# Pedophile in my home. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 12, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678 "2004-04-12T22:28:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678/61 "2004-04-14T00:44:18Z")
Ok, I just talked to a lady from the center for exploited and missing children, and I think everything’s going to be all right. For me at least. For the rest, I don’t know. But I’m satisfied I’ve done what I can. ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678/62 "2004-04-14T01:12:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Nuh-uh. Sex offenders who abuse only females who are family members, and who get arrested, and get treatment, are less likely to be re-arrested for child sexual abuse crimes than those who abuse males or both sexes. You keep bringing up these statistics in threads on pedophiles, but they are not statistics on pedophiles. They are about sex offenders, of which pedophiles are a minority. As such, they are not applicable to pedophiles. You can’t say that pedophiles who only molest girls are less likely to reoffend if they get treatment based on these statistics. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678/63 "2004-04-14T02:27:30Z")
> [@Nightime](#): > > You keep bringing up these statistics in threads on pedophiles, but they are not statistics on pedophiles. > > They are about sex offenders, of which pedophiles are a minority. > As such, they are not applicable to pedophiles. You can’t say that pedophiles who only molest girls are less likely to reoffend if they get treatment based on these statistics. You’re right. :o For the purposes of both the Rrasor tool and sex offender management, this definition is used for sex offenders: \*\* A sex offense is any sexual behavior with a child, a nonconsenting adult, or anyone who is unable to give consent due to physical condition (e.g. intoxication) or mental capacity (e.g. developmental disability). [Center for Sex Offender Management](http://www.csom.org/train/supervision/long/01%5F02%5F05.html) I can’t find any comparable study which focuses just on the pedophile. But the Center for Sex Offender Management does consider pedophilia to be a static risk factor, one that cannot be changed. I would wager that someone has looked at that risk factor in outcomes assessment, but damned if I can find info on it now. If I get the opportunity, I’ll inquire among our in-house sex offender treatment experts. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678/64 "2004-04-14T03:21:34Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > I can’t find any comparable study which focuses just on the pedophile. But the Center for Sex Offender Management does consider pedophilia to be a static risk factor, one that cannot be changed. I would wager that someone has looked at that risk factor in outcomes assessment, but damned if I can find info on it now. If I get the opportunity, I’ll inquire among our in-house sex offender treatment experts. Many moons ago I got into a heated debate with The Ryan (go figure) about a similar subject, and in the course of that debate, provided several links to studies on pedophilia. I don’t have the time right now to read through any of them thoroughly to see if they contain the information you’re looking for, but you might try reading The U.S. Department of Justice’s report, called [“Child Sexual Molestation: Research Issues”](http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/163390.txt) (.txt file). IIRC, it did discuss recidivism rates and rehabilitation. There were several other studies/links/cites posted by several people in that earlier thread, but I think they primarily focused on the issue of sexual orientation not being a factor in pedophilia. If you want to check them out, you can find the thread [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=105098) (Be warned; that thread was quite the train wreck, as could be expected, given one or more of the participants. Proceed with caution). **Gr8Kat** , what did the lady you spoke with say? How did she tell you to proceed? ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678/65 "2004-04-14T05:05:25Z")
I just wonder if a couple of images resurrected off of a computer is enough to convict some guy for any amount of time. I think, like drugs, this is the kind of thing where you don’t do a lot of jail time and they don’t spend much time on you unless you manufacture or distribute the illegal goods. So I wouldn’t advise spending a lot of money on lawyers or handing computers over to the FBI. To sacrifice a lot of personal property or money seems like a waste, unless you know that there’s evidence enough to convict the guy for a long time. You did the right thing by calling the police, but don’t let this consume you unless you think it’ll do any good. ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678/66 "2004-04-14T05:06:22Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > **Gr8Kat** , what did the lady you spoke with say? How did she tell you to proceed? She just told me to hang on to the disk, and she’d get in touch with the city cops. Hopefully, the city cop whom I left messages with will get back in touch with me about collecting the disk. In the meantime, she didn’t mention what, if anything, would happen to P. I told her that he was married and there are children in the house, that I’d confronted him and his wife and he’d admitted the material was his, and so far as he knew the disk was still in one piece. She didn’t sound like she’s going to send the SWAT team in to confiscate our machines, but who knows. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. ---
**Author:** ![MarkofT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MarkofT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkofT)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678/67 "2004-04-14T20:09:08Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > Oh, Gr8Kat, I’m so sorry this happened. ☹ > > I know it’s hard, but I think you should tell V that you called the cops. If you’re any kind of friendly with her, it’s only common decency IMO. Also, you say you didn’t go into detail with her about the images, but maybe you should. Maybe she’s kidding herself that it was just “barely legals” or quasi-innocent catalog pics, and maybe he’s lying to her so that she’ll keep believing that. I can’t help but think the more graphic her knowledge of her husbands vileness is, the harder it will be for her to overlook his actions. > > The absolute saddest part of this story is that those little girls are still out there tonight–abused, violated, alone–and there’s zero we can do about it. I saw a downloaded clip once–three seconds max–of a man masturbating over the struggling face of a three or four year old girl. I cried for an hour. I still dream about her sometimes, and wonder what her life is like now, and if she’s escaped yet. I know it’s unlikely, but I hope she has. Never give up hope, [Operation Ore](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3625603.stm) is on the job. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678/68 "2004-04-14T20:37:28Z")
I didn’t think of it before, but if the police do get involved, it’s good for them to know that he thinks the disk is intact. Even if the disk is long gone, they are allowed to tell him they saw everything on there, and that his fingerprints are all over it, which will hopefully get him to confess. (They can lie to a suspect, as long as it isn’t a lie which would cause an _innocent_ person to confess.) ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678/69 "2004-04-19T21:43:28Z")
A little update. A detective from the city police finally got in touch with me today, and came out and collected the diskette. He said the disk is too badly damaged to retrieve any data, but he wants to come back with a laptop to take an image of Joel’s harddrive. I told him I’d have to talk to Joel about it tonight and give him a call back tomorrow. So that’s all for now. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678/70 "2004-04-19T23:31:14Z")
> [@Gr8Kat](#): > > A little update. > A detective from the city police finally got in touch with me today, and came out and collected the diskette. He said the disk is too badly damaged to retrieve any data, but he wants to come back with a laptop to take an image of Joel’s harddrive. I told him I’d have to talk to Joel about it tonight and give him a call back tomorrow. So that’s all for now. Let us know if anything happens. I’m sorry this happened to you. That man is a sack of shit and should be mutilated. You’re in our thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678/71 "2004-04-20T01:45:01Z")
> [@Gr8Kat](#): > > A little update. > > A detective from the city police finally got in touch with me today, and came out and collected the diskette. He said the disk is too badly damaged to retrieve any data, but he wants to come back with a laptop to take an image of Joel’s harddrive. I told him I’d have to talk to Joel about it tonight and give him a call back tomorrow. So that’s all for now. Interesting that a city policeman can tell that :rolleyes: I’m sure he has a lot of experience in the data recovery business. I work “in the industry.” You’d be surprised what it takes to destroy data off a disk. Data’s been pulled off hard drives that have been shotgunned. Diskettes that have been stapled hundreds of times. Its expensive - and probably not cost effective for a guy that is not currently being investigated for anything but “looking.” ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678/72 "2004-04-21T23:04:51Z")
Another little update. The local city police have turned the matter over to the City of Salem police. A detective came out today and got my statement. He had me go over how long I’d known P., how often he used my husband’s computer, how we found the diskette, what exactly we saw on it, when was the last time we spoke with P., and all that, as well as how well did we think P. understands computers, does he have one in his own home, and so on. He advised us to not tell P. or V. about the investigation if we do happen to speak with them again. And that was about it. No word on how recoverable he thought the data on the diskette is. He was carrying it around with him, though, still in its Zip-Lock baggy. And he didn’t mention looking at Joel’s harddrive, so I don’t know if that’s still going to happen or not. _sigh_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pedophile-in-my-home/239678.md?page=3)