Sex Offenders

Mark Foley. Until recently a congressman, now just another dirty old man.

One with a criminal twist. He likes teenaged boys.

I spent the greater portion of my career as a parole officer chasing down sex offenders. Let me tell you about them. There are generally two types of sex offenders. Those who are caught up in a crime simply because of age, i.e. the nineteen year old boy who gets caught with the sixteen year old girl. These type offenders are generally not a problem. They see the error of their ways and correct it. The other type, the classic "Chester-the-molester" will be the topic of the remainder of the discussion.

These guys are generally white males, aged 20 to 60. As time goes on, we are seeing more black offenders, but generally, the predatory sex offender is a white male. They share some general tendencies.

1. A sex offender doesn't believe what they do is illegal. Thru some defect of the mind, they have rationalized their behavior to the point where they think what they do is not only legal, but understandable. They are amazed that anyone else sees a problem with it.

2. A sex offender is normally fairly intelligent, at or above the average. They can rationalize their behavior to family, friends, victims and the police. They have rehearsed and they are good at it.

3. They are generally multiple offenders. If you've caught them with one victim, look around for others. There will be others.

4. A sex offender will try to deflect blame. They'll blame anything, including alcoholism, drug addictions, societal prejudice, and the victim for their plight. They don't believe they have done anything wrong, so it must be someone else's fault.

5. A sex offender will recidivate. Every time. They will do it again.

Sex offenders disgust me, but it doesn't surprise me that Foley was able to fool other congressmen and staff into believing that it wasn't really a problem. Sex offenders are very good at hiding what they do.

Should the Speaker resign? If he knew what was going on and didn't do anything about it, yes, he should resign. Should Rodney Alexander resign(my Congressman), the fellow who reportedly first learned about the problem? If he did anything to cover it up, yeah, he should resign.

Anyone who knows anything about a child molestor should go to the police. Make statements. Do everything possible to shed light on the offender.

Sex offenders are the lowest, vilest, most predatory criminals currently loosed on the public. Our children are safe only when they are locked up.