Opinion ID: 4566520
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Dr. Guidry's Assessment

Text: On September 18, 2018, at the request of his attorney, Benoit met with a psychologist, Dr. Laurie L. Guidry (an expert hired by the defendant), for a psychosexual risk assessment. Benoit reported that he started masturbating to images of child sexual abuse when he was twenty-three years old (he was twentyseven when he was arrested in this case). Benoit explained he learned he could download pornographic videos and started to view pornography that depicted pre-teens and then prepubescent females. While he did not prefer a particular age group, he did not like toddlers and babies, so, if he was searching for pornography, he would search for content depicting children aged nine years and older. Though he sometimes downloaded pornography that included the torture of children, Benoit said that he was not interested in material that indicated force. He also acknowledged that he understood children could not consent to sexual activity, and he again denied that he ever pursued or engaged in sexual contact with a child. At age eight, he divulged, he and his four-year- - 4 - old step-sister engaged in sexual misconduct.1 When his parents discovered this behavior, they stopped it and got Benoit into counseling. Dr. Guidry diagnosed Benoit with patterns of social anxiety hindering his ability to have comfortable interpersonal relationships and Dysthymic Disorder because he presented with symptoms of a generally depressed mood. Dr. Guidry determined that when comparing Benoit to other child pornography offenders, he present[ed] a relatively low risk for recidivating with a contact sexual offense. This was based, in part, on what Dr. Guidry described as Benoit's social phobia and reluctance to establish interpersonal connections making it unlikely he would act on a sexual interest in children. Dr. Guidry further opined that Benoit's risk of committing another online sexual offense was elevated if untreated but manageable if his psychological vulnerabilities are adequately addressed in treatment.