Thursday, March 12, 2009

Sex Offenders, Dr. Bacchus, My Response

My friend posted some thoughts he received on a phone call he got early one morning informing him that a “sex offender” had moved in to his zip code.  You should read his thoughts.  Several people have responded, and I did too.  However, I also wanted to post my response here as well.

========= my response =========

Statistics:

The sexual victimization of children is overwhelming in magnitude yet largely unrecognized and underreported. Research indicates that 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys will be sexually victimized before adulthood.

[D. Finkelhor. “Current Information on the Scope and Nature of Child Sexual Abuse.” The Future of Children: Sexual Abuse of Children, 1994, volume 4, page 37.]

(source:  http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2815 )

These numbers are based on what was reported and are outdated (1994) and do not include internet exploitation.  Many people who know about these things believe that the number for boys is higher, but they don’t have statistics to prove it.  They just keep finding more and more instances of it not being reported.  (and, yes, I have sent an e-mail to them asking them to update their numbers)

“Approximately one in seven youth online (10 to 17 years-old) received a sexual solicitation or approach over the Internet.
Four percent (4%) received an aggressive sexual solicitation — a solicitor who asked to meet them somewhere; called them on the telephone; or sent them offline mail, money, or gifts.
Thirty-four percent (34%) had an unwanted exposure to sexual material — pictures of naked people or people having sex.
Children revealed 27% of these episodes of unwanted exposure to sexual material to a parent or guardian.  Children reported 42% of the distressing encounters – episodes that made them feel very or extremely upset or afraid – to a parent or guardian.
[David Finkelhor, Kimberly J. Mitchell, and Janis Wolak. Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later. Alexandria, Virginia: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2006, pages 7-8, 33.] “

(source:  http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2815 )

I know lots of kids.  Probably am “close” to 30-35.  Presuming that half are of each sex, that means I know 17(ish) of each.  If the statistics are accurate and if they apply to the specific group that I know (which, of course, I hope and pray that they are not!), then that means that 3-4 of the girls and 1-2 of the boys have been sexually exploited or will be by the time they are adults. 

Other statistics, by the way, put this at 1:3 for girls and 1:6 for boys.

The thought of this happening to 4-6 of “my kids” is enough to make me start carrying a very sharp knife and doing some exploiting of my own. 

These kids are the victims.  The exploiters are, well, the exploiters.  Studies have shown that a person committing this particular group of crimes has an extremely small chance of being rehabilitated and a very large chance of recommitting.

You said that alienation is one of the outcomes of these telephone calls.  I think you are absolutely correct.  While as a Christian, I am called to forgive their sins, I am also told that that which is done do the least of these is done to Christ.  I am told to love the sinner, but hate the sin.  I am also aware that although sins can be forgiven, the consequences of those sins must be dealt with and do not go away. 

I’ve been doing a lot of contemplation about sin and forgiveness and confession recently (thanks to Father Justin).  Sin, I have been told affects the entire community.  This is why the early Christians did public confessions.  The church found this impractical as it grew and moved away from public confessions to confessions with the priest there as the witness who stands in for the community. 

I believe that these particular groups of crimes that gets the criminal labled a “sex offender” is a good example of the communal affect the sin has.  The question is, how should the community react to this sin?

Resources: 
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children:
http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=218
Cyber Tip Line:  http://www.cybertipline.com
Report adult obscenity that does not include children to http://www.obscenitycrimes.org.
Confessing in the Presence of a Priest:  http://www.oca.org/QA.asp?ID=154&SID=3

========= end my response =========