According to child stats.gov http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/tables/pop1.aspJust over 93 percent of all children under the age of 12 who are victims of sexual abuse know the offender, and of that total 47 percent are related to the offender, according to figures from U.S. Department of Justice.
there are 25 million children in the US under the age of 12. Statistically one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused which makes the numbers staggering. To think that almost half the children under 12 are sexually abused by someone they know is something that is worth repeating over and over again. People want to believe that it is the lone stranger stalking the child and yet that is only 7% of those who sexually abuse children. We need to wake up and realize that almost all children who are sexually abused are abused by someone they know. As scary as it is to realize that children are sexually abused by family members we need to deal with this fact in order to allow for more education to occur. I don't believe there is enough support for children to come forward who are being abused by family members. Can you imagine how compounded this is for a child if the family member sexually abusing them is a prominent member of their community?
Part of what concerns me is that not enough educational opportunities exist in educating professionals that children know their abusers. I know there are a lot of good agencies working to change this and that is wonderful. It's important while educating on child sexual abuse to focus on what exactly sexual abuse means? For me, I had several different "family" abusers. Some touched me inappropriately while some forced sexual intercourse. Some talked inappropriate using sexual terms that weren't appropriate for a child to be exposed to. Some used bribes and others used guilt. It was horrible because it was the family system as a whole. Ruth had no "friends" outside of her immediate family. She did know some of the neighbors, but her family was her main support. Once Ruth's mother E died her siblings started backing away from her due to her being so physically and emotionally abusive to my siblings and I.it's those same type of people committing the offenses against children as most are fathers, stepfathers, brothers, uncles, neighbors or friends of the family. It is not always the father, but often Rings said he sees sexual offenders as the stepfather or boyfriend of the mother of a child in a broken home.
I have written previously about the quote below. Especially when addressing the movement to abolish the Sexual Offender Registry. It seems to me that some of those involved in this movement have a tough time understanding that most child sexual predators abuse more then one child. Their biggest claim is that the SOR doesn't work because most of those who are arrested for sexually abusing children are not on the registry. When I have had comments left on this blog about this and share this data with them their seems to be disbelief. The data is higher when we look at "offending" being looking at as viewing child porn, watching videos of children on You Tube and sexually gratifying oneself, looking at different types of media and sexualizing children. I believe we need to pay attention to this data as well.Sexual abuse of children covers a broad scope of actions, including fondling, making a child touch an adult's sexual organs, penetrating a child, exposing children to pornographic material, deliberately exposing a child to the act of sexual intercourse, masturbating in front of a child or using a child to film, photograph or model pornography, according to the Department of Justice.
The National Institute of Mental Health reports that offenders who are not biologically related to the victim or don't reside in the same home molest an average of 117 children, most of whom do not report the offense. Rings said he believes the number of victims for serial molesters who are not related to the victim is more like 80 to 100.
I have done some research on relapse programs and child sexual offenders. In relapse programs child sexual offenders who put themselves in a situation to be near children is called a lapse. A relapse is when an offender looks at or engages a child. This data is considered "re-offending" according to the specialists I have talked to. This also means that the their "re-offending" is part of the data on child sexual abuse statistics. Some child sexual predators feel that looking at pictures or videos of children to sexualize them is okay. They also feel that this is okay to look at and even believe that child porn (aka child sexual abuse media) doesn't hurt the child in the media. Shouldn't be against the law, and that those who view child sexual abuse media shouldn't be in any trouble. They don't seem to understand that what they are viewing is the sexual abuse of a child. It is obvious to me that more education needs to take place on this topic as well. Rosie
June 30, 2012
,
The Marietta Times
When she was a little girl, "Sarah" found herself receiving some unwanted attention from her father.
Anytime the young girl needed a bath, her father wanted to join her and have her wash him in ways the little girl never understood.
Years later, Sarah, 27, of Parkersburg, began to understand that she was one of the thousands of victims of child sexual abuse, and it came from within the home and the people trusted to raise her.
"I will never understand how my mother could have allowed that, or how he could have done that," said Sarah, who asked to not reveal her real name.
Cases like the one involving Sarah aren't nearly as uncommon as many people believe, law enforcement officials say.
Just over 93 percent of all children under the age of 12 who are victims of sexual abuse know the offender, and of that total 47 percent are related to the offender, according to figures from U.S. Department of Justice.
Sexual abuse of children has been in the national spotlight recently, with the conviction last week of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, who was found guilty of abusing 10 boys over 15 years. Sandusky had served as a mentor and surrogate parents to the children.
Locally, it's those same type of people committing the offenses against children as most are fathers, stepfathers, brothers, uncles, neighbors or friends of the family.
"It's not the stranger off the street or the abduction kind of thing," said Washington County Sheriff's Maj. Brian Schuck. "It's someone close to the family."
The fact that the man who abused her was her father made life for Sarah particularly difficult, as she received medication for depression as a young child.
For Sarah, the abuse began when she was 5 and lasted until she was 12, prompting her to try running away from home and even attempting suicide.
"I felt like that was the way life was going to be forever," she said, crying.
Assistant Washington County Prosecutor Kevin Rings, who has prosecuted several high profile sexual abuse cases, said the majority of time he sees the perpetrator of sexual abuse in the home where the child resides.
It is not always the father, but often Rings said he sees sexual offenders as the stepfather or boyfriend of the mother of a child in a broken home.
Most abusers are men.
According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report made to Congress in 2010, 97 percent of the non-biological parent or partners responsible for sexual abuse of a child were men. Eighty percent of biological parents who sexually abused a child were male and 86 percent of non-relatives were also male, the report says.
There were 55,313 substantiated reports of sexual abuse against children in 2010, the most recent statistics available from the Department of Justice.
State numbers weren't available for cases, but a review earlier this year in Ohio found there were 7,426 people incarcerated in Ohio for sex-related offenses - the second highest total for any demographic.
Sexual abuse of children covers a broad scope of actions, including fondling, making a child touch an adult's sexual organs, penetrating a child, exposing children to pornographic material, deliberately exposing a child to the act of sexual intercourse, masturbating in front of a child or using a child to film, photograph or model pornography, according to the Department of Justice.
While most cases of child sexual abuse take place within the home, there are other offenders including teachers, coaches, family friends and mentors, police said.
In the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report, 40 percent of the perpetrators to sexually abuse a child were not related, either as a biological parent or non-biological partner.
Several prominent cases locally involved men who served as "friends" to large groups of young boys. They had access to the children in the neighborhood, whom they befriended and groomed into becoming victims, police explained.
"It's all about accessibility to the victim," Schuck said. "That's why it's normally somebody close to the victim."
The grooming process is one of the keys for the acquaintance-type sexual offender, police said.
According to the Department of Justice, offenders who are not in the home will typically spend a longer time on the seduction process of a child. Perpetrators often engage in activities where they will hug or roughhouse with a child in front of the parents, thereby making the child believe the actions are acceptable.
"There's usually that long seduction process," Rings said. "They are remarkably good at getting the kids not to say anything."
Offenders who are not in the home also tend to have more victims.
The National Institute of Mental Health reports that offenders who are not biologically related to the victim or don't reside in the same home molest an average of 117 children, most of whom do not report the offense. Rings said he believes the number of victims for serial molesters who are not related to the victim is more like 80 to 100.
For 2008, there were 40 victims of sexual abuse under the age of 18in Washington County. That number dropped to 27 in 2011, but those figures can be misleading as several cases involved multiple victims.
A Beverly man was believed to have molested more than 20 children while a Marietta man was sentenced to 70 years in prison after he was convicted of abusing more than 10 boys at his home.
"The ones who are fixated on children as sexual objects, those are the dangerous ones," Rings said.
Anytime the young girl needed a bath, her father wanted to join her and have her wash him in ways the little girl never understood.
Years later, Sarah, 27, of Parkersburg, began to understand that she was one of the thousands of victims of child sexual abuse, and it came from within the home and the people trusted to raise her.
"I will never understand how my mother could have allowed that, or how he could have done that," said Sarah, who asked to not reveal her real name.
Cases like the one involving Sarah aren't nearly as uncommon as many people believe, law enforcement officials say.
Just over 93 percent of all children under the age of 12 who are victims of sexual abuse know the offender, and of that total 47 percent are related to the offender, according to figures from U.S. Department of Justice.
Sexual abuse of children has been in the national spotlight recently, with the conviction last week of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, who was found guilty of abusing 10 boys over 15 years. Sandusky had served as a mentor and surrogate parents to the children.
Locally, it's those same type of people committing the offenses against children as most are fathers, stepfathers, brothers, uncles, neighbors or friends of the family.
"It's not the stranger off the street or the abduction kind of thing," said Washington County Sheriff's Maj. Brian Schuck. "It's someone close to the family."
The fact that the man who abused her was her father made life for Sarah particularly difficult, as she received medication for depression as a young child.
For Sarah, the abuse began when she was 5 and lasted until she was 12, prompting her to try running away from home and even attempting suicide.
"I felt like that was the way life was going to be forever," she said, crying.
Assistant Washington County Prosecutor Kevin Rings, who has prosecuted several high profile sexual abuse cases, said the majority of time he sees the perpetrator of sexual abuse in the home where the child resides.
It is not always the father, but often Rings said he sees sexual offenders as the stepfather or boyfriend of the mother of a child in a broken home.
Most abusers are men.
According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report made to Congress in 2010, 97 percent of the non-biological parent or partners responsible for sexual abuse of a child were men. Eighty percent of biological parents who sexually abused a child were male and 86 percent of non-relatives were also male, the report says.
There were 55,313 substantiated reports of sexual abuse against children in 2010, the most recent statistics available from the Department of Justice.
State numbers weren't available for cases, but a review earlier this year in Ohio found there were 7,426 people incarcerated in Ohio for sex-related offenses - the second highest total for any demographic.
Sexual abuse of children covers a broad scope of actions, including fondling, making a child touch an adult's sexual organs, penetrating a child, exposing children to pornographic material, deliberately exposing a child to the act of sexual intercourse, masturbating in front of a child or using a child to film, photograph or model pornography, according to the Department of Justice.
While most cases of child sexual abuse take place within the home, there are other offenders including teachers, coaches, family friends and mentors, police said.
In the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report, 40 percent of the perpetrators to sexually abuse a child were not related, either as a biological parent or non-biological partner.
Several prominent cases locally involved men who served as "friends" to large groups of young boys. They had access to the children in the neighborhood, whom they befriended and groomed into becoming victims, police explained.
"It's all about accessibility to the victim," Schuck said. "That's why it's normally somebody close to the victim."
The grooming process is one of the keys for the acquaintance-type sexual offender, police said.
According to the Department of Justice, offenders who are not in the home will typically spend a longer time on the seduction process of a child. Perpetrators often engage in activities where they will hug or roughhouse with a child in front of the parents, thereby making the child believe the actions are acceptable.
"There's usually that long seduction process," Rings said. "They are remarkably good at getting the kids not to say anything."
Offenders who are not in the home also tend to have more victims.
The National Institute of Mental Health reports that offenders who are not biologically related to the victim or don't reside in the same home molest an average of 117 children, most of whom do not report the offense. Rings said he believes the number of victims for serial molesters who are not related to the victim is more like 80 to 100.
For 2008, there were 40 victims of sexual abuse under the age of 18in Washington County. That number dropped to 27 in 2011, but those figures can be misleading as several cases involved multiple victims.
A Beverly man was believed to have molested more than 20 children while a Marietta man was sentenced to 70 years in prison after he was convicted of abusing more than 10 boys at his home.
"The ones who are fixated on children as sexual objects, those are the dangerous ones," Rings said.
Rosie - bet you knew I'd pop up on this one.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you'll find much debate from me and most other advocates that there are different recidivism rates among the very heterogeneous types of sex offenders. For example, incest offenders have among the lowest recidivism rates and people who commit crimes such as indecent exposure tend to have the highest. Nobody wins, least of all children, when we paint all sex offenders with the same broad brush.
I think this comes down to the ongoing debate about the proper use of the term "pedophile." Many seem to think that "pedophile" and "child molester" are interchangeable, but they are not. A pedophile is an adult diagnosed with a mental defect that makes them sexually attracted to pre-pubescent children. A child molester is simply an adult who abuses children. While the act is just as heinous, the psychology behind it is very different than that of a true pedophile and the treatment methods would be much different.
I have read many psychological evaluations of different types of child molesters. Non-pedophilic molesters are often not sexually attracted to children, but act out on them because of a perceived (or true) rejection from other adults and feelings of being inadequate. Again, this does not excuse their behavior, but it's important to differentiate between this and pedophilia.
Whether or not your statistic is correct (I have my doubts, I'll admit) my one question would be, is this measured BEFORE the abuser is caught, or during their lifetime? www.iloveasexoffender.blogspot.com
Hi Shana,
DeleteI believe these statistics are actual cases of child sexual abuse that have been brought to light. Not cases where children haven't told. I prefer to use the words child sexual predator in place of pedophile or molester. I feel it is a more accurate description and is easier for people to understand. There are different paraphilias that encompass an attraction to children. There are infantophiles, hebophiles, and ebophiles, these describe the actual ages of the child that the adult is sexually attracted to. I think if the correct sexual attraction is used it will be better as well. For instance Sandusky attraction seemed to be children from 10 til 17 which makes him a hebophile and ebophile. The definition for pedophile is in many medical and other dictionary's. So while it is a medical diagnosis it is also a description for someone who is attracted to children. There are molesters who are not attracted to children but are deviants and opportunists who abuse power with children for their sexual deviancy. Actually many children who are human trafficked in the sex trade are used for molesters deviant behavior. Pedophiles are also molesters while an adult who is grooming a child to advance to a sexual encounter the grooming includes molestation. As for incestuous pedophilia those adults who sexually abuse family members are also opportunists who use children in their families to sexually abuse. My grandfather had four daughters and ten granddaughters. I was his youngest and I was sexually abused along with my sister his second youngest. I believe he sexually abused all of us. It is possible that he would have carried this on through his great granddaughters if he didn't become an invalid.
I agree that if we lump sexual offenders all together it doesn't really benefit society as a whole. Those who expose themselves have a fetish that unless it is addressed they will continue to do it. I continue to believe that if an adult sexually abuses a child they should be held accountable. A child can never consent to a sexual relationship with an adult. A child can not seduce an adult. An adult being sexually attracted to a child is not a "sexual orientation" or "normal" or "acceptable."
I also continue to believe that the Romeo and Juliette teenage sexual offenses need to be treated differently then an adult who is at least 18 and 5 years old then the child. I think if adults took responsibility for their behavior even when it comes to having sex with a 14, 15, 16 or 17 year old and stopped blaming the child saying they lied about their age. A lot of sexual offenders wouldn't be in the situation they are now. When we hit 18 years old in this country we are adults. When we are adults we have responsibilities that come with being an adult. One of them is to not have sex with a non-consenting child. Sorry I got on a roll. Thanks for stopping by and I always appreciate your input. Rosie
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