Dirty Secrets - Parts 1 - 4
Dirty Secrets, Part 1 Burlington, Vermont - November 27, 2006 The numbers are alarming. Federal researchers say one in four girls and one in five boys will be victimized by a child molester. But police say only 10-percent of those cases are reported to authorities. Contrary to popular perception, most children are victimized by the people closest to them. Night falls and doors lock to keep potential predators out. Strangers lurking after dark frighten parents. But the biggest threat to children may already be inside the home any time of the day. "98 percent of the time the child knows the person offending on them," said Sgt. Bruce Bovat. Fathers, grandfathers, brothers, uncles, baby-sitters -- the most common child sex offenders. "You can't judge a book by its cover," said Sgt. Bovat. "I've heard it too many times. I never would have thought it was them." CUSI -- the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations -- deals with sex crimes against children. A specially trained task force works under one roof -- the Childrens' Advocacy Center in Burlington. "It's not the typical cop shop," said Sgt. Bovat. CUSI investigates nearly 4-hundred sex crimes a year in Chittenden County alone. 75-percent of the victims are kids. "It's the dirty little secret in the past nobody wanted to talk about.," said Sgt. Bovat. "My father told me not to tell and children are raised to obey their parents," said Joyce Allan, whose father began abusing her when she was just three years old. For seven years, she suffered his unwanted touch. For decades, she's tried to deal with the shame and the feeling she had done something wrong. "He most often would molest me at bed time during the bed time stories and tuck in. It doesn't take much to silence a child. It will always be the saddest part of my life," she said. Allan went through years of therapy and she was not her father's only victim. He molested dozens of other kids too. "People who didn't know he was a pedophile thought he was a remarkable man," said Allan. Child sex abuse has been called an epidemic, made worse in recent years by online predators. Grown men using the internet to find underage victims. The computer brings a new threat inside the home. "It's a pervasive problem," said Burlington Deputy Chief Mike Schirling. Vermont police investigate thousands of online child luring cases a year. The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force handles many of them. On this day, Sergeant Kris Carlson joins a chat room searching for child predators by posing as a 14 year old girl. And it doesn't take long. 24 men quickly respond. One online chatter calls himself T-5-F-2-9. A few minutes into the conversation he asks 'you're 18 right? I know. But say right.' Mind you -- this is after the officer already claimed to be 14. The officer responds 'you know I'm 14 silly.' T-5-F-2-9 turns his web cam on. "He's wearing what looks like a women's bathing suit," said Sgt. Carlson. 22 minutes after his initial contact T-5-F-2-9 exposes himself on camera. "These, primarily guys, who are doing this are targeting kids not only because they have a proclivity to offend on kids but also because youth have lower inhibitions," said Deputy Chief Schirling. Police eventually located T-5-F-2-9, whose real name is Tom Arsenault. The 25 year-old father from Highgate now faces lewd and lascivious charges. Investigators say online chat can lead to cyber-sex with kids and often times actual meetings. "You can essentially search for your future victim," said Sgt. Bovat. Child predators befriend potential victims and gain their trust -- what therapists call "grooming." Those meetings can have devastating results. But at this one, police would catch a predator. Investigators watched as 47-year-old William Rangnow of St. Albans entered the mall in Burlington. He allegedly came here looking for a teenage girl he met online. Police met him instead. "For some of these adult men in these chat rooms, just having cyber sex and receipt of pictures it's enough to satisfy sexual interests. For many it's not," said Deputy Chief Schirling. While there are no formal statistics, Vermont investigators say in their experience men who have abused children in their own lives are increasingly turning to the internet to satisfy their urges. And by building a false trust, victims no longer consider these predators to be strangers. They act like friends and sometimes fill a void in their family-life. Darren Perron - Channel 3 News http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=5735349

Dirty Secrets, Part 2 Burlington, Vermont - November 28, 2006 "It wasn't just one day I woke up and said I think I am going to offend today," said a convicted sex offender, we're calling "Corey" so he can't be identified. The 45 year-old knows the internal struggles of sex offenders. His case is typical of what most investigators see. His victim -- a girl he knew. Other sex offenders use the web. Police say Lawrence Lizotte preyed on young girls via the internet and lured them into sex. "Offenders can play a role that they couldn't play in person," said Burlington Deputy Police Chief Mike Schirling. Some abduct kids. James Stephens allegedly snatched a 9 year-old from her backyard in Burlington and planned to assault her behind Price Chopper. "Just don't pick them out by their looks," said Sgt. Bruce Bovat. Sex crimes vary. And how the state classifies sex offenders does too -- from high risk to low risk. Here's where the state keeps track of its more than 24-hundred registered sex offenders. The Vermont Crime Information Center -- where on average five sex offenders are added to the registry each month. "It's grown. It's grown a lot," said Sheri Englert, who runs the sex offender registry. Those considered high-risk have multiple convictions, failed to complete treatment, offend on boys, or chose their victims at random and the state expects they'll re-offend. First-time offenders who abuse someone they know are often considered low-risk. And it was low-risk offender Mark Hulett who made national headlines. The admitted child molester repeatedly abused a little girl he baby-sat. It wasn't just his crime that led to public outcry. But Hulett's jail sentence too. Judge Edward Cashman sentenced Hulett to a minimum of 60 days in jail. A firing squad of critics called for Cashman to resign immediately. "I really have a genuine belief that people can change," Judge Cashman told Channel 3's Darren Perron. Cashman says the sentence was justified. He wanted Hulett to receive sex offender treatment as soon as possible. But under rules at the time, Hulett's low-risk classification meant he could only be treated in the community after his jail term. "Incarceration alone, especially lengthy incarceration alone, dehabilitates more than rehabilitates," said Judge Cashman. Under public pressure, the Vermont Corrections Department made treatment available to all sex offenders in prison including those deemed low risk. "I didn't go in there to change the system. I've been given the credit," said Judge Cashman. "I think that particular decision was the high point of my career. I made my greatest contribution as a judge." Cashman says he believes strongly in the treatment that's going on in Vermont prisons. "Somehow or another when we get to sentencing, people think we resolved the problem. We haven't. The problem fixing starts with sentencing. This guy is going to be back in society unless they get a life term. What's he going to be like he gets back?" said Judge Cashman. But the jury's out on whether treatment really prevents sexual predators from re-offending. "There is a mixed bag on whether any of the stuff that we force people to do works," said Judge Mark Keller. He called the effectiveness of treatment into question earlier this month. Judge Keller pointed to a study out of Washington which suggests treatment at a correctional center there does not work. Keller rejected a plea deal which called for treatment and 60 days in jail for admitted child molester James Campbell. "This is not pure treatment. This is also punishment," Judge Keller told Campbell. "The main objective of our treatment program is to stop sexual abuse," said Georgia Cumming. She oversees sex offender treatment in Vermont. Cumming points to other studies that say programs here do prevent child predators from re-offending. "95-percent of the men who completed treatment were not rearrested for another sexual offense," said Cumming. Convicted child molester "Corey" says he's proof treatment works. "It's untreatable for the person that doesn't want to change. For the person that does want to change, it is treatable and people can go on and live successful lives without making another person a victim," he said. After the Vermont Corrections Department changed its policy about treatment Judge Cashman extended Mark Hulett's sentence to at least 3 years in jail. Darren Perron - Channel 3 News http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=5741489

Dirty Secrets, Part 3 St. Albans, Vermont - November 29, 2006 "Treatment has helped me be a different person," said a sex offender, we're calling "Corey." He sexually abused a teenage girl he knew. "Corey" has been out of jail for 6 months after a 4 year prison term and two years of sex offender treatment. He's a father holding down a new job in Central Vermont. "As times goes on, it gets easier and easier," Corey said. He's trying to live by what he learned in jail. Lessons these men at the state prison in St. Albans are tackling too. Doors close and discussions begin. The men range in age from 19 to 63. Years apart -- with one thing in common. They're all child sex offenders. "There's nothing that's uniform about them except they're convicted of a sexual offense," said Sarah Morrison, a prison therapist. The inmates must attend this meeting twice a week to talk about their dirty secrets. This is sex offender treatment. Pedophiles and internet predators gather in a circle. They share stories about their crimes and confront each other about owning up to them. "All of our work is done in a group setting," said Morrison. "Nobody knows better than them about what they're dealing with," said Doug Nelson, a prison therapist. Sex offender treatment works much like drug and alcohol treatment. "They can learn how to manage their behavior so they don't drink again and we use the same approach with sex offenders," said Georgia Cumming. She oversees sex offender treatment for the Vt. Department of Corrections. But instead of 12 steps, there are seven -- aimed at teaching sex offenders to take responsibility for their crimes and control their deviant sexual urges. Therapists require sex offenders to view their crimes from the victims perspective. They teach empathy during class and through homework projects. Sex offenders in treatment all live together to keep them focused on their lessons and to help guards keep an eye on them: Constant monitoring to try to prevent inmates from conning their way through the program. "There sort of in a fish bowl," said Nelson. "Is treatment making a difference? Clearly it's making a difference and made a difference in my life," said Corey. Corey continues to battle his demons using what he learned in treatment. "I have had these thoughts for 20 to 25 years and you can't just expect them to go away," he said. "When you do have them, you do something about it, like coping responses or talk about it in group. Will I always have to keep an eye on that? Absolutely." Corey continues his treatment at community based sites. There are nine spread across Vermont. He says treatment is crucial for all sex offenders and says it's the only way to stop them from re-offending. The state also requires periodic lie detector tests. "Anyone who has committed a sexual offense should be doing treatment," he said. Treatment began in Vermont in 1982. The Corrections Department says its programs continue to be modeled in other states because of their success rates. A recent study shows 95-percent of child sex abusers who complete treatment do not re-offend. "We're looking at reduction. I don't think we can ever say we will eliminate re-offenses," said Cumming. That's what frightens victims and their families. That five-percent who, despite treatment, will target another innocent child. "They ruin a child's life," said a mother we're calling "Susan." She suffered every parent's worst nightmare. Her young son was sexually abused by a family friend who's awaiting trial. Susan says Vermont's children would be safer if molesters were locked up for good. "Justice would be life because that's what they give each and every child that they offend,"she said. "He (my son) went through a period in his life where he didn't want to live and thinks its his fault. I think it's just to pacify people to say they're going to get treatment because chances are it's not going to work." Darren Perron - Channel 3 News http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=5747081

Dirty Secrets, Part 4 Burlington, Vermont - November 30, 2006 "I was heart broken went thru a long period of grief and guilt," says Joyce Allan. For decades, she never talked about the horror that went on inside her home. Her father molested her for years as a child. She's part of a startling statistic. Federal researchers say one in four girls and one in five boys will be molested. "It's always been there. It's just coming out more," says Sgt. Bruce Bovat of the Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations. Allan's father was a pedophile who victimized dozens of kids. Anger over sex abusers like him have many people calling for longer prison terms in Vermont. This year the Legislature passed mandatory minimum sentences. For example, first-time offenders convicted of aggravated sexual assault get at least five years in jail. "We have to be vigilant. We have to lock up people who cannot be rehabilitated," she says. But some prosecutors fear mandatory minimums may handicap court cases and prevent plea deals with child rapists. "In my judgement, they're a bad idea," says Bobby Sand. Windsor County State's Attorney Bobby Sand opposes mandatory minimums. He says they force more cases to go to trial. "The offender willing to accept responsibility is unwilling to accept the mandatory minimum," says Sand. "And the reality is that more cases will result in not guilty verdicts, as opposed to a guilty judgement by virtue of a plea deal being reached." Investigators express concern too. Child sex cases are difficult to prove. Often times there's little physical evidence. If there's a trial victims must typically testify in front of their abuser. About 50 percent end in not guilty verdicts. "I want to see the most severe punishment handed down. But we also have to weigh in the factors the impact to that child. And if child gets justice with no impact to them in the court system, for a lesser degree, that may be the better of the two," says Sgt. Bovat. Currently Vermont has two special sex crime investigation units. One serves Chittenden County, the other Franklin and Grand Isle Counties. By 2009 every county will have a specially trained task force to deal with child sex crimes. Right now law enforcement officials say some predators are slipping through the cracks. "You need these special skills to deal with these crimes. Not just for evidence but you need to know what your victims are going through," says Bovat. Some want the state to expand its online sex offender registry to allow the public to keep better track of child molesters. Right now only 300, or about 12-percent, of the state's 2,400 registered sex offenders can be viewed on the web. "Those particular 298 have met the criteria for internet posting," explains Sheri Englert of the Vermont Crime Information Center. They have multiple convictions, failed to complete treatment, or didn't notify the registry they moved. The online registry provides limited details about their crimes. And only tells you what county they live in. "Most states do provide exact address information. Most states post most if not all of their sex offenders," says Englert. "They can use that information to help keep themselves safe." Another proposal is the civil confinement bill. Governor Jim Douglas, R-Vermont, is expected to once again put pressure on lawmakers to pass it this coming session. It would allow the state to hold the most violent offenders after completing their jail time if they refuse treatment. The Department of Corrections estimates one inmate a year would be civil confined. Cost and concerns over legality have held up the proposal in the past. But others argue it's the best way to keep our kids safe. Darren Perron - Channel 3 News http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=5753144