The Sexual Interest of the Sex Offender
Posted by Joseph Doherty on Tue, Feb 14, 2012 @ 11:06 AM
Many people are under the impression that the motivation behind a sex crime has to be sexual in nature. This is understandable but not true. For instance, it has long been known that rape is a crime of violence, not of sex. The lack of a sexual motive can also be found in other sexual offenses as well.
Two examples:
Jim, an unmarried man of 68, lived had lived alone much of his life, except for a period of four years when he was in the military. He was quiet, unassuming and kept to himself. A young couple he had met through his only cousin called him one day. They had lost their house after the husband became unemployed and were now homeless with a 5 year old son. Jim decided to allow them to live in his house until they became financial sound.
He regretted his decision. They were soon taking advantage of him, borrowing money for food, using his truck - with him buying the gas - yet not doing their share of the household chores. Being the quiet, passive, unassertive man that he was Jim didn't complain. Yet his anger and irritation began to fester. One day the couple's 5 year old son reported to them that Jim had fondled him in what was an apparent attempt to teach the boy how to masturbate.
Testing indicated that Jim had no sexual interest in children. His score on a risk assessment instrument placed him in a low risk category of estimated risk to recividate. He had no prior criminal record. The examiner concluded that Jim's inability to properly assert himself when he was aware of how he was being taken advantage of needed to be the focus of his sex offender treatment. Unable to do this he had displaced his anger toward the parents onto their innocent child.
Another example:
Rodney was a 55 year old widower. An adult neighbor called the police when she saw him on his front lawn exposing himself to her. When the police arrived and told Rodney of the allegation he readily acknowledged his inappropriate behavior. He was arrested and charged. In court he denied he had acknowledged his offense to the police, stated they were lying and took his case to a jury trial where he was found guilty.
Referred for a psychosexual evaluation the examiner noticed that Rodney had made statements to him only to later deny he had said them. His short term memory was impaired. The psychologist recommended that Rodney undergo a neuropsychological evaluation, the results of which showed he was in the early stages of dementia. The condition of his probation that he be in sex offender treatment was dropped and he was treated for his dementia.
