How sex offenders lure children

Abstract

Fifty-two incest and 50 pedophilic offenders, under sentence, were interviewed with respect to verbal and non-verbal strategies used to sexually seduce children. All sex offenders had received in-hospital treatment for six months to one year and were mostly non-defensive about various forms of enticement, exploitation or entrapment, including threats of harm, used to elicit eroticized responses from female children. A sizable number of incest (61%) and pedophilic offenders (58%) confided they felt powerful and in control. One third of men in each group relied on some element of gratuitous violence (e.g., pushing, grabbing, shoving or spanking) to force compliance from unwilling children. Forty-eight (94%) incestuous and thirty-seven (74%) pedophilic men either pretended, or believed, the child enjoyed sexual activity with them. Most sex offenders exhibited stereotypic thinking about sex with children. All incest offenders and nearly half of the pedophiles assaulted children in their own home. The findings point to the slow, but deliberate, ‘grooming process’ used by men who erotically prefer children as sex partners over mature adults. Owing to their vulnerability, all children should be taught safety rules in the context of early sex education that promotes self-disclosure of any inappropriate sexual contact by a stranger, family member or trusted caregiver.