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The Predator's Partner
Steve Yeater / AP Photo
Behind every pervert, including the California man accused of keeping a sex slave for 18 years, there’s invariably a complicit community, writes Linda Fairstein—and an enabling wife.
When an Austrian man was arrested last April for imprisoning and raping his daughter for 24 years in a windowless dungeon he built beneath his home, commentators called me repeatedly, based on my 30 years prosecuting sex offenders in Manhattan, with the same question: Could Josef Fritzl, who fathered (and grandfathered) six surviving babies in that cellar, including three raised in the family home directly above their captive siblings, happen here?
Most wanted assurances that such a monstrous crime wasn’t possible in our own cellars and backyards. I couldn’t mollify them. I had known far too many of these child molesters—their dark minds, the recidivist nature of their acts, their ability to exploit the most vulnerable of our children—to believe that the same dynamic wasn’t happening at home.
Garrido met his wife, now his co-defendant, while serving time for rape and kidnapping (what red flag didn’t go off in her head?).
Last week, after 18 years of hiding his victims in plain sight of neighbors and parole officers—in a series of soundproofed sheds and ragged tents in his backyard, visible through chain link fences—our Fritzl, a pervert named Phillip Garrido, was arrested in a small California town. The stranger he had kidnapped when she was an 11-year-old (the exact age when Herr Fritzl admitted his incestuous relationship with his daughter began) is now a 29-year-old woman, forced into captivity and raped repeatedly, giving birth to two daughters fathered by Garrido, who raised them with his wife.
What does our society and law enforcement not get about child molesters? They are considered the most likely of all felons to repeat their crimes— a predator is a predator is a predator, even after he’s spent time in prison—and no known therapy has cured this kind of sickness.
Both Phillip Garrido and Josef Fritzl were previously convicted of separate rapes, and served jail sentences. Both were married to women who knew about their sexual deviancy—Fritzl’s conviction occurred in the early years of his marriage, and Garrido met his wife, now his co-defendant, while serving time for rape and kidnapping (what red flag didn’t go off in her head?). The behavior of these two women is unfathomable. Fritzl’s homemade prison was in their very basement. He disappeared for hours, perhaps nights at a time, and yet I’m to believe that Mrs. Fritzl wasn’t curious about his downstairs dalliances? On three occasions, Fritzl “found” babies on the doorstep, “convincing” his wife that their runaway daughter, Elizabeth, had made her way home to drop them off to be raised by her parents. Yet she never sought out authorities, to urge them to find the missing daughter? Her complicity in these horrors is mind-boggling.
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Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Jeff Madrick is a contributor to the New York Review of Books and a former economics columnist for the New York Times. He is editor of Challenge Magazine, visiting professor of humanities at Cooper Union, and senior fellow at the New School's Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. He is the author of Taking America, The End of Affluence (Random House) and The Case for Big Government.
Justice for Rihanna
Linda Fairstein, the former chief prosecutor of the New York County District Attorney's Sex Crimes Unit, is an authority on crimes of violence against women and children. She is also the author of the New York Times bestselling crime novel Lethal Legacy and a member of the board of Safe Horizon.
Next Time, He'll Kill You
Linda Fairstein, the former chief prosecutor of the New York County District Attorney's Sex Crimes Unit, is an authority on crimes of violence against women and children. She is also the author of the New York Times bestselling crime novel Lethal Legacy and a member of the board of Safe Horizon.
this is very unchristian of me (whoops, actually i'm not christian) but i would like to have about 30 minutes in an unsupervised private location with garrido. won't tell what would have happened and he wouldn't be able to either.
jus1drun, normally, I don't agree with you, but I understand the sentiment and I feel very much the same way. But, why get your hands dirty, when there are plenty of people in the joint who already are and would not mind getting a little dirtier. They do so LOVE child rapists in prison.
This guy will get his. Of that you can be assured. But by no means would I want the state to execute him, I don't like the death penalty and in Garrido's case, death would be good for him anyway. He must suffer.
Nancy Garrido needs to suffer too. She may be more evil than him. She helped to kidnap the girl and she also was a co jailer. I can guarantee you that she got a perverse pleasure out of what was going on, it's the only explanation. Her partner, went off to jail for a few months and she could have set Jaycee free, but she did not. I think ole Nance needs to spewnd time with the lowest of the low in prison and get abused as well.
disagree with me? i'm shocked. how could anyone disagree with me?
seriously, though, i do understand and agree with your analysis. what i said was rhetorical only. i have two daughters, this just hit me hard.
Both of these people need to be sent away, but you folks who advocate for sexual abuse and rape in prison as being a part of the punishment are almost as sick and disturbed as they are.
I am outraged to hear this sick woman could have let Jaycee go during the four month period that monster was in jail. I think child molesters should be put to death. This case proves that monitoring is not effective. They cannot be rehabilitated and the damage they cause is beyond comprehension. And this sick bitch should be put down with them like the rabid dog she is. I live in CA and I remember when she first went missing. I am so happy Jaycee is alive but I can't imagine what that poor young woman and her family is going through. My prayers are definately with them.
My 2-year old granddaughter was raped by her mother's boyfriend while she was at work. I was amazed to see how much enabling that went on by members of his family. His mother blamed the mother not her son.
The physical damage was significant - she will never have children of her own. When the DNA came back as belonging to him he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison - without parole. I keep a watchful eye on this guy and I know people that have been in prison every time this guy is transferred to a new prison - I tell people who know people EXACTLY what he did to my granddaughter. He's not having a good time in prison.
Maybe there can be a program for sex offenders and child molesters,
similar to how New York gives the homeless a one way ticket out of town.
Give these creeps a one way plane ride over the closest ocean with
an "escape" hatch, and let them "swim with the fishes."
Saves the taxpayers on incarceration costs, and there's no mess.
jimsur
bcaldwell is not so much advocating, it's more a reflection of reality. once in prison garrido is toast.
That's right. Look what happened to Jeffrey Dahmer. This guy is the lowest of the low. Even hardened criminals consider this guy scum. What really sucks is that the creep is going to be put in protective custody to keep him from the rest of the prison population for his safety. And guess who gets to pay for that? Talk about adding insult to injury.
I don't know how a father of a young girl deals with this kind of crime. I would think the need for revenge would be unbearable, especially when the state apparently has not done it's job.
"She became the co-jailer of Jaycee Dugard, the 11-year-old whose mind and body were abused, and whose young spirit was broken as she was subjected to Phillip Garrido's degrading sexual assaults."
---------------------------
Two words: pure evil.
I was in the Yukon at a reindeer farm, the owner told me this story:
One of the big male reindeer like to attack and rape young female reindeer who weren't sexually mature. Because of the size of the attacker the young females would often die of internal injuries. It had happened twice and the owner was thinking of putting the reindeer down. She was looking out and saw another male charging at full speed towards the predatory reindeer. The other male hit him at full speed so hard he lifted him off the ground and smashed him into the river. This was very unusual because males always fight antler to antler, never by surprise attack. The predator was killed by the power of the collision. The other male took out the predator. That story always gives me chills when I think about it. Society needs to do the same thing - take these people off the streets. Free up some jail space used for drug related offenses and keep these people away. They've lost their right to be part of society. Sexual violence towards children is one of the worst crimes there is.
Exactly. Maybe if the police weren't so hell bent on putting minor drug users (ie, pot smokers) in prison--especially in California-- they could focus on the real dangerous people. We have our priorities backward; people do not need to be protected from themselves, certainly children need to be protected from predators.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
If they have decent civil lawyers, they'll own the Garrido house, assets, etc. within the year as well. There's no way that they'll lose a civil trial. Too bad they didn't have better assets to lose.
I'd like to see the author continue with some possible solutions. She raises a lot of good questions and as a professional she probably has some ideas to advance...
The author hinted at a solution but it is too extreme to suggest.
"They are considered the most likely of all felons to repeat their crimes- a predator is a predator is a predator, even after he's spent time in prison-and no known therapy has cured this kind of sickness."
What DO you do in this case? You can either monitor them and ban them from places where children frequent (something we already do and does not work). You can chemically castrate (and have scores of lawyers after you) or you can lock them up for life or kill them. Take your pick.
According to the Bureau of Justice, 5.3% of sex offenders commit another sex crime. These crimes are horrifying, but even if the rates are off by a magnitude of ten, life sentences or other excess punishments (as compared to now) will punish twice as many people than will re-offend. The only real solution is to convince society (via the legislatures of the states) that the original offense is deserving of the excess punishment, or find the subcategories that are likely to repeat and target them.
Sex offenders is a very broad category indeed. I think a sub-category of violent sex offenders and child molesters(minus the teeanage stautory rape cases) should be the target. Garrido would fall in both categories.
VeloSD - That statistic is misleading. Here's why: there are two very different kinds of sex offenders - perverts and predators. Perverts who get arrested (think of your typical flasher, guy caught masturbating in public, public fondler) have the lowest rate - getting arrested is a splash of cold water and they snap out of their bubble.
Child predators on the other hand - people who made the step from looking at porn or fondling have an extremely high rate - they can no longer control themselves.
What the statistics show is the importance of shocking the hell out of potential predators while they are still perverts. If you catch the 17year old boy who is downloading child porn, or peeping through windows, or fondling a neighbors kid - and scare the hell out of him with possible jail, which would uproot his whole existence, let him know he's being watched - then there is a very high chance he won't reoffend. If his behavior is ignored there is a chance he will move on to being a predator.
djanimaequeen - you're right, it is absolutely misleading to put these people in the same category. It's like putting thieves who beat victims half to death and take their stuff in the same category as thrill seeking shoplifters. A night in jail will likely cure the shoplifter while the violent career thief will likely continue.
There is a huge difference between an 18 year old who gets a statutory rape charge for dating a 14 year old, and a 30 year old predator who attacks an 11 year old. It's irresponsible to put them in the same category.
Cymatic is correct. The recitivism rate of non-violent sex offenders is actually much lower and of all sex offenders, violent offenders only make up 0.7% according to the publication "No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the US" from Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2007/09/11/no-easy-answers). Yet due to public hysteria over cases like this one, most people are easily led to believe this is the norm for all sex offenders. This has led to the passage of Draconian laws that are applied to all sex offenders, even juveniles. One example is a new law allowing the attorney general or his designees to arbitrarily decide to keep anyone in federal prison, beyond their normal sentence if they were ever even accused of anything like a sex offense. Examples abound on the web but what it comes down to is a GS7 (letter carriers have a higher ranking), NOT a judge, can decide how long you stay in prison. Any excuse will do, such as a public indecency charge for taking a leak outside. Read "No Easy Answers" it's a real eye-opener.
Prosecutor Fairstein says, "responding officers never even stepped through his door, never thought to examine the nightmare [. . .] that housed his three captives," Has it ever occurred to her that police often abuse vulnerable citizens? They are known to abuse persons they believe are mentally ill. They ignore abuse by fellow officers of their women friends and wives. Why hasn't Fairstein looked at the role of police in these abuse cases? What can one do when police are abusers, especially when it is a woman officer or public official? Prosecutors and US Attorneys refuse to act without a referral from police or the FBI. Fairstein needs to look in the mirror to see why abuse is pervasive.
He was sent to FEDERAL prision for FIFTY years but was released after only 11 years on parole. As a person on parole, this scum thankfully had very few rights. The police have the right to enter and search his home without a warrent. They simply chose not to. Your claims have NOTHING to do with this case.
I have a hard time believing that - it's more likely the police officers involved were lazy, ignorant, or were redirected to tasks that were a priority for the police department. I only wish some of the manpower directed towards arresting drug users was used to catch predators. Also, we need to start hiring smarter police officers who show an aptitude for following clues. Too often recruiting favors meatheads who look big and intimidating. I'd rather have a smart 5' 6" man or woman who in tests can detect lying and figure out when information doesn't add up over a 6' 2" musclebound testosterone fueled brute.
"...6' 2" musclebound testosterone fueled brute." I love that line. You just described 99% of the cops in my home town. They actually have their own private gym so they can stay big. Just one more sign of the coming idiocracy...
menckenlite - what the he//? Your comment is a rambling mess.
PURE EVIL.
I'm a bit sick and tired of hearing about Madoff - his victims will have to join the real world and get a job. It's not so bad, 99.9% of the world works.
This type of evil is unthinkable. What will become of the victims? suicide, drugs, crime, violence?
So robbing old people and charities of their life savings is what, adulterated evil? What percentage of evil to you apportion to Madoff? And what job do you think 90 year olds ought to apply for? Your callousness is unbelievable!
As for Garrido, if he doesn't receive the death penalty, he'll be isolated from the general population, otherwise he won't last a month in prison.
For true insight one must understand fanatic religious zealots believe, intrinsically, that they live under a separate judicial law and system.
Modern day Christians are taught (often by serial offenders hiding behind the pulpit) that the long-suffering wife exhibits "fruits of the holy spirit." This gift from the holy spirit is tandem to silence and a dependence on God to "deliver" the husband from his predilection or addiction thus rewarding the wife for her devotion to God evidenced through the deliverance of the husband.
Long suffering is also an ingredient used to brainwash believers that their present circumstances are a "gift" from God. This method of brainwash is a justifier for long term abuse and is a belief held by those whose have very little theological study such as in corporate America. The surface translation for long-suffering by the uniformed religious population is "she'll never tell."
It's also important to note that this brainwash creates a belief that prison or payment under "the worldly" system of justice is "persecution from the enemy" and god "will deliver you" and of course, "long-suffering is a gift from God."
The Jim Jones/David Koresh law brainwashes the mass especially those in mega-churches who believe that "being noticed" by the minister equates to being singled out by God. Unresolved religious issues and untrained religious beliefs look upon this as an anointing or rescuing one out of one's mediocrity.
This is predominately after a cursory investigation of one's financial background reveals disposable income.
The judicial system, the law in which the rest of live by, can be held at bay during sex crimes investigations by bravado and arrogance and quite honestly, the act that most of these ministers have been using for years. They are trained manipulators. They have to be in order to weasel the money out of individuals with sincere religious beliefs.
And trust me: if they can't brainwash you into believing that your love of God is the single most important factor in handing over the cash they will use any and every method necessary to destroy your life and steal the money.
I appreciate your connection of this particular sexual predator with reglious fanatics who really are the embodiment of evil. How many times have I read that pedophiles and other types of sexual deviant somehow either really think God gave them permission or instruction to prey on their (usually female) victims--an indication of serious mental illness, possiby some kind of schizophrenia--or use religion and God to pursue their prey and convince the victim that it somehow bodes well for them to go along with their self-righteous self-centered perversion. This theme comes up so often that I wonder why Ms Farstein, whose experience is so extensive with such crimes and criminals, hasn't gone into more detail about its frequency.
Morality and sexual perversion, to the sane person, can't be further apart on the spectrum of intersocial behavior, yet for the sexually perverse they are frequently bound together. This screams for further study and explanation among professionals who wind up as part of parole boards that make te decision to allow sociopaths/sadists to reenter society, even though they are known to be incurable. For the life of me I can't figure out how Garrido was released and not watched more diligently. Moreover, what good are police if they cannot even protect us against known criminals? I would certainly expect to hear more condemnation from truly religious persons and ministers as they guide their flocks about persons who make claims about God guiding them to children or kidnapping to fulfill their sexual perversions, yet I rarely have: after all, it is their confirmed beliefs about the overall goodness of the almighty that will be diluted if too many of these nuts caim God is on their side as they go about kidnapping and raping innocents.
I still can get over how any women, would give up her identity and common sense......just to be able to say they have a man.
there's a lot more to this than a stupid woman being STUPID enough to want any man THAT BADLY. This woman was COMPLICIT in every act that took place. She deserves the same sentence and punishment as HE GETS.
The fact she showed ZERO compassion or humanity is sickening. Her demeanor has nothing to do with LOW self-esteem. She is a foul creature who should spend the rest of her days on earth IN PRISON -- by herself. Reflecting on how little humanity she has inside herself.
Look up Stockholm Syndrome.
Stockholm Syndrome would apply to Jaycee, NOT Nancy Garrido. She met and married this thing while he was in prison. She knew exactly what crime he was convicted for. She was one of these pathetic women he troll prisons for mates.
Many people simply have trouble imagining a woman to be capable of such evil. I worked for years with troubled youth - many of the meanest and most hateful things were done by the girls. The boys were more destructive and outwardly violent, but some of the girls would psychologically torture the weaker kids, pushing them into suicide attempts and then casually laugh about it. These women are fairly rare compared to their male counterparts, and they generally don't like to get their hands dirty, but they enable others to do truly evil things. This lady went looking for a convicted rapist as a soulmate - she wanted someone who matched her.
tmk228 there is an old saying:
Women marry men hoping they will change, men marry women hoping they won't...
And never underestimate the ability of a truly evil person to fool others just long enough to gain control over them. No woman ever married a man thinking "gosh, I hope he beats on me while we are married...".
I doubt it's that straightforward. While I'm not saying anything is exculpating her here, I think it is important, as a means of understanding the situation, to take a step back and examine the psychological torture she likely went through herself that warped her mind to that point that she was consciously allowing herself to be complicit (and absolutely accountable) in this situation.
You'd be amazed. Iconklee you are wrong, it does have to do do with low self esteem. It was so low in her case that it twisted and warped her pathetic little mind to where she was complacent in everything he did. You are right about her deserving the same punisment though. It happens more ofthen than you realize: Women turning a blind eye to their husbands abusing their kids. All because they define being a woman through their men. So much so that they forget to be human.
How about the number of women who are attracted to men in prison and specfically seek out imprisoned wife/girlfriend murderers as boyfriends/husbands? This is a whole syndrome in and of itself. Examples: Ted Bundy (met and married a woman while in prison and [I believe] even fathered a daughter with her); the handsome (?) Scott Peterson, who has received lots of fan mail and interested suitors even after he was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and child; the Canadian woman who helped her husband drug/seduce/rape/ kill her younger sister (and who was recently released from prison) are but a few. However, I understand there is a significant number of women who shop among prisoners for beaus. These women should be professionally examined so perhaps we can get an idea how/why Nancy picked Garrido for a husband and participate in his outrageous life , even if it remains incomprehensible from a moral standpoint to the rest of us. Much as I don't like to admit it, there is a great deal of complicit predation among women too as evidenced by women who are attracted to rapist/murderers.
I've lately been doing a lot of research on children of abused parents and djanimaequeen is right: the mother that either assists or turns a blind eye is far more common than most people realize.
I would say it is not Stockholm Syndrome but a combination of Cognitive Dissonance and denial. The woman feels too weak and dependent to even conceptualize living without her disturbed mate so she justifies up the rationale to either not see what is happening or to believe the minor somehow deserves the abuse.
This is why one of the most important factors for recovery from abuse is how adults react when the abused finally discloses. If, as is frequently the case, the child tells the mother, and her reaction is, "Get used to it" or "don't ever mention that again," or "stop provoking him" the prognosis for recovery is much worse.
There is a survival mechanism built into people. It comes from our past in small tribal societies. There would often be a violent alpha male who would strike out at any who questioned or even looked unsure of his behavior. These kinds of leaders would be wary of others forming alliances behind his back and would strike out at anyone who so much as gave a horrified look. There is an instinct among both men and women to suck up to "the big man" especially when they show violent behavior. There is an instinct to rationalize the behavior and enable it. Societies that condone torture, Stockholm syndrome, kids who befriend the school bully, the people that support brutal dictators - all of these come from the same root. It served a utilitarian purpose in our evolution but it is the enemy of democracy, humanity and fundamental decency. It's in all of us, but the brave resist it and stand up.
If we treated people who abuse animals the same as we treated people who abuse women Michael Vick would not have spent a single day in jail. It's unconscionable really.
WHY AREN'T WE READING ABOUT "WHO" PRECISELY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BAD POLICE CONDUCT AND PAROLE OFFICER(S) ACTIONABLE FAILINGS?
THESE PEOPLE DO NOT OPERATE IN VACUUMS. SOMEONE MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. WHO ARE THEY? AND "WHY" ARE THEY BEING PROTECTED?
THIS CHILD'S FAMILY HAS EVERY RIGHT TO SUE THE STATE (THE COURTS WHO RELEASED THIS PERVERT) ... THE COPS WHO FAILED TO EVEN LOOK IN THE BACK YARD FOR KIDS ... AND THE PAROLE OFFICE THAT ALLOWED THIS FREAK TO GO UNCHECKED FOR DECADES.
HEADS SHOULD BE ROLLING -- instead ... NOTHING ...
If you want to address issues of police negligence or abuse, why start here? The ACLU has countless examples of such abuses documented on their website (just for example's sake). The negligence here is not a single incident or "a few bad apples." Power corrupts.
On the other hand, I can kind of see why nothing came of it. Cops are incredibly overworked. They get a phone call, knock on the guys door, he seems reasonable enough, probably just the neighbor has a grudge of some kind...then they get another call about a shooting or robbery or drunk and disorderly or, most likely, yet another domestic dispute, and are off to deal with that. Without hard evidence it is unlikely most people in that position would take the time to do much poking around.
You have a point. However, police officers should have serious alarm bells go off when dealing with sexual predators especially when it involves children. Children seen in serial rapists yard in a tent... top priority - forget the drug bust, forget the B&E, deal with that first. Children have to be top priority. I can honestly say that I couldn't sleep at night after receiving a call like that until I really investigated it. Too many police are selected to be tough guys, not smart guys. Guns and tasers change the need for officers to be big and strong - we need smarter police officers.
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BS. Most people have suffered abuse of some sort as children and still seem to understand that raping children is wrong. Understanding the illness will not cure it once the damage has been done. So what do you do? Let the person continue to abuse (and create future sickos) or do a little triage and put the sick puppy down for the good of society? I vote for the latter. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that abusers themselves have been abused. But there comes a point when adults have to take responsibilty for their actions and stop blaming their childhood. The guy and his wife deserve the death penalty. Period.
I was disappointed that an article titled Predator's Partner never addresses the issue that she identifies. Lets see if I can. I grew up in an alcoholic violent family. When I witness my Father trying to kill my 6 year old older brother I changed. From that point on when my mother told me to tell neighbors that my brother was hit by a truck, that set up in me the ability split from reality. I had to believe the story as well if I were going to have a home. This all happened a little over 50 years ago. But my ability to excuse really bad behavior and give it an excuse so I can stay lead me down a road of self betrayal and distructive life choices.( nothing like what has happen recently) As an adult I eventually took full responsibility for my life and did and am doing something about it. It has taken 30 years of a recovery process to do this. I understand how a partner can stay with this horror. And as soon as we as a community understand that this can happen that it is not abberant then we can heal. I am surprised by the talking pundents that they are repeating like a greek chorus this is horrible, this is the fault of....fill in the blank. I believe it was the very survival techniques that this women acted on while her husband was serving time to keep "their world" intact. This is horrible but this is a reality of some of us. The very fact that some people are commenting that they can't understand how any women could do what she did is at least the first step. Accepting you can't understand.
Lets be clear here, I am by no means condoning this situation,but we need to calm down and take alook within ourselves to reevaluate ourselves and our community. The old way of taking care of the moral fiber of our existence does not work. Throwing prison time or even the death penaty at these crimes does resolve the problem. We need a new answer. New therapies, new ways of supervising. Not believeing this could never "happen here" has exposed a faulty way we are currently supervising and policing these predators.
My answer is we are all responsible. We must stop the pointing the finger throwing stones and closing our self-righteous doors and saying to ourselves that could never happen here, but to take time to settle our fears and then open our eyes and finally breathe and go ok what do we need to do here.
Survival?!! I'm sorry for what you have been though and am very happy that you are working through your issues but this women met him while he was in prison for rape. Do you know what that means? That she sought out a rapist and married it. It'd be one thing if she had no idea about the man's past and then found herself trapped but this is not the case with this women. She has deep seated issues that are as bad as her husband's. I have absoultely zero sympathy for this women and hope she at LEAST gets life in prison. You have so much sympathy for this monster, where's your sympathy for Jaycee?
Think you're missing Dclaire's point, djanimaequeen. When someone behaves in a way that's so monstrous that they seem inhuman, we as society benefit more from trying to understand their actions than imposing the death penalty. Because these abusers _are_ human, whether we want to believe it or not. And the kinds of defense mechanisms they use are the same ones that lead us to commit countless other smaller crimes (or greater crimes, such as genocide).
You're right I am missing the point. I refuse to accept this woman as a victim when she goes trolling for rapists to marry. I also believe that seeking to "understand" this behavior is just handing the defense attorneys their case on a silver platter. My point is this: what more is there to understand? And how will this understanding contribute to deterring similar acts in the future? When your arm goes gangrenous do leave it there hoping it will heal itself or do you cut it off to save the rest of the body? That's MY point. Once the damage is done there's no fixing it whether we as a society understand the behavior or not. My focus is prevention and the only prevention is keeping these damaged goods from infecting future generations which basically boils down to killing them or locking them away.
I will say this in regards to understanding the behavior: I agree that we need to understand the behavior in order to recognize it to catch more predators. So we can kill them or lock em away.
Well, it's good to finally see the DB contributors finally agreeing about something.
These sex offenders should go away forever at the first offense. There's no reason this guy should have ever been released after the first kidnapping and rape.
The women they support them are sick in their own way but would probably never act on their own to abduct anyone. Still, after supporting this kind of crime they should never see the light of day again either.
There's something like 70,000 registered sex offenders living in California. If their crimes were violent the should stay in jail forever. If there's not enough room for all of them, they should face the death penalty.
Just my $0.02.
I am a Christian and I'm not ashamed to admit it. One reason is that Garrido, despite his claims, is certainly not. There are many who do horrible things, then instantly wrap themselves in a flag to hide their real self: that, in short, is called hypocrisy, and the Gospels -- despite their unpopularity in these circles -- are full of withering remarks about that.
I am also a former child psychotherapist, having spent seven years in an inpatient facility where we worked in the initial phases of treatment for victims of child sexual molestation and abuse. Much as I wish that all evil behaviors can be changed, this particular one -- sexual abuse of women and minors -- seems to be unchangeable. I have never witnessed a case, nor am I aware of one, where a true sexual offender becomes non-offending in his behavior.
I only worked with my clients for two weeks, tops (thanks to managed healthcare): that was only the beginning of what is usually a lifelong tenure in one form of psychotherapy. Tragically, some of these victims turn into offenders themselves, and the evil spreads from one generation to the next.
To be honest, I wish we were not such a sexualized society, where persons are objectified into glossy fetishes, instead of real people who experience real pain. Forget the fact that I'm a Christian and am supposed to be against porn and immorality. All I ask is that before we grow another crop of offenders, that we at least stop fertilizing the field.
Your last paragraph says a lot. Everything about our culture is about sex and practically everything a woman, in particular, is valued for, involves her sexual atractiveness. This is partly the basis of our allowing condemned prisoners who commit sexual crimes out prematurely; we forgive them for some unfathomable reason. I would love to live one day without having to have a news article thrust at me (via print, TV or Internet) about sex this or sex that.... One would think that there is nothing else in life. The same show/publication that carries a horror story like the Garrido nightmare with a tone of "how can this happen" will carry a story about some bimbo, internationally cheating politician, or murdered sports hero who is involved in a sex scandal., which iIronically serves to enhance their careers or euologies rather than serve as an example of how not to behave. Definitely a mixed message.
I teach on the UC Berkeley campus and would like to commend Lisa Campbell and Officer Ally Jacobs, both of whom thought Garrido and his daughters were strange, and did something about it. Jacobs talked about how her instincts as a mother kicked in, and she just felt there was something not right with the two girls. I have heard commentary that Officer Jacobs could have acted more swiftly by looking Garrido up and holding him right then since he is a sex offender--but nonetheless their actions led to his arrest. The complicity of the community is terrifying. Two young children who would turn out to be his daughters were seen on his property and reported by a neighbor. The result: nothing. I think this also tells you something about the way our culture values the lives of women and children. Not very much. If the man living next door had called instead of his girlfriend, would the call have been taken more seriously? No one will know because he didn't make the call, though he did support his girlfriend's instinct to call if she was concerned. I've lived in the Bay Area for 30 years and watched reports of the abductions and/or disappearances of Amber Scwartz-Garcia, Jaycee Dugard, Eileen Misheloff, Michaela Garrett. Every time a predator is caught, the police want to blame all the kidnappings on that one man (Curtis Dean Anderson claimed responsibility for Scwartz-Garcia before he died serving his sentence for the abduction, rape, torture and murder of Xiana Fairchild). It would be comforting to think the one monster roaming the countryside had been caught. But let's face it. There is a plague of these monsters among us.
A big part of the problem is that we still view children-and to a large degree, women- as property. We don't see children as human beings deserving of protection from their parents and guardians. From this attitude flows the passive, "mind your own business" mentality when it comes to family violence. Our efforts toward decreasing family violence won't be effective until we have a zero tolerence justice system, particularly in regards to violent crimes.
Out child protective services, police,parole, judicia, medicall and other systems need to change, too. That there is so little coordination and follow-up, particularly with vulnerable children, is indeed criminal.
Officer Jacobs and Ms. Campbell are admirable in that both women acted, instead of ignoring a situation that they knew was not right. I do think, however, that in the future officers should be trained to act more swiftly in apprehending sex offenders and not just reporting situations such as this to parole officers. Suppose Garrido had panicked and gone home and killed Jaycee and her two children. We wouldn't be praising the actions of Campbell and Jacobs in those circumstances.
Careful there Haptox...
"Our efforts toward decreasing family violence won't be effective until we have a zero tolerence justice system, particularly in regards to violent crimes."
A zero tolerance policy of any kind is just an excuse not to think. NEVER give the State that kind of authority, the power to act without thinking, lest it be turned against you.
Cee64E, Do you even know what I am talking about when I refer to a zero tolerence policy? Probably not. A zero tolerence policy means that a perpetrator of violence is arrested, charged and jailed immediately. What is wrong with that? Do you think people who perpetrate violence against others should be ignored by law enforcement?
A zero tolerence policy also means that judges give sentences that reflect the severity of the crime. For the subset of violent predators and repeat family violence offenders, this is the only way to prevent them from
re-offending.
A zero tolerance policy also means that violent criminals serve out their sentences. Had Mr. Garrido served out his sentence, he would not have had an opportunity to to repeat his subsequent violent crimes.
What part of this zero tolerence policy implies that there are not "thinking" people involved? What powers do you think "the state" should have when it comes to family violence and random violence?
Let's face it... In America and in the larger world, most victims of family violence are women and children, neither of whom have a history of having their rights recognized and upheld under the law. This must change.
BTW, Cee64E, if I were acting violently toward someone, I hope I'd be arrested, charged and jailed. I'm not a violent person so I'm not too worried about that.
I want to take this opportunity to comment on a problem in our society that is so wide-spread and happens on a daily basis...has become so commonplace as to be almost accepted: the reluctance of people, to perform the jobs they are hired to do. It's not just the local law enforcement in that community that miserably failed to protect their citizens, it's everywhere and everyday nobody wants to be responsible, be accountable, take initiative. The UC Berkeley police here were the grand exception; individuals doing the job they were hired to do.
The psychology of a sexual predator is hard-wired into the brain and is impervious to any sort of treatment. The victim is required to go on and have a life after suffering a traumatic experience(s) and yet the law is constructed to enable sexual predators to continue to offend.. Why as a society do we not take the act of sexual attacks far more seriously?
Our society is terrible in how we view sex crimes. Right now, in many communities, if a woman is raped and evidence is taken, it will sit on a shelf rather than be processed because it is not a priority. With child predators, the sentences they receive are NOT commensurate with the suffering they cause (and the often years of therapy needed to get over it are rarely covered by insurance bureaucrats).
In the cases where sexual predators do not kill their victims, we treat this type of crime way too lightly (kind of like people have the attitude, it's just a little sex- get over it). I don't understand our callousness as a society, other than attributing it to our lack of concern about things affecting women and children.
We still haven't overcome the stigma of sex crimes.
Is this Annie Leibowitz? George Patton
This is a colossal failure of law enforcement. However, it's not surprising because the lives of women and children don't count for much in this society. Children don't vote and women are expendable. Nobody really cares and cops don't take these 'domestic' cases seriously. There is no other explanation.
I hear you, AngelaM. That's how it looks to me, too.
Yes, but we can change this...and we must. Remember, it took two women to identify that "something wasn't right" with Mr. Garrido and his children when they interviewed them on the Berkely campus. Their actions led to his-and his wife's- apprehension and arrest.
We need more women in law enforcement and we need more laws protecting women and children. We need more resources devoted to family violence and we need more coordination between agencies that treat families. We need more judges and district attorneys who understand family and random violence issues.
We especially need laws that insure that repeat offenders-whether of family violence or random violence- are given long sentences and are not released early on parole or granted bail.
Rape, child abductions,abuse. When will we take these more seriously? Why do we allow them to go free? Laws need to be changed. We only pay attention when horrible, God awful big stories come to light. We all need to say enough is enough.Law makers wake up!It is wrong to release a nut job like Girrido.How and why do they think it is ok?
I couldn't agree more. Ms. Fairstein, I greatly appreciate your article.
But am I the only one that thinks 'pervert' greatly, greatly underscores this crime? I think of a pervert as someone who wears a trenchcoat and flashes people. This...is a whole other abhorrent, premeditated, carefully played out kind of criminal evil. It even offends me that it's called a 'sex crime.' To me, it's crime, a horrific crime. One that deserves the maximum punishment for all those lives ruined, including his other rape victims. Appalling.
This story and Ms. Fairstein's comments underscore the incompetence of the imbeciles charged with running the country...
wtf? Do you have anything to substantiate this on a federal level or do you write that at the end of every story?
Actually, it is the people who must demand that those in charge be competent, enforce the laws, and devote the resources to apprehending and jailing violent offenders. Regardless of who is running the country, nothing changes until we make it change.
This is not a political issue of the right or left. It is an issue of changing our laws and resource allocations to reflect our stated values of protecting people from violent criminals.
Pedophiles prey on the most vulnerable on planet Earth - our children. Their disease - pedophilia. Cure - NO CURE
Pedophiles are a different breed of sex offender and shouldn't be hidden under the umbrella called 'sex offenders' ...let's call them what they are.
This particular pedophile wanted a never ending supply of children to rape and he had a plan...he married a female inmate so he would appear somewhat normal, abducted a child and impregnated her twice to assure himself a never ending supply of children to rape.
Others like variety, they can rape as many as 300 children in their life-time.
Others don't like the inconvenience of searching out a victim, so their children or immediate family are the prey.
Let's teach law students, judges, and lawyers that this way of life is never ending...6 months in jail won't stop the behavior. 20 years behind bars won't stop the fantasies. Chemical castration won't stop the fantasies. It's a lifetime illness.
Most pedodphiles do unto others what has been done to them. Almost all have been sexually abused themselves and almost all begin as either sexualized children or sexualized adolescents...Juvenile records, when they involve sexual or violent perpetration on children younger than oneself, should NOT be sealed or expunged.
We are doing something terribly wrong cause pedophilia is completely out of control.
I was appalled to read that this man got fifty years for another kidnapping and rape. What the hell happened to the other forty-nine years. Why was this monster out of the pen?
Women are perverts just as men are. but women rely on men to take action, just as they historically have, preferring to avoid the responsibility that would come from instigating action themselves.
Sorry, HTuttle...The statistics of any and every country in the world do not support your case. That is one reason why people were so shocked by the cases of Melissa Huckaby and Aileen Wuornos. Women are not usually perpetrators of violent crime, nor are they usually serial violent offenders. In these two categories, women perpetrators are a rare phenomenon.
Thank you.
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