Thin Blue Line: Sex Offender Registry Oregon

Sex Offender Registry Oregon

For nearly 30 years I have worked in a sex offender evaluation and treatment clinic in Oregon. I’ve evaluated and treated thousands of men and women who have molested children, and counseled hundreds of victims, There have been scores of people, who, unbeknownst to them, were related to, acquainted with, or supervised someone, who turned out to a sex offender. During the past three decades I’ve learned two vital facts about sex offenders. First, aside from the offenders, few people truly understand the process involved in molesting children. Secondly, until we do, we will not be able to protect our children. Most of us assume that we would know if a relative, friend, or volunteer had pedophilic tendencies. We also believe that children react to abuse by telling or showing symptoms. Unfortunately, offenders don’t advertise their sexual interest in children so they are hard to spot. Fewer than one in ten children tell anyone they are being abused and very few victims exhibit the kinds of problems for which most of us were trained to watch. It’s easy to understand why offenders don’t broadcast what they are doing but the lack of reporting and outward symptomology in victims requires some discussion. To begin with, most offenders are someone their victims trusted and felt safe with. Offenders also report that the initial stages of abuse involve giving their victims “lots of attention,” engaging in “loving and affectionate behavior,” “playing with them on their level” and “over-complimenting them.”Offenders report that these strategies accomplish several goals by helping them “weed out” children who might “resist, reject or report,” while at the same time, allowing for the gradual desensitization necessary to advance to more intimate and intrusive touching. Offenders say they slowly violate boundaries by “getting them comfortable with me touching them by tickling and wrestling with them,” “having them sit on my lap,” “walking in on them while they are changing or using the bathroom,” “kissing and hugging them extra” or “touching their private parts ‘accidentally.’” Next, they talk to children about sex and normalize abuse by telling them, “everybody does it,” “it feels good,” “I’ll show you how to be a man” or “it’s just a game.” Because of the brainwashing, children adopt the mistaken belief that they can’t tell anyone what’s happening to them because “it’s a secret” plus it doesn’t feel threatening or abusive at first.