Inside the Minds of Sexual Predators - Research Paper Example

? Child Predator Outline Child predators are categorized in two segments ly sex offenders and sex predators. Child sex abuse is a crime which leaves an emotional scar on the victim for the rest of his/her life. Most of these people get caught after this crime more than once. The society tends to outcast these offenders from the society. Most of the offenders tend to commit this crime after getting out of jail. The correctional facilities have failed in rectifying these criminals and help them become a part of the society. Religious personals are also involved in this crime. Close family members have also been accused of child sex abuse Child Predator One of the most unimaginable and heinous crime that exist in the world is called child sexual abuse. It is a crime in which an adult uses a child for fulfilling his sexual quench. Every parent hopes for a wonderful life for their offspring and teaches them strong moral codes to live their life. This effort all goes down the drain when some predator takes advantage of their child`s naivetes and vulnerability and shatters their confidence and their will to live. The scar left by this incident is deep and most of these children become afraid and stop trusting adults. When we define child predators, they can be categorized into two types. These include the sex offenders and the sex predators. A sex offender is an individual who has committed a sexual offence and he had mainly one victim. Furthermore, an offender may stop this wrong act after punishment. On the other hand a sexual predator is a person who regularly hunts for sexual situations which are explicit in nature and he tends to continue his sexual acts despite of being caught. No matter which classification an individual falls into both of them are considered a crime and the punishment for them does require the person to stay in jail for a period of time (Ramsland 2010). Child predators are people who take advantage of children in a wrongful manner. They misuse their authority of being an adult and manipulate these kids to submit to their evil desires. The problem is that most of these children do not understand that they are being mistreated at first and also feel ashamed to speak out in public about the experience they have gone through. This is a big problem because most of these predators do not get caught until they have committed this crime to more than one child (Ramsland 2010). This crime is so much fatal for the sanctity of human society that these child predators should not be awarded anything less than a life sentence. In the United States of America, the seriousness of the issue was understood and the House of Representatives decided to take notice of child predators in the year 1996. Representative Louise M. Slaughter proposed a plan that if any criminal was found of subjecting a child to sexual abuse even after serving punishment, he should be sentenced to life imprisonment. This plan received a very strong vote response in the House with 411 votes in favor and only 4 votes against this stand. Important Representatives in the House suggested taking strong measures against child sexual offenders. Mr. Zimmer who was a Republican favored the bill for life imprisonment for second time child sex offenders by saying, “With the passage of this bill we put the rights of children over the rights of criminal sexual predators.” (Gray 1996) An argument is put that the sex offenders should not be given a life sentence and they should be allowed to live normally after they get out of prison. The public access to the database of the registered sex offenders has discriminated against these people and does not permit them to live a normal life in the society. In the month of November, 2011 a convicted sex offender was sentenced to 66-89 months in jail when he sent a Facebook friend request to one of his victim. Victor Terrell Gaston is a registered sex offender since 2003 and only started using Facebook two weeks ago. The incident took place ten years ago and Gaston had never tried to meet the person ever since he was convicted. The Chief Assistant District Attorney of Rockingham County said that it is crucial to keep sex offenders away from social media websites (Fox8 Staff Writer 2011) The measure of making sex offenders isolated in the society is a necessary step that has to be taken. The reason for taking these harsh steps is that these child predators are susceptible to reoffending when they get are released from prison. These kinds of cases have made everyone aware how important it is that the database of sex offenders should be public. It would help the parents to protect their children from them. One such example is of Conrad Jeffery who was charged with sexual assault on a fourteen year old girl. This man had been released from the prison just for just six weeks when he abducted Divina Genao from the street. The child`s sister saw her being taken away to a nearby furnished apartment and told her mother who immediately called the police. It only took twenty minutes from the time when the call was made till the police found that person. This short span of time was not quick enough to rescue Divina as the sex offender had already killed her (Richards 2000). Such acts uphold the fact that these offenders should be given life imprisonment. It is highlighted by people who argue against life imprisonment of the offenders that the main reasons why these offenders commit these crimes again is because the correctional facility system has failed to do its job effectively. People in these correctional facilities are not given proper treatment. Recently a standoff took place in which two sex offenders climbed the sunshade of a psychiatric facility with lassos created from a bed sheet around their necks which they tied to the building support. They protested that the facility was operated more like a prison than a facility. They argued that their privileges were cut back and that their treatment at the center was not really good. William Dewy who was one of the protestors stated that it was not about him being in the facility that he was protesting about but it was about the facility to run as it should (Miller 2011). On the other hand it is argued that life imprisonment is the only cure of this problem. It is not a hidden fact that the correctional facility systems have failed to do their job and hence the pedophiles are a nuisance to the society. This crime can never be rectified by any correctional facility because it is a crime which has no cure. Even the priests who are considered to be the most pious people in the society are not free from this accusation. Cardinal Sean O'Malley recently released a list which revealed that 248 Boston priests and two deacons have been accused of child sex abuse since 1950. The BishopAccountability.org has projected that about 350 religious workers in Boston have significant evidence of sex abuse charges against them (Daily Mail Reporter 2011). Not only the religious figures are caught in this crime but it is a shocking fact that close family members are also found guilty of this crime. Somewhere down the line there is some moral distortion which needs to be rectified. Esther Rantzen one of the most experienced journalist revealed that she was sexually abused by her uncle when she was 15 years old (Rantzen 2011). Marian Wright Edelman who is the president of Children`s Defense Fund, stated "The United States is failing Bonhoeffer's test every day, by permitting a child to drop out of school every 9 seconds a school day; to be abused and neglected every 42 seconds; to be born into poverty in our still very rich nation every 34 seconds; to be born without health insurance every 42 seconds; and to be killed by guns every three hours” (Sullivan 2011). Her words clearly uphold the fact that the future of the children is at stake and the best measures need to be taken to protect children. The inclusion of these sex offenders in the society after supposedly rectifying them has not brought a positive result. Parents do tend to become fearful when they get to know that a pedophile lives in their neighborhood and the whole community tends to outcast that person from the society. Parents are not to be blamed for this behavior because they are protective for their children and wish to keep them away from being a victim of this heinous crime. Thus, it can be claimed that for the interest of the society, it is most acceptable to punish the child predators with life imprisonment. Works Cited Daily Mail Reporter. “Cardinal reveals 248 Boston priests have been accused of child sex abuse since 1950.” Daily Mail. 26 Aug. 2011. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. Fox8 Staff Writer. “Man Sentenced for Sending Facebook Friend Request to Sex Victim.” Fox8. 18 Nov. 2011. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. Gray, Jerry. “House Approves Bill to Require Notification on Sex Offenders.” The New York Times. 8 May. 1996. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. Miller, Daniel. “Sex offenders threaten to hang themselves from rehab centre rooftop in protest against conditions.” Daily Mail. 22 Nov. 2011. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. Ramsland, Katherine M, and Patrick N. McGrain. Inside the Minds of Sexual Predators. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2010. Print. Rantzen, Esther. “I can still feel Uncle's touch - and shudder at the memory: ESTHER RANTZEN reveals SHE was a victim of child abuse too.” Daily Mail. 31 Aug. 2011. Web. 11 December 2011. Richards, Cara E. The Loss of Innocents: Child Killers and Their Victims. Wilmington, Del: Scholarly Resources, 2000. Print. Sullivan, Kathleen. Edelman Urges “Stand Up for Kids. Stanford Knowledge Base. Stanford Graduate School of Business. 9 Dec. 2011. Web 11 Dec. 2011. http://www.stanford.edu/group/knowledgebase/cgi-bin/2011/12/09/edelman-urges-stand-up-for-kids/ Read More