The trial is over. This sexual molester of children has been found guilty and is in jail awaiting the official life sentence he will shortly receive.  The talk of a legal appeal by his lawyers who have admitted to wanting off the case seems to be just so much prattle. The shock, as some in the media have called it, for the residents of Pleasant Valley, Pennsylvania is gone and they are trying to prepare for the onslaught of civil lawsuits against the University that are bound to come. Seeing him led away in handcuffs helped some of the abused heal but as one mother of a victim said “There are no winners.” There are, however some important lessons to be gleaned from the trial especially for people beyond State College, Pa and the United States.
            It is important to make a distinction between a pedophile and a molester. Pedophiles are people who fantasize about sex with children. Pedophilia is considered a mental disorder but not all pedophiles are molesters. Molesters act on their fantasies and that is more than a disorder it is a crime. If pedophiles can be diagnosed earlier in their lives and treated the rate of molestation may decrease. In the transition from the disorder to the crime there are predictable and discernible patterns some of which are glaringly obvious in this case.