Opinion ID: 4014894
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The mental health assessment

Text: Based on a two-and-a-half hour interview with Petitioner, along with the consideration of several documents, a licensed psychologist working with DHMH made several findings regarding Petitioner’s account of the instant offense, Petitioner’s background, and Petitioner’s mental status. The psychologist also performed a structured risk assessment, and rendered conclusions and recommendations. Concerning Petitioner’s account of the instant offense, the psychologist noted that Petitioner “was very guarded and superficial in his discussion and had to be redirected to describe the events.” According to the assessment, Petitioner stated that the occasions B. had seen his penis were “inadvertent” and “not purposeful.” Petitioner remarked that “when he sat on the couch he slouched so that his shorts or pants went low on his hips and that he put his hands in the waistband of his pants.” Petitioner stated his belief that “everyone sits like that[,]” and as a result, B. was able to view the tip of his penis. Petitioner reported that the incident at the grocery store was simply horseplay where he “was pinching” and “accidently got her chest.” Petitioner reported that he was upset about the charges against him, and opined that “he does not believe that his crime is a sex offense.” Regarding Petitioner’s background, he reported to the psychologist that “his sexual fantasies and behavior have always been heterosexual[]” and “[h]e denied any sexual behavior or fantasies involving men.” Petitioner reported that, after he graduated high school and moved to North Carolina, he began “‘talking with girls’ via text over the phone.” According to Petitioner, these girls would send him pictures and he “got into a porn addiction[,]” where he would use online dating sites to trade sexually explicit photos -4- with “freakier girls.” Petitioner informed the psychologist that he moved to Maryland in an attempt to stop this behavior, but began “engaging in the … phone exchanges[]” when “his relationship with his girlfriend [(Marisa)] worsened.” The psychologist noted that, in an interview with police, Petitioner acknowledged using an internet chat room to exchange pictures with girls who were 15 and 16 years old. Petitioner stated “that his exhibitionist behavior and fantasies all involved texts and phone messages, and denied exhibitionism in person.” According to the psychologist, Petitioner “normalized his behavior” and his “level of insight was poor.” Concerning Petitioner’s mental status, Petitioner was diagnosed with “[e]xhibitionist [d]isorder – pre-pubertal child victim” and “sexual abuse of a child – perpetrator”: Exhibitionist disorder is diagnosed when an individual obtains recurrent and intense sexual arousal from the exposure of genitals to an unsuspecting person and has acted on these urges with a non-consenting person. Through his behavior on the internet and by texting, [Petitioner] gained arousal and sexual satisfaction including ejaculation through sending pictures of himself to others. In the instant case he furthered this behavior by exposing himself to an unsuspecting and non-consenting person, the pre-pubertal victim. The risk assessment revealed that Petitioner exhibited a moderate risk of engaging in further acts of sexual violence. Using an actuarial assessment tool for quantifying the risk of sexual violence, the psychologist concluded that Petitioner was in the 78th percentile among adult male sexual offenders, with the 100th percentile being the most likely to reoffend. As a result, Petitioner’s “risk of sexual re-offending, relative to other sex offenders, [was] estimated at being almost twice that of other sex offenders.” The assessment noted that “[r]isk factors for re-offending in [Petitioner’s] case include his -5- young age, history of repetitive problematic sexual behavior, and his lack of awareness of the potential impact of his behavior on a very young victim.” The assessment’s conclusion remarked that “[Petitioner] has a history of engaging in sexual behavior with young adolescents[,]” and “his lack of caution and inhibition in engaging in sexualized behavior in front of girls under 18 is problematic.”