Posted on 02/27/2002 10:38:50 PM PST by FresnoDA
(02-27-2002) - The case of Danielle van Dam only adds to the fears of parents. It's the fear of sexual predators; where they live, who they are, and how many are there?
The truth is, we really don't know how many sexual predators are out there.
“We don't have a good number on how many people are predisposed, because some of these people live their entire lives, one, without getting caught, or two, without ever acting on their impulses. But we have no idea how many people are out there with these types of behaviors buried in them,” said Sgt. Dave Jones of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Between 4,000 and 4,500 convicted sexual predators are registered in the county and they break down into two groups. The situational sex offender accounts for the majority of in-family molestation cases.
“It’s like an opportunistic burglar. They take what they can find. One time it might be a 14 or 15-year-old, the next time it might be a 35-year-old,” said Sgt. Jones.
The second type is the preferential sex offender.
“You could describe a preferential child molester, or the people called pedophiles, as a compulsive child molester," said Lt. William D. Southwell Sheriff's Department.
And, contrary to what you might think, this predator can look just like the person next door.
They tend to be intelligent. They tend to be successful, holding good jobs that pay well. They tend to be technologically adept, frequently meeting their prey on the internet, and they'll make careful plans to further that relationship.
According to the best studies, they are hard-wired to their perverted thoughts.
“They definitely have patterns of behavior that would be harder to change. It would be like saying can you go to therapy and become a heterosexual or a homosexual because of the therapy. I don’t think it works that way for preferential child molesters,” said Lt. Southwell.
To avoid this creep, talk to your kids about stranger dangers and make sure you keep talking.
“Absolutely most important is always maintain open lines of communication with your kids,” said Sgt. Jones.
And if you or your kids see something strange, report it.
(And keep your doors locked, don't invite groups of strangers over for late night pizza parties(!) and make it a habit of always checking on your children over the course of a day!) FDA
Again, if it happened to me, I would be talking to a priest every day. And, no neighbor would have to call a priest for me.
When Pierce, from the Millinium Children's Fund, came over, Damon refused to pray with him. Hmmmmmm....
That's a good bartender....
And then there are those nights where you get out out of bed to be sure you locked the door, even when you KNOW did before going to bed. It's the parental OCD thing.
Here where I live, the police fine you after their second trip to the home due to an alarm sounding. We had to shut off the police-notification part of our system because the dog kept setting off by jumping on the glass door. She is probably more effective than the alarm anyway. BTW, alarms can be set to go off only in the house, quietly, without waking the neighborhood.
Tooday I went into my sizterz ruum and red her diree, she reely likes Matt. Im tellng Mom"
My daughter wrote this in her diary when she was 7. Cute, huh?
No, I don't believe he really has a LE source. Why have no other better known and more respected journalists been able to verify or come up with their own LE sources. LE is not talking or leaking. I think RR is doing an exaggerated riff on chat room gossip and claiming a "source" for CYA lawsuit protection. Journalist/media make up sources all the time. It is a huge problem at even the best news agencies.
Chat room gosssip is not believable, DW or his friends could be the source of that gossip, themselves, as cover. It hasn't been verified in 3 weeks, fast approaching the Bovine Scat Fan.
My alarm system is my dog who is undoubedly the world's biggest wuss. But, he sounds like a tough guy and that's what matters.
The main point is that the blame ultimately rests solely on the killer. The most excellent and dedicated of parents can lose their child in a few minutes to a determined pedeophile. Those are the real reptiles we should be going after instead of micro-examining the parents.
The key here is the word believe. As it happens, some of us do believe he has a LE source. Thing is, neither side can prove it--yet. And that means your opinion is worth no more than anyone else's.
I don't find any point of disagreement with your post under the majority of circumstances. However, there are exceptions to the norm.
If these parents participated in the things that have been rumored, they may have either been too lax with strangers, etc. or even have exposed their daughter to dangers and perversions within her own home.
You don't know any more than I do and until more facts are established, there are any number of scenarios possible. You may want to think that Damon and Brenda van Dam are June and Ward Cleaver, but I have serious doubts.
I think this couple may have much to regret and much to hide, even if it isn't directly connected to the horror brought upon their child.
When things in the home of the victim are less than acceptable (by most standards) it is beyond foolish to ignore it.
If it is shown that their hands are clean, so be it. But to never look or ask questions because they are the mother and father is irresponsible......period !!!!!!
Let me just say that my son-in-law is LE in a city of San Diego County and he has a number of friends who are LE in various cities throughout SD County.
He told me about the "swinging" the second or third day of Danielle's disappearance. It was some time before I heard about Roberts' story. Son-in-law didn't say this is absolute fact, but he did indicate that a fellow LE in the area had told him about it. So FWIW.........Roberts is likely telling the truth about his source.
We don't want to think that LE would want to harm the case before trial by spreading info about the case, but it happens. Much like we don't want to think or believe that these upper middle class parents could indirectly have been a player in their daughter's disappearance by their alleged actions that night.
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