Education called key to avoiding sex offenders

Karen Zekan

Thursday, April 8, 1999 | 10:32 a.m.

There is no one way to spot a sex offender in a crowd, nor one cure-all method to make the societal problem of sexual abuse disappear overnight.

The community, however, can avoid victimization. The answer, experts say, lies in education.

"What you don't know about sex offenders can hurt you," said experts at a free, day-long workshop offered Wednesday at the West Charleston Library. The workshop included perspectives from law enforcement, legal experts and clinicians who tackle the issue of sexual abuse day to day.

Among the greatest challenges in combatting sexual abuse is the reality that there is no single mold from which offenders come from and, therefore, no single mode of attack.

Public health campaigns, such as ones targeting second-hand smoke, AIDS and venereal disease, have been successful at reducing those kinds of problems, said Robert Freeman-Longo, an independent trainer, consultant and sex-abuser therapist from Vermont. He said with those campaigns, success has been achieved by disseminating good, accurate information aimed at detection and by undertaking steps toward intervention or prevention.

Yet the sexual abuse problem, he said, involves many different people whose crimes range from a single offense to the psychopathic level, where no incarceration or treatment program can bring about change.

The media is also a part of the problem because television, radio and newspapers often focus only on the horrendous cases, Freeman-Longo explained -- mentioning such stories as serial killer Ted Bundy and Lawrence Singleton, who raped former Las Vegan Mary Vincent and cut off her arms.

"These types of cases account for one-half of 1 percent of who sex offenders are," Freeman-Longo said. "They end up scaring people beyond need."

The reality, the therapist said, is that 30-60 percent of child sex abuse is perpetuated by people under 18 years old. In Vermont, where he works, Freeman-Longo said a third of the sex-abuse cases reported in the state involved offenders who were under the age of 10.

The realization that both genders can be sex offenders and that the disease can surface at an early age were among the issues Dr. Robert Hare discussed in presenting a "psychopathy check list" he has developed after years of studying the deranged.

Notable characteristics of sociopaths -- a category into which sex offenders fall -- Hare said, include being egocentric and exhibiting rage or anger with little ability to express or feel joy. He said they are often impulsive, nomadic and in search of sensation.

Benjamin Saunders, Ph.D., addressed the challenges faced by employers and organization heads seeking to avoid hiring a potential victimizer for paid or volunteer positions, especially for those jobs in which children are involved.

Many problems, he said, can be attributed to an organization's failure to successfully screen a candidate for a position, accepting the person based on a good feeling or a need just to fill the job.

Whether the job is dealing with the elderly, the mentally or physically challenged, or even in posts like Boy Scout troop leader or church groups, Saunders suggested requiring a candidate to complete an application, submit to at least one personal interview and supply a list of references.

The extra effort put forth prior to employment -- checking fingerprints, criminal history, drug or alcohol abuse problems, unusual lifestyle patterns, or any reports of sexual deviancy -- can help avoid problems and internal stress for a company or group later on, Saunders said.

"Whether we want to or not, (sexual abuse) is something we have to pay attention to," Saunders said.