By Anne Krueger
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER  March 3, 2002 David Westerfield is a twice-divorced design engineer who was little noticed in his suburban Sabre Springs neighborhood except when he washed his motor home or repaired cars in his driveway. Yet, prosecutors say, Westerfield had another side that none of his neighbors knew about. Police searching his home in connection with the disappearance of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam say they found child pornography. Officials say Westerfield kidnapped Danielle for sexual purposes, then killed her. Danielle's body was discovered Wednesday in Dehesa. Westerfield, who lived two doors away from the van Dams, is in jail without bail, charged with murder, kidnapping and possession of child pornography. Could Westerfield, 50, have been a pedophile who hid his sexual interest in children for years? Experts say that pedophilia is a lifelong condition that most try to keep secret because of the shame and stigma associated with it. No one knows how many pedophiles there are because no large-scale surveys have been done. And, because most never act on their sexual fantasies, researching the issue is problematic. "If they don't act out and don't get caught, it's unlikely that people will know they are pedophiles," said David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. Sometimes, though, the urge becomes too overwhelming or pressures build too high. "Occasionally we do see people who have been law-abiding pedophiles for years who suddenly commit an offense due to overwhelming stress," said Park Dietz, a Newport Beach forensic psychiatrist who has conducted numerous studies on sex offenders and who is frequently an expert witness in such cases. Dietz emphasized that he was not talking specifically about Westerfield's case. Dietz said a sexual interest in children usually develops in early adolescence, and is a sexual orientation just like an interest in men or women. Pedophiles can be attracted to either boys or girls. Virtually all known pedophiles are male, but they share few characteristics in common other than that. Some are married, but most are not. Pedophiles tend to be somewhat socially isolated, with few adult friends, Dietz notes, but even that is only a weak indicator for pedophiles. "The only tremendously strong characteristic is wanting to be around children," he said. "Normal adults, particularly men, don't want to be around other people's children unless they're being paid for it." Pedophiles can come from all classes of society. Recent child molestation cases in San Diego County have involved a physician, a children's counselor, an electrician, an advertising salesman, a pastor and a former Navy pilot. Pedophilia is classified as a mental disorder characterized by sexual fantasies or urges involving children younger than 13. Some pedophiles prefer boys or girls in a particular age range. A slaying of a child by a pedophile is extremely rare, said psychologist Fred Berlin, founder of the Sex Disorders Clinic at Johns Hopkins University and one of the nation's leading experts on pedophilia. "The overwhelming majority of people with pedophilia are not murderers," he said. "There's no higher frequency among pedophiles than among the general population." Finkelhor said pedophiles often befriend their young victims rather than abduct them. "The people who abduct are the kinds of pedophiles who don't seem to have the social skills that would give them access to kids. They resort to this more coercive strategy for fulfilling their desires," he said. "Frequently they murder the children as a way to try to keep them quiet." The Internet has drastically changed the way pedophiles operate. Now they can use computers to download pornographic pictures, make contact with other pedophiles and lure young children through Internet chat rooms. "The Internet is putting (child pornography) in a very readily available location," Berlin said. "They can access material in a way they had not been able to do before." Berlin said pedophiles who otherwise wouldn't have access to child pornography may be more likely to get it from the Internet because of the ease of obtaining it in their own home. But, he cautioned, "lots of people will look at pictures and won't go out and kidnap and murder a child." |
Police say they may never know how Danielle van Dam died, or when. The seven-year-old girl disappeared from her San Diego home February first. Authorities are now confirming that a child's body found by volunteer searchers Wednesday is that of the missing child. The district attorney says an autopsy performed confirmed her identity yesterday. The identification was made through dental records because of the condition of the body. Medical examiners are trying to determine the cause of death, but Police Chief Dave Bejerano says it's possible that we'll never know how, or when she was killed. A neighbor has been charged with kidnapping and murdering her. Authorities say they found the girl's blood on his clothing and in his motor home. He has pleaded innocent.
PLEA ARRANGEMENTS IN DISCUSSION?
"My little one is having a hard time sleeping," said Janie Goggins as her 9-year-old daughter Shelby wrote a message to Danielle in the book. "I thought it would be good for her to come here." 