Читать книгу Criminology For Dummies - Steven Briggs - Страница 99

Frequently, child molestation involves someone in the child’s household. But other molesters may hold jobs or volunteer positions that place them in close proximity to children; they may be youth counselors or coaches, for example. Whoever the child molester is, he often “grooms” a child for the crime by trying to convince him or her that sex with an adult is okay.

I once prosecuted a case that provides a classic example of grooming. A man spent lots of time at a community swimming pool during the summer. Of all the kids who came swimming every day, he identified two susceptible 8-year-old boys and quickly befriended them, talking about video games, skateboards, and so on. He eventually persuaded one of the boys to engage in multiple acts of sodomy. (This man was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison.)

Molesters also separately groom adult parents and community members, seeking to gain their trust so they can have greater access to their children. They go to great lengths to persuade parents that they’re trustworthy and reliable. Although offenders are almost always male, the child victims may be male or female.

Quite often, sentences for sexual molestation of a child are similar to sentences for forcible rape on adults, 5 to 20 years (see the “Rape and sodomy” section for more details).