One of the hot topics on minti lately has ben about pedophiles and child sex offenders. The info I am providing you here is from class notes I have taken in my studies and came from a child safety manager and former corrections employee. Some of the info

Child Sex Offender CSO - one who is actually convicted of sex crime/s against a child/children.

Pedophile - is a clinical diagnosis of a paraphelia of the nature of attraction to children.

There are two types of offenders:

opportunistic offend randomly in public to unknown, unsupervised children.

predator is known to the victim, they groom the child and create a sense of dependancy.

CSO Facts

• 99% are male, 89% are known to the victim
• predators are very manipulative, articulate and patient (generally)
• they wait until they have the victims trust before they act
• they have power/authority over the child and make them feel special/important
• they have hobbies that are of interest to children
• choose to volunteer/work in child related areas
• try to partener with the parents of the children they are attracted to
• they seek out children with similar characteristics (eg an attraction to children with long dark hair and freckles )
• seek out children with previous history of abuse or neglect (eg children of parents with hard drug dependancies are easy targets)
• Sometimes they have thier own history of being abused
• they are socially enept with those of thier own age group
• move frequently ( a common occupation is truck driving)
• They become involved in the activities thier victim is involved in
• they have an idealised/romanticised vision of the child
• predators seek out children starved of attention

Grooming of a victim

• exploitation of trust
• they isolate the victim from thier supports (family, friends)
• exploite influence on the victim and make themselves more important than thier parents
• they provide expensive gifts, outings and holidays
• they desensitise the child to nudity, sexual material and touch
• they then advance to physical contact on demand ( the child will recognise a signal, word, expression or behaviour from the offender as a cue)
• these signals may be as subtle as a grunt
• they then increase the victims dependance on the offender
• they use threats post-offence to co-erce the child not to tell about the act

Signs to look out for

• signs of grooming can be hard to detect but here are some to be aware of
• the child is given age innappropriate gifts eg lingerie
• anxiety levels of victims are noticible when discussing the offender
• child performs complex or unusual behaviour on demand
• the child is overly concerned with thier safety
• the child disengages from the conversation if it becomes too sensitive for them to handle (just stares at the wall and completely blocks out the conversation)
• they may change topic or decide they have to look for something
• display agression
• they may withdraw from family, friends, activities
• may display self-harm, self-mutilation, talk about death
• may discard hygiene practises in an effort to make themseles less attractive

A child usually will not diclose the abuse until it stops or is discovered. These may be brought on by a break created away from the offender.

I hope this info helps some one and provides a little insight into thier behaviours.

I only have one other thing to add.

Never, ever force a child to show affection or approach someone they don't want to. This makes them feel that adults have the right to control them and their body.