acts against children, have a higher likelihood of engaging in such acts again than other criminals.

“That’s why they have the sex offender registry, and you don’t have a registry for burglars and other criminals,” Stokes said.
- And even though sex offenders have a lower recidivism rate of any other criminal, they continue to pass draconian laws to further punish those least likely to re-offend?  Yeah, that makes since... NOT!

Scott Landry, superintendent of Maine Correctional Center, said some sex offenders are at higher risk of offending, more so than both other sex offenders and other criminals. He said those higher-risk offenders are monitored more closely upon their release, and have more requirements to maintain close contact with their probation officer, and, often, a sex offender therapist.

“Not all sex offenders are of equal risk to reoffend,” Landry said, noting when someone who is 19 years-old and has a sexual relationship with someone who is 15, the act is still illegal, but the offender is likely less a risk to reoffend than more severe offenders.

Augusta landlord Larry Fleury, who owns 23 rental properties in Augusta with 170 units, rents to more than a dozen sex offenders in the city.

Fleury said in the 31 years he has rented out apartments in Augusta, he hasn’t had a tenant who was a sex offender commit another sex offense.

“We looked at recidivism rates and found they’re actually less likely to reoffend than people who’ve done other types of things,” Fleury said.

National data also appears to contradict public perception that sex offenders are more likely to commit new crimes than criminals who commit non-sex offenses.

A 2003 federal Bureau of Justice Statistics study of recidivism of more than 9,000 male sex offenders in 15 states released from prison in 1994 found they were less likely to commit new crimes than the 260,000 non-sex offenders released that same year, but more likely than them to commit new sex offenses.

Within the first three years of their release from prison, 24 percent of those sex offenders were reconvicted of a new criminal offense, versus 48 percent of other, non-sex offender criminals over that same time period.
- But that isn't new sexual crimes, it's any new crime, and most of the time it's a technical violation.

However sex offenders were four times more likely to be arrested for a sex crime than other offenders, according to the federal study. Within the first three years following their release, 5.3 percent of sex offenders were rearrested for a sex crime, while only 1.3 percent of non-sex offenders were arrested for a sex crime.