First, we consider an article about sex offenders located in Kentucky. The interesting part of the piece is where the author discusses the sexual abuse cycle. We wish there were more articles like this so that people would see that sex offenders often suffer from a treatable disease. The typical kneejerk response of "predator!" is missing here, and that's refreshing from a mainstream media article. (The Morehead News, June 10, 2008)
The sexual abuse cycle involves secrecy, denial and isolation and unfolds in the following way:
(1) Emotional pain
Low self-esteem
Focus on self
Low empathy
(2) Unhealthy fantasies
Masturbation
Pornography
(3) Dissatisfaction
(4) Thinking about acting out fantasies
(5) Distorted thinking
Excuses to offend
Alcohol and drug abuse
(6) Seemingly unimportant decisions
Plotting and planning the offense
(7) High risk situation
(8) Selecting and grooming the victim
(9) Offending
(10) Temporary Relief
(11) False Promises/The cover up
(12) Stop for a while
(13) Emotional pain returns
Another article from Easton, PA, discusses a proposed ordinance in that town that would limit the areas where a sex offender may live. Critics of such broad residency restrictions are pointing out that by forcing sex offenders further into rural areas, an unintended consequence that arises is that the offender is less likely to get the assistance he needs in the form of law enforcement and treatment resources that may actually contribute to recidivism. (The Express-Times, June 11, 2008)
Moyer, who is also a member of the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, said she can empathize with a community looking to do whatever it can to protect its children. Probation officials certainly wouldn't want a recently paroled sex offender living next door to a day care, she said. But as residency restrictions become more prevalent, offenders will find themselves living in more rural areas with less law enforcement, fewer treatment resources and the isolation that increases the chances of recidivism, Moyer said. "You want to make their lives as manageable and accountable as possible," she said. Several victim advocates, including Moyer, recount stories of paroled sex offenders in Florida, which has a statewide residency prohibition, moving to a bridge underpass because of limited housing options. "What you most don't want to do is to have a recently released sex offender associating with other offenders," Moyer said. "It just seems to fly in the face of what we know about sex offenders."
Here's yet another example of the further isolation that convicted sex offenders are facing from our nation's lawmakers. They're extending their overbroad reach even into nursing home facilities. (KOCO.com, June 10, 2008)
Gov. Brad Henry signed first-in-the-nation legislation Tuesday that takes registered sex offenders requiring long-term care out of standard nursing homes to prevent assaults, rapes and murders by offenders who live in the same facilities as their victims. Flanked by more than a dozen supporters of the bill, Henry ceremoniously signed it into law after praising the efforts of elder rights advocate Wes Bledsoe to protect elderly nursing home residents from high-risk sex offenders convicted of such crimes as rape, crimes against nature and a variety of other offenses.
Some offenders have had enough. A John Doe in Westbrook, Maine, has decided to challenge the constitutionality of a town ordinance making it illegal for a sex offender to be within 2500 feet of any place where children may gather. (American Journal, June 12, 2008)
The crux of the argument against this regulation is whether it is “constitutionally permissible” to enforce a new law on sex offenders who committed their crimes before the law existed. “The question is, how do you apply these things retroactively?” Dale said. “They're saying you can't do it.” According to Dale, similar suits have been pursued over the past few years, and not just in Maine. “This is a phenomenon across the country,” he said.
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