Warning Signs:Sex Offenders Who Target Adults
Warning Signs: Sex Offenders Who Target Adults (Excerpted from "Sexual Predator: How to Identify Registered and Unregistered Sex Offenders") by Robert Scott, P.I. For the purposes of this section, the term sex offender is meant to describe the victimizer who targets adult, usually female, victims. Identifying this predator through behavioral or other indicators is difficult at best. Especially in cases of stranger-on-stranger attacks, pre-indicators occur only in the last minutes leading up to an attack. In these scenarios, training in self-defense is the best line of defense as it is then too late to take preventative measures. Here’s a look at some possible pre-indicators of potential danger: • A person who has been previously convicted of a violent or sexual offense should be considered a risk to re-offend. • Two out of three rapes are committed by an assailant who is known to the victim. • A potential attacker may not be the disfigured monster who is portrayed so frequently on television. Rather, he may be charming, "nice" and of average or above-average looks. He may use his charm and niceness to gain the trust of a victim before attacking. • Always be alerted by his refusal of your "no" — this is often the first boundary put up by a woman, and if it is ignored by a male pursuer, it could be an indicator that he will not respect other boundaries as well. • Other behavioral indicators include expressing anger or hostility toward women in general and exhibiting jealous, possessive or controlling behavior. • Use of drugs or alcohol by either the potential victim or potential attacker may increase the probability of an assault. In the first case, the attacker may sense his victim’s inability to fend off his efforts. In the second, an intoxicated male may be less inhibited and more likely to act out his aggressive instincts. One study showed that 45% of rapists were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of their attacks. http://www.crimetime.com/restricted/bonusabuse.htm