From: cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,ca.politics,ba.politics
Subject: The Mother of All Flame Wars, Part 4 of 4
Date: 5 Oct 92 16:01:57 GMT
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA


Characterstics of Offenders
---------------------------

A great many lies have been told by the homosexual community,
attempting to cover over the fact that those child molesters
who are primarily interested in young boys ARE homosexuals --
and quite dangerous, because they usually have much larger
numbers of victims than the sick creatures that go after
little girls.  One of the lies is that religious homes are
more likely to have child molestation problems in them.  Faller
discusses this issue, and while agreeing that some molesters
are members of "marginal religous cults" set up to provide a
social justification for child molestation, and some molesters
"turn to religion as a reaction formation, or in order to
cope with the gult and shame they feel about the sexual abuse,"
"sexually abusive behavior does not appear more prevalent among
religious people."[Faller, 193]

No apparent patterns of sexual abuse appear based on race,
though there is a clear pattern concerning state of family
origin:

    Indeed, in our sample, 45 percent of family, where previous
    location was known, were originally from Southern Appalachian
    states.  Probably more significant, however, is the fact
    that there tended to be multiple incestuous relationships
    in families of Southern origin.[Faller, 193]

Another lie told by the homosexual community concerns 
the average molester.  Guess what: it's seldom the biological
father.  Most of the studies found about 2% of molesters were
biological fathers.[Bagley & King, 77]  By comparison, the
greatest risk for females was the presence of a stepfather
or live-in boyfriend, and the corresponding absence of the
biological father.[Bagley & King, 73]

    A themes that pervades the preceding account of factors
    that contribute to a boy's lack of defense against molestation
    is the one of the absent father.[Everstine & Everstine,
    137]

I would hope that some of the concern about "family values"
will be a little more apparent by now.  The preservation of
families with the biological father and mother, when possible,
is an effective strategy for reducing the risks of child
molestation.

While "fixated pedophiles," the homosexuals who pursue primarily
little boys, are, by most studies, a minority of OFFENDERS, they 
cause a disproportionate percentage of VICTIMS, because they usually
have more victims per offender:

    Fixated offenders are characterized by persistent interest
    and compulsive behavior, with offences often preplanned.
    Male (same sex) victims are the prime targets (Groth, Hobson,
    and Gray 1982).  Treatment of these offenders is difficult
    as they are fixated at an earlier development stage, and
    have limited experience of successful sociosexual peer
    relationships.[Bagley & King, 184]

    A distinction should be drawn between two distinctly 
    different types of molesters.  Some pedophiles rape their
    victims; these psychopaths are similar to serial murderers,
    whose victims are for the most part chosen at random.  In
    essence, these people hate children.  The child who is assaulted
    is usually one who happens along at the wrong time and
    becomes a "target of opportunity."  By contrast, the vast
    majority of pedophiles actually seek a relationship with the
    victim, to whom they are attracted physically or psychologically
    or both.  The relationship, once established, is carefully
    cultivated by the molester.[Everstine & Everstine, 134]

By contrast, Faller describes the pedophile thusly:

    The perpetrator may have liasons with or even marry adults
    of the opposite sex, but those sexual relationships will
    be exceptions to the perpetrator's general sexual pattern
    and sexual preference.

    All the perpetrators in our sample are male, and there is
    no evidence in the literature of any female perpetrators
    who fit this classification.  Most of the victims in our
    sample are male, a finding also reflected in the literature
    (Groth, et al., in Conte and Shore 1982; Groth and Birnbaum
    1979).  This type of sexual abuse differs from those 
    described thus far in which the preponderance of victims is
    female.

    The perpetrators in our sample had all had sexual encounters
    as children, and there was evidence of a relationship between
    this childhood experience and sexual abuse as an adult.  The
    sexual abuse had a narcissistic quality to it that the
    perpetrator identified with the victim.  The victim was usually
    the same sex as the perpetrator, and frequently the victim
    was approximately the same age as the offender when he was
    victimized, and in a number of cases the sexual acts were the
    same.  In addition, the family backgrounds of perpetrators
    reflect deprivation and harsh treatment.

    Pedophilia is also characterized by victimization of multiple
    children, and the perpetrator's relationships with his victims
    are failry shallow.  Seduction or subterfuge to induce the
    victims to cooperate is found rather than the use of force.
    There is a compulsive pattern in the sexual abuse indicated
    not only by the multiple victimization but also by a
    repetitive, ritualistic pattern in the sexual behavior.
    Futhermore, offenders often describe themselves as unable
    to control their sexual behavior.

Now, here's the important point, from the standpoint of the Boy
Scouts, day care, etc.:

    Pedophiles often obtain positions where they have ready 
    access to their victims.  Thus, they may be scout masters, 
	camp counselors, day care center providers, teachers, or big
    brothers (O'Carroll 1980).  Some of these men appear to be
    quite well functioning in areas other than sexual, while
    others will have a number of areas of dysfunction.[Faller,
    85-86]

Many of the examples described in all of the books, involve 
Scoutmasters -- hence the very strong concern that the Boy
Scouts have about this problem.

I've posted fragments from an article written for _Redbook_
by Gene G. Abel, M.D., a researcher in the field of child
molestation.  I've attempted to get my hands on the scientific
study done by Dr. Abel at Emory University, but all I can get
are references to it.  So we must again stick to the popular
account that Abel and Harlow wrote:

    I've just completed an eight-year national study on child 
    molesters for the Antisocial and Violent Behavior Branch 
    of the National Institute of Mental Health.  The data I've 
    collected from interviews with, and physiologic laboratory 
    assessments of, 403 molesters is [sic] now being analyzed by 
    the Department of Psychiatry at Emory University in Atlanta.  
    This new information, collected with the help of five of my 
    colleagues in four different cities, reveals that men who 
    assault children have a surprisingly high number of victims.  
    The 403 molesters we evaluated had molested more than
    67,000 children.

    But we were most surprised by the high number of boys who 
    were victimized.  When we looked at the total number of 
    children who were molested--including those who were not 
    touched but were the object of such offenses as indecent
    exposure and window peeping--we found what we expected to find:  
    Little girls are molested most often.  However, when we looked 
    at only the more serious offenses--ones in which the child is 
    touched--we found that 63 percent of the children who are 
    sexually assaulted are little boys.  And not only do molesters 
    assault boys more often than they assault girls, but men
    who molest boys also have an astonishingly higher number of 
    victims--an average of 282 victims compared to an average of 23 
    victims among men who assault girls.
    
    ...

    It's often difficult to spot the man who might possibly molest 
    our children because we expect a molester to be a man who 
    displays many antisocial behaviors; and in the case of a 
    molester whose victims are little boys, we expect him to be 
    homosexual.  But in our study, we found that most men who 
    molest little boys are not gay.  Only 21 percent of the
    child molesters we studied who assault little boys were 
    exclusively homosexual.  Nearly 80 percent of the men who 
    molested little boys were heterosexual or bisexual, and most 
    of these men were married and had children of their own.
    [Gene G. Abel, M.D., with Nora Harlow, "The Child Abuser:
    How can you spot him?", _Redbook_, August, 1987, 98 --
    thoughtfully provided to me by Brian Evans (bevans@carina.unm.edu),
    who I suspect now regrets having provided me such a powerful
    piece of ammunition]

Along with the previous evidence that the professionals involved
in this area agree that a man having sex with a boy is homosexual
molestation, and the other sources, previously cited, to the
effect that fixated pedophiles prefer boys, not girls, it becomes 
clear that, "Nearly 80 percent of the men who molested little boys
were heterosexual or bisexual," is a very misleading statement.

But let's give the benefit of the doubt, and assume that nearly 
all of these "heterosexual" men having sex with boys of the same 
sex really aren't bisexuals.  Even the 21% that are exclusively 
homosexual, multiplied by the 63% of the victims that were boys, 
means that 13% of the MOLESTERS are exclusively homosexuals, and
the bisexuals doing this are going to be completely ignored.
Even then, because 4% or less of males are homosexual OR bisexual,
this means that homosexuals are AT LEAST three times their numbers in
the general population.  If we we could include bisexual molesters 
(which for some odd reason, were lumped with heterosexuals, contrary 
to common usage), the disproportion of homosexuals and bisexuals 
would of course be much higher.

Let's take the definition of homosexual molestation used by all
three of the specialized books consulted for this report.  If we
use Dr. Abel's numbers, then 63% of the most serious offenses
involve homosexuals or bisexuals -- in which case, they are about
nine times their proportion in the population.

Let's use the numbers in Masters, Johnson, & Kolodny, for the number
of offenders, by sex of victims.  The victims of 70% of child 
molesters are exclusively female; molesters who victimize both 
sexes, 4% (the victims of bisexuals); molesters who victimize 
just boys, 26%.  This would mean that homosexuals and bisexuals 
comprise 30% of molesters -- or about 8-10 times their proportion 
in the population.  (There are some small number of females who 
molest boys, girls, or both, but these are a tiny fraction, and 
usually are teenaged victims themselves, acting out their anger 
on children under their charge).

Hyde's book tells us, "Actually, most child molesting is done by
heterosexual men to little girls; 80 percent of child molesting
is in that category, and only 20 percent is homosexual (McCaghy,
1971)."[Hyde, 422]  It seems rather odd that Hyde neglects to cite
any of the more recent works on the subject, most of which indicate
more homosexual molestation, but even using 20%, this shows that
homosexuals are at least five times overrepresented among 
molesters.



Conclusions
-----------

It appears that the psychiatric community, at least that part
of it specialized in childhood sexual abuse, recognizes:

1. that child molestation is, at least for some, a recruitment
device into homosexuality, or may encourage a person to become 
homosexual;

2. that the child molesters who prefer little boys are homosexuals,
even if closeted;

3. that this category of molesters are prone to take positions
of trust and authority, and abuse young boys.

I think the strong parallels between homosexuality, as represented
in the S.F. Gay Pride Parade & soc.motss, and childhood sexual
abuse, suggests a connection that needs more serious study.  It
would certainly justify a more careful re-evaluation of homosexuality
as "just another lifestyle."

I have not, now or ever, claimed that every homosexual is a
child molester.  I do suggest, however, that the disproportionate
number of child molestation offenses committed by homosexuals, and
the parallels to the behavior child sexual abuse victims, should 
give some serious pause to blithe assumptions about homosexuality's
healthiness.  The parallel to alcoholism seems stronger to me
every day.  I do not hate alcoholics, or homosexuals, but there are
some jobs I wouldn't want either to do, and I sure don't want to
smile and say, "That's nice" so that people with serious problems
to resolve can stay in their dysfunctional state.

I would be the first to admit that there are doubtless people engaged
in research in the field of child sexual abuse who would come to 
different conclusions from the sources cited here.  I won't claim 
that these sources are THE authorities, and that everyone else is
wrong.  But at a minimu, it will be obvious that many of the
statements I have made over the last year or so are at least a 
respectable opinion to hold.  I have been accused of being a bigot, 
fool, mentally ill, etc. for taking positions that I discover are
either held by experts in the field, or that can be supported from
the data that is available.  

We as a nation are advancing down a path towards guarantees of 
employment, housing, and legal recognition of homosexuality as an
"alternative lifestyle," when there is some legitimate reason 
to wonder if we have been sold a bill of goods about homosexuality.  
Further, the disturbing parallels between homosexuality and child 
sexual abuse victims, and the unpleasant correlation between male 
homosexuality and pedophilia, should make us a bit more skeptical 
of the claim that any job in which we would put a straight person, 
we can comfortably and without asking questions, put a homosexual.
-- 
Clayton E. Cramer {uunet,pyramid}!optilink!cramer  My opinions, all mine!
Lesson learned from Gov. Wilson's signing of AB 2601: if you don't get 
your way, have a riot.  Next time, Gov. Wilson will cower appropriately.