This article is a real experience of the reason why sometimes people molest children and also how to get the molesters admit to their guilt through confession. For example, if a complaint comes in to your agency alleging that a popular school teacher, a youth pastor, a Little League coach, or a previously convicted predator has been molesting children in your community, are you confident that your investigators have the training and skills necessary to interview that suspect and get a full confession?
These can be intense, high-profile cases. The suspect might be a prominent citizen, a pillar of the community. The reality is that in most child sexual abuse cases, the offender is someone who is known and trusted not only by the victim but also by the victim’s family.
Child sexual abuse exists in every community and at all levels of society, but allegations of molestation can sometimes be divisive for a community. Some people refuse to believe that the accused is capable of such a crime. It is not unheard of for parents, friends, and coworkers to rally in support of the suspect, proclaim his innocence and even post his bond.
These can be extremely difficult cases to investigate. Often there is little or no physical evidence and no witnesses, only a child’s allegation that molestation has occurred. With these cases, the suspect interview can be the most critical stage of the investigation. The outcome of the interview can mean the difference between a successful prosecution and the release of the suspect to continue molesting other innocent children. There is nothing that solidifies a case and quiets the dissenters more than a detailed written or videotaped confession from the sexual abuser.
The ramifications of the release of a child molester are sobering. A pedophile, over the course of his lifetime, can molest hundreds, even thousands of children.
An example of this is the case of an Australian man named Clarence Osborne, who recorded in great detail sexual contacts that he had with more than 2,500 teenage boys. Osborne was a court recorder who worked with juvenile offenders. He was caught in a child pornography investigation and in 1979, at the age of 61, committed suicide.
Only after his death did police discover the magnitude of Osborne’s criminal activity. In his house they found names, photographs, tape recordings, and written descriptions of his sexual encounters with boys that had occurred over a 20-year period. His victims came from all parts of the community; in fact, many were from wealthy, prominent families. The amazing thing is that with all of these documented victims, many of them later confirmed, the police had never received any complaints on Osborne.
Early 2005 in San Jose, California, Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller, a 63-year-old convicted child molester, was arrested and charged once again with sex offenses involving children. During a search of his residence, police recovered logs kept by Schwartzmiller that suggested that he had molested thousands of children throughout the United States, Mexico, and Brazil over a 30-year period. The more than 1,300 pages of documents contained names and descriptions of children as well as codes indicating the sex acts that were committed.
Many police agencies have a tendency to view a child molestation case as an isolated incident. They focus on the known victim and investigate accordingly. The reality is that most true pedophiles have been molesting children for years, dating all the way back to their own childhood. Few pedophiles are caught the first time they molest a child.
When investigating a case involving a suspected child molester, the stakes are high and a full confession is critical. But the ability to interview and relate to this type of offender is something that doesn’t come naturally for most police officers. Many officers find the subject matter, as well as the offender, repulsive. They cannot have an amiable conversation with a person who they believe has molested a child. They are not able to mask their feelings, and they allow contempt, disgust, and hatred to surface during the interview, greatly reducing the likelihood that the offender will open up and share his deepest secrets.
Today Gender
…with Thelma Asantewaa
