2-17-2008 Massachusetts:
NEW BEDFORD — After two weeks of blaring headlines, enraged radio talk show guests and politicians promising aggressive action, almost anyone in Bristol County might be forgiven for believing the most likely threat of sexual assault against children comes from hulking ex-con, registered sex offenders who slither into the SouthCoast.
Sex offenders like Corey Deen Saunders.
Mr. Saunders on Jan. 30 allegedly lured a 6-year-old boy into the stacks of the New Bedford Free Public Library and sexually assaulted the child, all while the boy's mother worked nearby on a computer. That horrific attack made Corey Saunders practically a household name.
But among professionals who deal every day with child victims of sexual violence in Bristol County and elsewhere, Mr. Saunders is the exception. They call such cases "stranger danger" and say they typically are the cases that get lots of media attention.
Stranger danger cases may get attention — and no one denies they are serious — yet they comprise only a small fraction of sexual assaults on children.
Sexual violence against children is widespread — frighteningly so — and much more often not from strangers, but from people children know and trust.
In Massachusetts, the law defines a "child" in terms of rape as being under the age of 16; indecent assault and battery on a child is used in cases involving children age 14 and under; and child pornography cases involve those under age 18.
According to people in law enforcement and social services, the facts about sexual violence against children are:
3 percent of the time the perpetrator is a stranger;
97 percent of the time, the perpetrator is someone the child knows — a relative, spouse or partner of a relative, their ex, family friend, other "trusted" adults, even another child;
300 to 400 new cases are reported every year along the SouthCoast;
Only about 1 in 6 cases is ever reported;
Of cases reported, about half result in prosecution; and
Of those prosecuted, about half result in convictions.
That means only a small percentage of cases are reported — about 17 percent — and a small number of convictions are won relative to the prevalence of sexual violence against children.
Stranger danger "is just the tip of the iceberg," said Pamela MacLeod-Lima, director of the New Bedford Women's Center, when talking about the Corey Saunders case. "This is one that got caught."
"He is still an example of what is really out there," said Second Assistant District Attorney Silvia Rudman, "but he does not speak to the other 97 percent (of child sexual predators) out there." Ms. Rudman is chief of the Abuse Prosecutions Unit in the office of Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter.
"I do not think we know how pervasive it is," says Michelle Loranger-Cruise, about sexual violence against children. Ms. Loranger-Cruise is head of the Children's Advocacy Center of Bristol County, located in Fall River. "Our gut is telling us ... the numbers are in the hundreds ... we know the problem is much bigger" than what is reported, she said.
In Bristol County, Mr. Sutter's office says there were 387 cases of sexual violence against children reported in 2006 and 388 cases reported in 2007.
Ms. Loranger-Cruise said two factors work against having a complete understanding of the extent of child sexual abuse. First, there is no single agency that handles every case in Bristol County or along the SouthCoast. Second, no one is certain of how many cases go unreported.
Complicating any effort at quantifying the problem, Ms. Loranger-Cruise said, is the common perception of victims that the assault on them is "shameful."
"It is a horrific experience," being a child victim of sexual violence, said Ms. Loranger-Cruise. "Disclosing is a process," she said of how some victims deal with what has happened to them. But workers in the field of sexual violence against children know the all-too-common outcome is that victims remain silent, often in fear of the consequences of telling adults what happened between them and someone they trusted.
Ms. Rudman of the district attorney's office and Ms. Loranger-Cruise of the Children's Advocacy Center both handle cases from Bristol County. Ms. MacLeod-Lima's women's center serves sexual assault victims from 14 cities and towns in Bristol and Plymouth counties, along the coast from Somerset to Wareham.
"Stranger danger is a much lower percentage (of the total) than people would believe," Ms. MacLeod-Lima said. "The typical incident ... is a known assailant. A coach, teacher, priest ... people in a trusted position," including family and family friends, she added.
"Children are extremely vulnerable," she said. "Children often do not tell; they are intimidated. It is someone they trust," Ms. MacLeod-Lima said, and "as a result it is a very under-reported crime."
That does not mean that registered sex offenders such as Mr. Saunders do not present a threat. "The recidivism rate is extremely high" for serious sex offenders, she said. Serious sex offenders are people who commit forced child rape, drugging for sex, and lewd and lascivious acts on children.
Mr. Saunders, 26, had a troubled history dating far back into his childhood. He had been found guilty of previously attacking a child. Prosecutors had tried to prevent his release into society, arguing unsuccessfully in court he was a danger despite having served time in prison and having received treatment. He was freed from state custody in late 2006.
Mr. Saunders spent time in a post-release program in Boston, then found his way to New Bedford, where he registered as a sex offender and was living in homeless shelters. Mr. Saunders had grown up in Dartmouth and spent time in other SouthCoast towns.
Ms. MacLeod-Lima said the allegations against Mr. Saunders — luring a child into the downtown library's stacks while the boy's mother and others were just feet away — are "shocking even to us. It was a horrible, unfortunate" situation. But she said the broader issue of sexual violence against children also deserves attention.
"We need to be more pro-active rather than reactive when it comes to violence," Ms. MacLeod-Lima said. And for victims, she said, "It is never too late to find a path to healing." Ms. MacLeod-Lima said adults even decades after having been a child victim of sexual assault can benefit from counseling.
Ms. Rudman said she has learned in the courtroom how prevalent sexual violence against children is. "Every time I impanel a jury, in 90 percent of the cases, a prospective juror will come to the sidebar and say they cannot serve because they were a victim or were closely related to a victim," she said.
"Incarceration is not going to prevent abuse," Ms. Rudman said, "Not if 97 percent are not strangers."
Frighteningly, Ms. Rudman says, she sees social conditions that could lead to a rise in the potential for the physical abuse of children.
"People are forced to leave children with inappropriate caregivers," Ms. Rudman said, because of economic and family pressures.
"We need to provide women with appropriate housing and day care," she said, along with increasing education and awareness about sexual violence and sexual abuse of children. ..more.. by Joe Cohen
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