(My) Sex Criminal Archetypes

Child molestation cases (in my experience) tend to be matters consisting of four types(in decreasing order of occurence): 

First, an "adult" who is intellectually a child, or is obviously psychologically damaged in some way, perpetrates an act on a child.  The adult is more easily able to relate to the child as a peer rather than other adults and sees the child as a legitamate object of "love" or as an equally legitamate object of sexual desire because psychologically/mentally the child is a peer.  Defendants with mild mental retardation or severe and obvious psychological issues often fall into this category.

Second, an adult who, although psycholigically and/or mentally is an adult, has a prurient interest in children.  These individuals often are aware that what they are doing is wrong and have a greater or lesser degree of self-loathing with repect to their sexual interest in children.  Often these types of people are able to hide who they are-even from themselves.  In my experience they are the hardest clients to "figure out."  This type of client is also why I have a standard speech about suicide prevention whenever I take on a new client accused of a sex crime.

Third, a manipulative child who does not like a new family arrangement or who wants gain some other advantage can make an accusation to put the defendant on the defensive or to remove them from the household.  I have had these situations develop where the child does not like mother's new boyfriend/husband.  Among older children a situation can develop where an unrespected male custodian stands in the way of the child and a more desireable living situation such as her living with a boyfriend.  I actually had great success in one case by discovering that the accuser had previously told a child protective caseworker "What do I have to say [to get my grandfather removed as my guardian so I can live with my boyfriend's family]."

Fourth, an easily manipulated child is twisted into an accusation by a family member with an axe to grind.  This type of case, while the least common, is the most tragic.  Typically an ex-wife who has a manipulative and vindictive personality will put enormous pressure on a child to misinterpret or make up an instance that gets interpreted as sexual.  The motive is typically to further exclude the male from the child's life for a variety of reasons having nothing to do with the child's well-being. Such motives can include satisfying a need for increased control, a need to further conflict or sheer hatred of the male for reasons which are not usually rational.  The trick is to weed out the clients who fall into the first two categories who often try to paint this last category as thier situation.  Of course, as a defense attorney if I can argue the false inference I go for it!