July, Saturday 27th., 2019 Epstein's Not The Only Predatory Sex Offender In The News: Here's How Shockingly Prevalent This Has Become
July, Saturday 27th., 2019
Predatory Sex Offense has become -or always was, no media few centuries back to tell- shockingly prevalent. Prevalent indeed, but also the numbers of the persons involved seem to truly be preposterously high! Perhaps, at least one sex offender practicing in each family, in all economic and social classes, of all stratas, in all countries, this is my estimation! What and why is this! How did this plague get so much out of hand, so uncontrollable.It is not just a twisted sociopathic phenomenon, it is a wide-ranging epidemic, more and more aggressively penetrating into Life's texture.Where does it lead? To Humanity's extinction! Reminds me of the horror and awe I drowned in when as a teen-ager I first read Eugène Ionesco's 'Rhinoceros'*. Imagine, out of the blue, your childhood friend, your friendly neighbour, your aunt, turning unwillingly and at their unawares into a dangerous wild animal, ready to devour you and all;and who could possibly be 'the next to succumb to this mass metamorphosis'!? Terror and repugnance! To my eyes, Predatory Sex Offense is a 'Rhinoceros Epidemia'! Actions must be taken starting from the societal basic roots, with simple door to door educational meetings and proceeding upwards, irrespective to how widely or not, quickly or not, successfully or not, the state judicial, legal, executive , administrative etc, authorities function. Maria L. Pelekanaki
*"...Rhinoceros (French: Rhinocéros) is a play by Eugène Ionesco, written in 1959. The play was included in Martin Esslin's study of post-war avant-garde drama, The Theatre of the Absurd, although scholars have also rejected this label as too interpretatively narrow.[original research?] Over the course of three acts, the inhabitants of a small, provincial French town turn into rhinoceroses; ultimately the only human who does not succumb to this mass metamorphosis is the central character, Bérenger, a flustered everyman
figure who is initially criticized in the play for his drinking,
tardiness, and slovenly lifestyle and then, later, for his increasing
paranoia and obsession with the rhinoceroses. The play is often read as a
response and criticism to the sudden upsurge of Fascism and Nazism during the events preceding World War II, and explores the themes of conformity, culture, fascism, responsibility, logic, mass movements, mob mentality, philosophy and morality...."
Epstein's Not The Only Predatory Sex Offender In The News: Here's How Shockingly Prevalent This Has Become
Lately, the news has been flooded with horrifying updates
about the case of registered sex offender and alleged sex trafficker
Jeffrey Epstein.
You can read our Epstein coverage at the following links:
Singer R. Kelly,
52, is being held without bond in Chicago on charges that include
producing child pornography and coercing minors to engage in sex. He
faces similar federal charges in New York.
Unfortunately, Epstein and R. Kelly are not the only alleged sexual predators in the news. Reader discretion is advised. This article contains information that may be upsetting for some people.
Here are various reports of recent sexual abuse cases in the US.
Colorado
More than three dozen suspected online child sex offenders were arrested in Aurora, Colorado,
during Operation Broken Heart. The nationwide operation was led by the
US Department of Justice and resulted in nearly 1,700 arrests during
April and May. On June 11, 2019, the DOJ announced that
its “task forces identified 308 offenders who either produced child
pornography or committed child sexual abuse, and 357 children who
suffered recent, ongoing or historical sexual abuse or were exploited in
the production of child pornography.”
The operation targeted suspects who: (1) produce, distribute, receive
and possess child pornography; (2) engage in online enticement of
children for sexual purposes; (3) engage in the sex trafficking of
children; and (4) travel across state lines or to foreign countries and
sexually abuse children. (source)
The Colorado Sentinel reports 32-year-old
Raymond Fredericks was sentenced to 22 years in prison Tuesday after
pleading guilty to a felony sex trafficking charge in May. Florida
Todd Bush, a 42-year-old former teacher, was arrested in an
undercover sting on July 18 after agreeing to pay $100 to who he thought
was the mother of an 11-year-old girl for sex with her daughter, authorities said.
He was charged with human trafficking of a child, obscene
communication, and traveling to meet a minor for sex. Bush was already a
registered sex offender and was on probation for a 2011 incident when
he was busted in the sting last week. Maryland
On July 18, a federal jury in Baltimore convicted Ryan Russell Parks,
26, on two counts of sex trafficking a minor and one count of using the
internet to promote a prostitution business.
Parks faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison and a
maximum of life in prison for each of the two counts of sex trafficking a
minor, and a maximum of five years in prison for using the Internet to
promote a business enterprise involving prostitution.
The case was investigated by the FBI-led Maryland Child Exploitation
Task Force (MCETF), created in 2010 to combat child prostitution, with
members from 10 state and federal law enforcement agencies. (source)
Minnesota
A two-day undercover operation in Minneapolis–Saint Paul earlier this
month resulted in the arrests of 11 people on sex trafficking charges:
Three people were arrested for sex trafficking and promotion of
prostitution while eight people were arrested for solicitation of a
minor or solicitation of prostitution under 16 years of age.
In the operation, 18 trafficking victims were recovered from trafficking situations and offered help through victim services. (source)
Nebraska
A former first-grade teacher at an Omaha elementary school has been
given 50 to 100 years in prison for sexually assaulting students.
Douglas County District Court records show that 31-year-old Gregory
Sedlacek was sentenced Tuesday. He’d pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault of a child. New Hampshire
Yesterday, New Hampshire’s attorney general launched an investigation into
the state youth detention center after two former counselors were
charged with raping a teenage boy 82 times, at least once at gunpoint,
in the late 1990s. New York
Last month, the head of a sex cult was found guilty on multiple charges in New York, reports NPR:
The leader of NXIVM, a group that espoused a philosophy of
self-improvement but was accused of recruiting, grooming and even
branding an inner circle of female sex slaves, was found guilty
Wednesday by a federal jury in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Keith Raniere, who was known as “Vanguard,” was convicted on all
charges, including sex trafficking, forced labor conspiracy, human
trafficking and multiple counts of racketeering — including sexual
exploitation of a child. (source)
North Carolina
The victims of sexual assaults by a former North Carolina teacher are filing a class-action lawsuit against the school district:
News outlets report the victims of Michael Kelly filed the complaint
Tuesday against him, the New Hanover County Board of Education and
others.
Kelly pleaded guilty last
month to child sex charges. Investigators say Kelly abused nearly 20
victims. He’s worked for New Hanover Schools since 1992. (source)
Ohio
Earlier this month, two concurrent Human Trafficking Task Force
operations were conducted in the Cleveland region. A total of 49 arrests
were made, and some of the individuals are facing felony charges of
Attempted Unlawful Sexual Conduct with a Minor, Importuning, Possess
Criminal Tools, and Attempting Corruption with Drugs, reports Richland Source.
You can read more about recent arrests on the DOJ’s dedicated page: Human Trafficking.
Cases of child sexual abuse by clergy continue to be reported.
Thousands of allegations of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests,
nuns, and members of religious orders have been made over the last few
decades. Many investigations, trials, and convictions – and revelations
about decades of attempts by Church officials to cover up reported
incidents – have resulted. These offenses are not limited to clergy in
the US – cases have occurred all over the world.
I think it is important to note here that my family is Catholic, so I know how painful this subject can be for some followers.
According to a 2009 report,
the founder of a religious order that treats Roman Catholic priests who
molest children concluded decades ago that offenders were unlikely to
change and should not be returned to ministry:
As early as the mid-1950s, decades before the clergy sexual-abuse
crisis broke publicly across the U.S. Catholic landscape, the founder of
a religious order that dealt regularly with priest sex abusers was so
convinced of their inability to change that he searched for an island to
purchase with the intent of using it as a place to isolate such
offenders, according to documents recently obtained by NCR.
Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald, founder of the Servants of the Paracletes, an
order established in 1947 to deal with problem priests, wrote regularly
to bishops in the United States and to Vatican officials, including the
pope, of his opinion that many sexual abusers in the priesthood should
be laicized immediately. (source)
Yesterday, a Florida minister and registered sex offender was
arrested after authorities found child pornography on his home computer,
reports the Associated Press:
Sarasota County Sheriff’s officials tell news outlets that
66-year-old Charles Andrews was arrested Tuesday. He’s charged with 500
felony counts of possession of child pornography and three counts of
failing to meet sex offender requirements.
Andrews is a pastor at Osprey Church of Christ. Andrews also is a
registered sex offender who was convicted in 2006 of second-degree
sexual abuse in Alabama. Now he’s in jail, his bond set at more than $5
million. (source)
The Associated Press has a Sexual Abuse by Clergy page that is dedicated to coverage of cases.
Here is a sampling of recent cases they have documented:
In Kansas,
state authorities have opened more than 70 investigations into alleged
sexual abuse by Catholic clergy after receiving over 100 abuse reports
in less than six months, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said
Tuesday.
Also in Kansas, a priest has been charged with one count of possessing child pornography.
St. Norbert Abbey in Wisconsin has
released the names of 22 priests who faced “credible” allegations of
sexually abusing minors. The abbey says an independent review deemed
more than 40 allegations credible.
Last week, a former Alabama youth pastor was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing a young girl.
The Diocese of Crookston in Minnesota has reached a $5 million settlement with 15 people who were children when they were sexually abused by priests.
A Texas jury
has sentenced a former Roman Catholic priest to 18 years in prison for
sexually assaulting an altar server over several years.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has charged a 57-year-old Detroit-area priest with sexually abusing a minor.
Last Monday, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island,
released a list of clerics, religious order priests and deacons it
deems to have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children.
In Illinois, a priest was removed from pastoral duties in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse that took place two decades ago.
The Vatican has been in the news this week for a very disturbing reason.
A genetics expert retained by the family of a girl who went missing
in 1983 said Saturday that a cavernous underground space near a Vatican
cemetery holds thousands of bones that appear to be from dozens of
individuals, both “adult and non-adult.”
The expert, Giorgio Portera, said the “enormous” size of the
collection under the Teutonic College was revealed when
Vatican-appointed experts began cataloguing the remains, which were discovered last week .
“We didn’t expect such an enormous number” of bones and other remains
which “had been thrown into a cavity,” Portera said. “We want to know
why and how” the bones ended up there. (source)
Victims of abuse by religious and institutional authorities (priests,
ministers, bishops, deacons, nuns, coaches, teachers, and others) can
find support here: SNAP. BishopAccountability.org has an Abuse Tracker page that provides links to media coverage of clergy abuse.
How prevalent is child sexual abuse?
While Epstein’s arrest has increased awareness of predatory behavior by the elite, the wealthy and powerful are not the only ones committing such heinous acts.
According to The National Center for Victims of Crime,
the prevalence of child sexual abuse (CSA) is difficult to determine
because it is often not reported. Experts agree that the incidence is
far greater than what is reported to authorities.
Statistics below represent some of the research done on child sexual abuse.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau report Child Maltreatment 2010 found that 9.2% of victimized children were sexually assaulted (page 24).
Studies by David Finkelhor, Director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center, show that:
1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse;
Self-report studies show that 20% of adult females and 5-10% of
adult males recall a childhood sexual assault or sexual abuse incident;
During a one-year period in the U.S., 16% of youth ages 14 to 17 had been sexually victimized;
Over the course of their lifetime, 28% of U.S. youth ages 14 to 17 had been sexually victimized;
Children are most vulnerable to CSA between the ages of 7 and 13.
According to Darkness to Light,
a non-profit committed to empowering adults to prevent child sexual
abuse, only about one-third of child sexual abuse incidents are
identified, and even fewer are reported.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children operates the CyberTipline,
a national mechanism for the public and electronic service providers to
report instances of suspected child sexual exploitation.
In 2018 the CyberTipline received more than 18.4 million reports, most of which related to:
Apparent child sexual abuse images.
Online enticement, including “sextortion.”
Child sex trafficking.
Child sexual molestation.
Since its inception, the CyberTipline has received more than 48 million reports.
Those statistics are grim.
Sex trafficking is a serious global issue.
There are various types of sex offenders and sex crimes,
and that topic is beyond the scope of this article. Because sex
trafficking and the vulnerability of minors are crucial issues, we will
focus on them here.
US federal law refers to
sex trafficking as any commercial sex act that is “induced by force,
fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act
has not attained 18 years of age.”
A recent report from Insider sheds light on just how many people are victims of sex trafficking.
The statistics are alarming and heartbreaking:
It’s estimated that there are around 4.5 million victims of
sex trafficking across the world. And though it’s difficult to know
just how many people are involved in sex trafficking in the US, the
Polaris Project, a non-profit dedicated to ending human trafficking,
received more than 34,000 reports of sex trafficking on its Human
Trafficking Hotline between 2007 and 2017. End Slavery Now,
an anti-human trafficking and slavery organization, estimates many of
those trafficked into the US come from countries like Mexico, the
Philippines, Thailand, Honduras, Guatemala, India and El Salvador. But
experts say that plenty of sex trafficking victims are from the US, too.
(source)
But the millions sex trafficked around the world don’t look like they
do in movies. These people, often minors, can lead normal lives and
pass through normal places, jobs, and homes.
The sex trafficking that goes on in the US largely takes place in a
criminal underbelly ubiquitous in US cities and communities, which
millions of Americans, for whatever reason, turn a blind eye to daily. (source)
There are various factors that motivate sexual predators.
It is mistakenly believed that sexual offenders are solely motivated
by sexual gratification when they commit their crimes. Dr. Nicholas
Groth developed three typologies to describe the motivations of rapists,
two of which suggest sexual gratification is secondary. Anger rapists
are fueled by rage towards their victims and rape is their way of
seeking violent revenge. According to the Center for Sex Offender
Management (CSOM), these rapists may actually be extremely discontent
with another area in their lives and thus take out their frustration on
their victims. “Anger rapists tend to use a significant amount of
physical force when they subdue their victims – in most cases, far more
force than is necessary to perpetrate the abuse,” adds the CSOM. Verbal
abuse is also a common component of these types of violations that are
generally impulsive – not planned.
Power rapists on the other hand are less impulsive and rely on
psychological manipulation more so than physical violence to subdue and
sexually assault their victims. “The power rapist was motivated by his
need to control and dominate his victim, and inversely, to avoid being
controlled by [the victim],” describes Dr. Lisak. Those who rape their
domestic partners are often characterized as power rapists. There are
also sadistic rapists who receive sexual or erotic gratification from
exerting power and control over the victims they rape. “Because they
have an erotic response to power and control, extreme violence and
torture often characterize their assaults,” says the CSOM. “In many
cases, victims of sadistic rapists are murdered during the assaults”.
The CSOM adds that these types of rapes are least common and account for
between 2% and 5% of cases in the United States. (source)
Repeat sex offenders do not necessarily target only one category of victim or offend in the same manner, that report explains:
Dr. Lisak explains that a proportion of sexual offenders are
‘non-specialists’. “Multiple studies have now documented that between
33% and 66% of rapists have also sexually attacked children; that up to
82% of child molesters have also sexually attacked adults; and that
between 50% and 66% of incest offenders have also sexually attacked
children outside their families,” states Dr. Lisak.
Additionally, many of us tend to think a sex offender will keep on
offending until he or she is caught. While in reality, recidivism does
happen, it may not be as common as we think. According to Arkowitz and
Lilienfeld, approximately 14% of sexual offenders reoffend within a five
to six year period and 24% within a 15 year period. While this suggests
recidivism is less often the case, it does suggest the longer it takes
law enforcement to track down a sexual predator or criminal, the more
likely he or she will reoffend. (source)
Not everyone who sexually abuses children is a pedophile, as Darkness to Light explains:
Child sexual abuse is perpetrated by a wide range of individuals with
diverse motivations. It is impossible to identify specific
characteristics that are common to all those who molest children.
Situational offenders tend to offend at times of stress and begin
offending later than pedophilic offenders. They also have fewer victims
(often family), and have a general preference for adult partners.
Pedophilic offenders often start offending at an early age and often
have a large number of victims (frequently not family members).
70% of child sex offenders have between one and 9 victims, while 20% have 10 to 40 victims. (source)
Often, sexual predators are people you know and trust.
It is important to understand that there are people who have or will
sexually abuse children in churches, schools, and youth sports leagues,
as Darkness to Light explains:
Abusers can be neighbors, friends, and family members. People who
sexually abuse children can be found in families, schools, churches,
recreation centers, youth sports leagues, and any other place children
gather.
Significantly, abusers can be and often are other children.
About 90% of children who are victims of abuse know their abuser. Only 10% of sexually abused children are abused by a stranger.
Approximately 30% of children who are sexually abused are abused by
family members. The younger the victim, the more likely it is that the
abuser is a family member. Of those molesting a child under six, 50%
were family members. Family members also accounted for 23% of those
abusing children ages 12 to 17.
About 60% of children who are sexually abused are abused by the people the family trusts. (source)
Here’s how to keep your loved ones (and yourself) safe.
