Running head: THE DYNAMIC OF A SEX OFFENDER
The Dynamic of a Sex Offender
April L. Taylor
The Robert B. Miller College
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The Dynamics of a Sex Offender
The dynamics of a sex offender and the crimes they commit, I believe are different from
any other crime. I should warn anyone that reads this, viewer discretion is advised. After
working in the criminal justice field for approximately ten years, I have interviewed many
individuals charged with simple misdemeanors to the most gruesome felonies. The years of
experiences I have, give me a tainted point of view but I will remain objective with this paper
and provide the most accurate information possible. My profession has given me the opportunity
to supervise offenders that are charged with sex crimes amongst others.
During this period I have noticed sex offenders are more compliant, intelligent and
respectful than others. They are also much more manipulative. Take for instance one of my first
clients, who was accused of luring a teenager (which really was an undercover officer) to a park
to have sex. Upon his arrival he was taken into custody and charged with numerous counts of
using a computer to commit a crime and accosting a child for immoral purposes. The police
report spelled out the details of the crime, along with the contents of his car, which included
ropes, tape and condoms. Once he was released from custody on bond, the offender reported
each and every day as directed and at the time requested, without missing an appointment.
Trying to keep me content with his regular reporting, he tried really hard to figure out a way to
have contact with his kids which was against his conditions of being out of custody. There was
one exception made by the judge and that was just before being sentenced to many years in
prison, he was able to have one supervised visit by me with his kids. This is only one example of
my experiences. I will discuss a few other examples throughout the paper. I have been intrigued
by the mental dynamic of a sex offender and what can be done to stop offenders to victimize
again.
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I believe statistics show sex offenders have a different mental make-up then most other
criminals. There is a difference between personal crimes and property crimes. Rape,
molestation, child pornography and other sexual offenses are classified as a personal crime. I
believe I will find in the research available that sexual based crimes and sex offenders will have
a different element associated with it.
I would like to discover more about the mental dynamics of a sexual offender and their
thoughts. I also will ask the question, can a sex offender be rehabilitated? Have all sex
offenders been a victim themselves of sexual abuse? Completed surveys, interviews and
investigations will be part of the I-search inquiry. Due to the complexity of the subject, I am
sure I will be led in other directions; however I will try to focus on the questions I have
presented.
I began my research on the internet by using the search engine Google. I started out with
one of the questions I have asked myself, can a sex offender be rehabilitated? I found there to be
many opinionated articles and web sites. However, for the questions I would like to have
answered, I would prefer sources that are not opinion based but evidence based. I choose to start
with an article I located in the Kellogg Community College online library.
I-Search
I wanted to find an article of out of the Kellogg Community College on-line library.
When I searched “the mind of a sex offender,” I found an article by Natalie Lombardo, out of
Michigan Lawyers Weekly, called Inside the Mind of a Sex Offender. I read the full text
however; I will not be addressing every issue the article speaks of. “To properly defend a client,
defense attorneys must really know what happened,” said Barry Franklin Poulson, a Hillsdale
lawyer. (Lombardo, 2008. p2) Mr. Poulson went to a seminar where Leo Niefler, a
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psychotherapist, was presenting on the profile of a sex offender. He goes on to say that knowing
the profile of a sex offender helps him to better defend his clients. Leo Niefler believes sex
offenders suffer from a “power inbalance” and that stress is a trigger for them to offend. Sex
offenders are categorized into different groups according to Niefler. (Lombardo, 2008)
These groups are: Molesters, who may be pedophiles, regressed offenders, who abuse because of
their own abuse history, rapists, who are sociopaths, motivated out of anger and internet
predators.
Sex offenders can be both heterosexual and homosexual or pedophiliac. Niefler believes
that other than pedophiles, sexual offenders can be rehabilitated. He goes on to say that
identifying the stress triggers and finding away to cope with them helps a sexual offender to not
reoffend. That is why sex offenders are almost always ordered into a sex offender’s class,
although the offenders who are classified as pedophiles are almost always going to reoffend once
they are released from prison and then end back in the system. (Lombardo, 2008)
On other hand, the article gives a different view point from Dr. Katherine Okla, a
psychologist who also spoke during the same seminar. She had demonstrated that a group of
convicted sex offenders cannot be generalized with people who are awaiting trial or not yet
adjudicated. She believes scientific studies need to be done with a control group for better
investigations and more accurate outcomes. However, she states “you can get more accuracy
from scientific studies, but it still does not permit the prediction of behavior.” (Lombardo, 2008.
P4)
This article provided a great source of difference in sexual offenders and the view points
from two professionals. I was intrigued by the information. The professionals that attend these
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seminars gain knowledge I am hoping at some point to obtain. I also took a look at a specific
story of a convicted sex offender who says he belongs behind bars.
Real Life Sex Offender’s Thoughts
As my research continued I wanted to find some information that reflected the thoughts
and mind of a real sex offender. In an article by Psychology Today, titled “The Mind of a Child
Molester,” Alan X is a convicted sex offender who gives his story of his sexual assaults and
what drives him to offend. I will say his story and thoughts can be graphic so please be prepared
as you read. His story is written in first person. Alan X molested more than 1000 boys. His
offenses started at age 7, which began with a 5 year old boy. He manipulated a boy to go into a
storage shed and have him undress, however, he did not physically touch him. Alan X goes on
to explain the “high” he got when the boy first unzipped his pants. He “felt as if electricity were
pouring through him.” (Hammel-Zabin, 2003. P4) He goes on to say he enjoyed making the boy
stand there but the rest was not as exciting to him. I will continue with the article after I present
my reaction in the next paragraph.
Continuing on with the article, Alan X explains he came from a cold, minimal
communication family. He made sure to mention there was no physical abuse in his family.
Alan X started to attend school where he was unfamiliar with the communication and noise the
teachers and other students made. He found himself being different than the other students. He
began to familiarize himself with masturbation and enjoyed it with another boy. He was caught
and confronted. His mother showed more emotion than ever before and expressed her discontent
very abruptly. She made him take a shower and scrubbed him as if he had dirt on him
(Hammel-Zabin, 2003).
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Shortly after that Alan X was going over to families’ houses that belonged to the church.
These families always had young boys. Eventually he manipulated the boys and families to
allow them to go to the mall together or just hang out. Alan X very plainly states “I learned what
may have been the single most important lesson in becoming a manipulative predator: I learned
to listen.” Alan X built confidence in the young boys; they could trust him with their deepest
darkest secrets. This information in return gave Alan X the information about the boy’s
vulnerabilities. The trust between the boys and Alan X began and this allowed secrets to be
created. This was Alan X’s motive. Eventually, trust, secrets, and belief no one else cared was
Alan X’s intent. He would go on to test the boys with secrets. For example the article says,
Alan X would use a swear word and ask the boys to not tell. Once he determined the boys would
not tell, he would then sexually abuse them. He would present the boys with a feeling of guilt
themselves (Hammel-Zabin, 2003).
Finally, Alan X was caught by a mother of one of the boys. She found a picture of a boy
in a sexual position. More victims came forward and Alan X plead guilty on all charges. He
was sentenced to 5 to 6 consecutive life sentences without the possibilities of parole. Prior being
sentenced, Alan X was put on a medication called Lupron (an anti-androgen that lowers
testosterone). This medication was also called a chemical castration. Alan X believed this to
help his impulses and mind. He said he was able to finally sleep without fantasying. This was a
temporary fix as he was headed to prison without the medication. Alan X believes a crucial part
to a sex offender’s recovery is being surrounded by his peers. He was no longer alone with the
thoughts he had and he was not different but the same as all the rest of the offenders. Alan X
was taken to the hospital and as he passed a 12 year old boy, “all of the old feelings came
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crashing down. I felt as if this kid were a magnet pulling me toward him. If nothing else, I am
glad that I am tightly confined behind iron bars.” (Hammel-Zabin, 2003)
My first reaction was this guy is “sick.” After rereading this portion of the article, I
determined besides my initial reaction, the man gets an excitement from having control. An
answer to one of my questions was found in this article. Are all sex offenders, victims
themselves? Not all of them. I was provided with information I thought to be correct about the
rehabilitation of a sex offender and reaffirmed my ideas. According to Alan X’s responses’ and
his comment “if nothing else, I am glad that I am tightly confined behind iron bars.” He also
mentioned it helped to be around his peers, however while he was serving his sentence that was
the only place he would be is around his peers. Further, if Alan X was not in custody, would he
really be apt to associate with other child molesters. I tend to think he would be more focused on
who is his next victim and how can he manipulate them. However, while reading the article, I
was intrigued by the medication Lupron. I am unfamiliar with the medication or any other form
of chemical castration, along with treatment options. This leads me to my next area of research.
(Hammel-Zabin, 2003)
The Medical Approach
Upon reading in the above article about chemical castration, I contacted State of
Michigan Probation Agent Nina Garza to see if she was familiar with it. Unfortunately, she was
not familiar with it, but did tell me there was a court that ordered a convicted sex offender to take
a form of chemical castration. The order from the Judge was over ruled in appeals court, as
unconstitutional. She has attended much training and there is not much information provided to
her and her co-workers about any medication used as a form of treatment for sex offenders.
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Probation Agent Garza did say she is in agreement with me about sex offenders being more
compliant, respectful, and at the same time manipulative. (Garza, 2014)
After reading the article on Alan X and speaking with a co-worker that specializes in
supervision of convicted sex offenders, I decide to research the drug Lupron. I did a web search
Lupron and sex offenders. At the same time as I was completing my search and chose a site,
Nina Garza from State of MI probation emailed me with the exact same article I was going to
read. My next step will be to read carefully through the article Q&A: What Works in Sex
Offender Treatment. This article is taken out of the Time Magazine Health and Family section.
The article is a question and answer forum. Briefly glances through it, the questions that
are referenced are those of which an average person would ask about a sex offender. A scary
statistic is presented at the beginning of the article. “At least 300,000 cases of child sex abuse
are reported in the U.S. each year — and the real number of children who are molested is likely
far higher. But while laws get tougher all the time, very little is known about how to treat sex
offenders in order to prevent these crimes. The first step the getting a sex offender help is to
identify they have a problem. Unfortunately the identification process in most cases does not
happen until there is a victim. (Szalavitz, 2013)
A question that a lot of people ask is what causes pedophilia? This is still a mystery;
however there are some theories of a malfunction in the neurological system. There is also a
theory of imprinting, which is “the idea that when you reach the age of sexual interest or
awakening, if there’s a mismatch where you see something and masturbate to it, it can imprint to
that, like with foot-fetish guys.” These are ideas, nothing has been scientifically proven.
(Szalavitz, 2013)
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The psychiatrist who helped to answer many of the questions Time Magazine inquired
about was Dr. Renee Sorrentino of Massachusetts' Institute for Sexual Wellness. She has
worked in research and the treatment of sex offenders for the past 10 years. She has used Lupron
in treatment of sex offenders. Dr. Renee Sorrentino was surprised by the affect the medication
had on individuals. This medication does not stop the interest in children however it lets the
offenders live life without the constant struggle and thought of offending children. “The idea of
Lupron is to change brain chemistry, not the physiology of reproduction and not to have
impairment in getting an erection or performance, but to intervene in higher levels in the brain.”
The issue with Lupron is it stops sexual function but may not take away the desires of molesting.
The ideal way is to stop the desires of molestation but leave the sexual function that is
appropriate that have a desire to have a normal relationship. This however is a different story
when an offender only has a desire for children. This would be considered a risk factor. When
treating a sex offender the risk factors are the issues being addressed. An offender that is not
involved in an appropriate relationship is at a higher risk of reoffending. (Szalavitz, 2013)
A question I am asking myself as I read about Lupron, is why is the medication not used
more often? As it would be, the article addresses that. Most offenders do not have the
opportunity for a medication like Lupron. The cost associated with just the medication is $800 a
month and that does not include the monitoring of it. I believe this is minimal compared to the
cost to house offenders in the state prisons. Another factor that contributes to the low rates of the
use of Lupron is there are not many psychiatrists practicing that use it. Considering both
obstacles, I can see why the rates are so low.
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Statistics
As my research continued, I was able to locate and article from the National Institute of
Justice web site. I am familiar with the reputable information they provide so I choose to begin
there. The article titled Victims and Perpetrators exposed some very truthful information. The
study provides “two thirds of victims ages 18-29 had a prior relationship with the victim”
(“Victims and Perpetrators,” 2010). I am intrigued by that statement because it does not clarify
what kind of relationship. “The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reports 6 in 10 rape or sexual
assault victims said they were assaulted by intimate partner, relative friend or acquaintance.”
Another fact this article provided is “34 percent of women surveyed were victims of sexual
coercion by a husband or intimate partner in their lifetime.” These statistics are alarming to me,
however I tend to wonder how many sexual assaults are not reported affecting the accurate
numbers reflected. The National Institute of Criminal Justice has conducted many studies over
the years. I found the Institute to have a wealth of information but I have to question any study
because the figures are only as accurate as the information reported or not reported. (“Victims
and Perpetrators,” 2010)
Conclusion
My experience in the criminal justice system has given me the desire to understand the
dynamic of a sex offender. I can say after reviewing many web sites, documents and journals I
have not even “scratched the surface” of the mind of a sex offender. There seems to be a lot of
theories but not a lot of evidence based information. Specializing in the supervision of convicted
sex offenders, continuing to research the dynamic will prove to be beneficial for me and my
clients.
The questions:
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Can a sex offender be rehabilitated?
Have all sex offenders been a victim themselves of sexual abuse?
The articles have shown that some professionals believe sex offenders can be
rehabilitated to not reoffend and other professionals disagree. However, pedophiles are a
different story and they cannot be rehabilitated, as in the story of Alan X. The answer to, have
all sex offenders been victims of themselves, is no. Alan X said in his interview he was not a
victim of a sex offense and as described in
I did not get into an internet search on computer sexual offenders as this is a very
intense and complicated subject. Grooming is a process of which a predator uses personal
information to gain the trust of a victim. Predators use manipulation to make the victim think
they are important and the predator can be trusted. This technique is used in both online and in
person pedophiles; however I will not go any further investigation this subject.
Another subject I did not address was sex crimes against strictly college students and the
offenses that happen to that specific age group. While both of the categories are related to my
subject I was researching I felt as though they would lead me in a direction I am not yet ready to
explore. The tremendous amount of statistics and unreported incidents of college students made
me believe this would be an area to stay away from at this point.
The amount of information about sex offenders is tremendous and I was educated by the
research I did. I look forward to learning more in hopes I can be beneficial to my co-workers
and my clients. I honestly believe the more educated I am about sexual predators the better I
will be at supervising them while either on bond or after being convicted. The more I am aware
of the dynamic of a sex offender the more I can inform the people around me. The sad part of
my research is there are so many victims in society and if someone could come up with a cure to
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stop sex offenders there would not be so much hurt. The people who choose careers that deal
with sexual offenders should be informed and ready to take a proactive approach.
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References
Lombardo, Natalie. "Inside the Mind of a Sex Offender." Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Feb. 18, 2008.
Retrieved March 18, 2014.
N. Garza. State of Michigan Probation Agent (personal communication, March 14, 2014)
Hammel-Zabin, Amy. "The Mind of a Child Molester." Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness +
Find a Therapist. July 1, 2003. Retrieved March 17, 2014
Szalavitz, Maia. "Q&A: What Works in Sex-Offender Treatment | TIME.com." Time. Time, June 13,
2013 Retrieved March 18, 2014
"Victims and Perpatrators." Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice, 10 Oct. 2010.
Retrieved. March 17, 2014