Molester warns parents: kids were 'always interested'
Molester warns parents: kids were 'always interested' written & reported by: Jace Larson 1 month ago KUSA - A convicted sex offender who claims to have molested 221 children over a 25-year period says the easiest targets were children whose parents were not active in their lives. "The kinds of boys who were really easy to target and to get into those situations were boys who were fairly passive and who didn't have a lot of self confidence to start with and who didn't spend a lot of time doing things with their families," said Mark. 9NEWS agreed to call the man Mark, at his request. Mark told 9Wants to Know that while he has been open about his life to most family and his boss, he worries victims could be re-traumatized if his identity is revealed. Mark, a former music teacher, says he used music to get to victims. "I twisted it around as away to get access to boys and to control them," Mark told 9Wants to Know. "I was grooming those children to do what I wanted." He would have extra music rehearsals with boys to be alone with them one-on-one. "I could (use the lessons for) physical touching, often disguised as 'open your mouth wider' or 'use your stomach more.' I would touch them in places that might have otherwise been questionable to them," said Mark. "The more I did that the easier it was to do more." "In many cases it took only a few weeks or months at most before I would actually have them at least partially nude on my bed," Mark said in a matter-of-fact voice. Mark says he sought out boys because they were easier victims. He says he also molested a small number of girls early on, but found them more difficult to seduce. He says his oldest victim was 19 years old and his youngest was 8 to 10 years old. He would ask the boys to help him clean out his garage or invite them to a local swimming pool. "It was very easy to bring up the subject of sex. They were always interested. Nobody ever said, 'I don't like sex,'" Mark said. "Anytime I brought that up and I had something to stimulate them, it was a great opening. I could say, 'Have you ever tried this?' All of that was not so much to tell them what to do, but to desensitize them to the point where, 'I'm with my teacher, I can do these things. I can talk about these things. I shouldn't be shocked,'" Mark said. Mark wanted to tell his story because he believes parents can learn from his crimes. He says he'd target children who did not get attention from their parents. "I paid total 100 percent attention to whatever the boy was saying. You could just see the energy build up behind his eyes when he knew you were really listening. You weren't just waiting until he stopped talking to tell him what to do," Mark said. Mark says one way parents can do to stop people like him is to question adults' motives. "The thing that still amazes me, I never ever recall a single occasion where a parent of a boy I was targeting this way ever came to my house, ever came to see where it was that I was taking him," Mark told 9NEWS. "If they had, it would have terrified me to death." "Even if they would have just brought him over and said, 'Hey, can I see your house?' It would have been very disturbing and frightening to me that they were suspicious and I probably would have stopped," he said. Child predator expert Mike Harris with Jefferson County District Attorney's office says parents should listen to Mark's words. "He said something very empowering to parents. He said if they came by and checked, it would have scared them," said Harris. Harris says parents can do three things to help keep their children safe. "Make some un-routine stops if your kid is taking voice lessons. Go up and say, 'I want to see how lessons are going.' That puts them off guard," Harris said. Harris also says parents should look through their children's computers, cell phones, and bedrooms. Don't consider it snooping; consider it caring, Harris says. He believes parents should start when children are young so they expect it. He also says parents can set boundaries for children such as not allowing them to ride in a car alone with a coach or group leader. Mark says most of his 221 victims were from the East Coast, but some of them lived in Colorado. He spent 18-and-a-half years in prison after one of his victims told police about him in 1987. He was never charged with abusing many of the children he claims to have victimized. He was released from prison in 2006 and is currently in a court-ordered re-entry program. Mark says he has not molested a child since he went to prison. He says he is remorseful about his crimes. If you would like suggestions on how to talk to your kids about abuse, you can read more at the Front Range Center for Assault Prevention Web site (http://www.frontrangecap.org/about.html) or read up on small steps you can do at http://www.ehow.com/how_8552_talk-kids-about.html. 9NEWS has also streamed Mark's entire interview with investigative reporter Jace Larson in four sections. They are linked on the right side of this story. If you would like to comment on this story, send an e-mail to investigative reporter Jace Larson at jace.larson@9news.com. http://www.9news.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=102887