From Victim To Abuser

Elizabeth D. Wilson

Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia

Helms School of Government

A National Divide: Assessing freedom & the rule of law in a post 2020 world.

March 24-26, 2022

Abstract
In the last decade, awareness of sexual abuse has been spear headed by
celebrities, foundations, and the #Me Too Movement. While this awareness has
brought to light the abuse experienced by grown women on movie sets and in the
work place, it has failed to expose the sexual abuse experienced by young
children in households and other private facilities. This paper highlights this abuse
and brings awareness to the silent cry for help by these young children. What
compels pedophiles to enact their sexual desires and fantasies? There is no clear
answer to this question; however, recent studies suggest that pedophilia may stem
from former childhood sexual abuse. This ideology “victim to abuser” will be
juxtaposed with various scenarios and theories and examined throughout this
paper.
Introduction
Throughout history, children have been grotesquely abused by adults to
fulfill sexual desires. These unnatural sexual desires have been satisfied by child
temple prostitutes, child brides, child sex trafficking (exploitation), and
pornography. What compels pedophiles to sexually abuse vulnerable children?
This question has been asked by criminal justice professionals and communities
for centuries. If one could discover the origin of these sexual desires, then
theoretically, child sexual abuse could become nonexistent. The ideology that
pedophilia stems from former childhood sexual abuse could unearth new methods
for treating child victims and combatting child sexual abuse.
Hypothesis: During adulthood, victims of child molestation, rape, exploitation, or
pornography are often likely to go from victim to abuser by committing or
engaging in the same heinous crimes.
Victims of Sexual Abuse
Unwittingly, individuals tend to view women as the victims of sexual
assault (1 out of every 6 American women is molested) and men as rapists (Rainn,
2021, para. 2). While this depiction is accurate, it is vital to mention that men are
often subjected to sexual abuse by both males and females. Frequently,
foundations narrowly focus on advocating to end violation of women’s bodies
that they neglect advocating for their male counterparts. For example, recent
studies have concluded that 1 in 33 males are raped or experience attempted rape
(Rainn, 2021). In the last decade, two sex scandals have been leaked to the public
ultimately disclosing the true character of Father James Porter and Jerry Sandusky
(CNN, 2021; The Boston Globe, 2004). Moreover, it was revealed that Father
James Porter molested approximately 100 young boys and girls, resulting in his
sentence of up to 20 years in prison (CNN, 2021). Unfortunately, Father James
Porter is just one of the 1,700 priests/clergies who were indicted for sexual abuse
(Lauer, 2019). Similar to the priests, Jerry Sandusky has been charged with
molesting over 15 boys resulting in an upward sentence of 60 years in prison
(CNN, 2021).
Abusers
There has been a long-held myth that rapists are often strangers to the
victim; however, this myth has been debunked. Recent studies, though,
demonstrated that rapists are not strangers to the victim; rather, they are often
family members, relatives, and intimate friends (O’Grady & Matthews-Creech,
n.d). This type of sexual abuse is often called incest. Many individuals imagine
incest being committed by a father, stepfather, or uncle; however, mothers and
brothers are often contributors to this abuse (Siegel, 2019).
Furthermore, many individuals try to deny that women – who have been
viewed for centuries as the nurturing member of the family – would molest and
aid in abusing their biological and adopted children (Kort, 2021). “Maternal
sexual abuse of sons is difficult for people to acknowledge because it violates
taboos and core expectations of maternal behavior” (Kort, 2021, para. 1). For
example, a Cambridge student named Marcus committed suicide, because he was
unable to cope with the trauma, he experienced from being sexually abused as a
child by his mother (NZ Herald, 2017). Likewise, “one woman and her brother
had been sexually abused by their mother and then forced into “sexual play” with
one another” (McDonald & Martinez, 2017, para. 20).
Additionally, many individuals find it unfathomable that brothers would
molest their sisters. Sadly, sibling abuse is all too common and is considered the
most prevalent abuse found inside households (Tener, 2019). Disturbingly, boys
as young as seven have been known to rape their five-year-old sisters (Tener,
2019). While sibling rape may start at a young age, this rape can also be enacted
by older brothers on their toddler sisters or high school sisters (Tener, 2019).
If these statistics are not grotesque enough, victims of sexual abuse
admitted to multiple members of their family rapping them one after another
(Katz et al., 2021). One survivor said, “once the night started, it was never known
how it would end and who would come to their room: “You are asking me who
touched me? Well, they all do. When I am going to sleep, I never know who will
come. Sometimes it is one after the other like they were organizing everything”
(Katz et al., 2021, para. 31).

Exposure to sex
 Pornography is often the catalyst behind brutal sexual molestation.
According to Siegel (2019), “watching violent or pornographic films featuring
women who are beaten, raped, or tortured has been linked to sexually aggressive
behavior in men” (p.10-2e). Exposure to pornography can start at a young age;
for instance, a young male admitted to watching pornography at a young age with
his dad (McKibbin, et al., 2017). This young man went on to say that “I love
pornography” and “dirty Snapchats” (McKibbin, et al., 2017, para. 55). One
survivor of sibling sexual abuse divulged that her “brother forced her to perform
oral sex on his friend. She believed that they had been primarily influenced by
pornography. Another woman reported that her brother began abusing her by
showing her pornography as a means of teaching her to engage in sexual activities
with him” (McDonald & Martinez, 2017, para. 25).
Unimaginable Horrors
Unfortunately, the shock value behind the terms “rape” and “molested”
have slowly diminished over the past few decades as individuals have become
desensitized. Rather than making a person cringe, these words seemingly make
an individual experience more than a fleeting second of compassion for the victim
who experienced these detestable acts. When the word “rape” is used, naively
individuals picture a man holding down a woman and violating her body.
Oftentimes, rape is more than just the uniting of sexual organs; rather, it can be a
traumatizing, inhuman, and degrading experience. Sexual victims lose their value
and are viewed more as an object than a human being.
For example, recent studies have discovered that male college students
view pornography every day and try enacting the same sexual actions in
pornography films on fellow college students (Foubert & Bridges, 2016). Not
only is pornographic sex grotesque but it is also unsanitary. For example, the
trendy thing on social media is to perform sexual intercourse orally or anally
(Foubert & Bridges, 2016). In accordance with this trend, it is not uncommon for
a campus man to “put his penis in a woman’s anus and then immediately into her
mouth, without washing or changing condoms” or “inserting a penis down a
woman’s throat so hard that it causes gagging and vomiting” (Foubert & Bridges,
2016, para. 8).
While it is harrowing to imagine a woman being exploited against her will
for pornographic images/videos which will be sold online, it is even more
detestable that children as young as a day old are also exploited across the internet
for pornographic videos – this is often referred to as “child porn” (Handrahan,
2017, p. 51). Sadly, many fathers will sell videos of them raping their infant
daughters (Handrahan, 2017). For example, “on one pedophile chat, a father who
was raping his four-year-old daughter switched to raping his 18-month-old
daughter, saying ‘I’ve got to start early, even though she’s young … before my
daughter starts talking’” (Handrahan, 2017, p. 51). While it is appalling to think
of infants being exploited on the internet, it is even more abominable to learn that
men can put in orders for certain types of child pornographic videos. One man
requested a video of an infant being raped and said, “the bloodier [the baby] the
better” (Handrahan, 2017, p. 31).
Why the Silence?
Many individuals question why children of sexual abuse remain silent and
avoid making allegations against their abusers and refrain from telling their
parents. Often times the rhetorical answer is “shame” (O’Grady & Matthews-
Creech, n.d). While shame can be one of the leading causes for this self-imposed
silence, the answer to this silence is often deeper than shame and is rooted in
selflessness and family preservation (O’Grady & Matthews-Creech, n.d.).
According to recent studies, many children “understand that speaking the truth
will inflict pain on their parents, and they may choose to protect their families
from the emotional upheaval” (O’Grady & Matthews-Creech, n.d., para. 5). Even
though many adults believe that they can handle the truth; sadly, this childish fear
is well-founded. For example, one young lady who was raped by her stepfather
on the nights her mother worked night shift recounted the tragic event that
unfolded when her mother discovered the truth, “hearing the heartbreaking news
[Mom] collapsed and never woke up again” (Adinew, et al., 2018, p. 4). Anger,
fear, anxiety, shock, sadness, threat to parental identity, confusion, and wondering
why their child did not tell them sooner – these are other common feelings
experienced by parents who discover the harrowing truth that their child has been
molested (McElvaney & Nixon, 2019; Rainn, 2021). Among the emotions
experienced by parents, the one children are most afraid of is “disbelief”
(O’Grady & Matthews-Creech, n.d.). Survivors of childhood sexual abuse allege
that “the failure of a parent to believe them is a wound that never truly heals”
(O’Grady & Matthews-Creech, n.d., para. 11).
From Victim to Abuser
Social learning theory
For centuries, researchers have been endeavoring to discover what causes
an individual to rape and abuse vulnerable individuals. Many researchers have
linked this detestable behavior to the Social Learning Theory (Siegel, 2019).
According to this theory, “people are not born with the ability to act violently;
rather, they learn to be aggressive through their life experiences” (Siegel, 2019, p.
5-4B). For example, children who have had “prolonged exposure to violence”
rehearse the violent actions and become desensitized by these violent outbursts
and view them as normal (Siegel, 2019, p. 5-4c). Pedophile behavior has been
linked to “errors in cognition and information processing” and has resulted in
pedophiles identifying children as “being able to and wanting to engage in sexual
activity with adults” (Siegel, 2019, p. 5-4c).
Behavioral theory
Similarly (to the Social Learning Theory), the Behavioral Theory
“maintains that human actions are developed through learning experiences”
(Siegel, 2019, p. 5-4b). For example, a man who had been sexually molested by
his babysitter when he was a tweenager “developed a sexual fetish that caused
him to associate an object—a woman’s old sneaker—with sexual arousal;” sadly,
this young man ended up killing 17 women and executing countless date rapes
(Siegel, 2019, chapter 9 introduction). “Experiencing sexual trauma has been
linked with the desire to inflict sexual trauma on others” (Siegel, 2019, 10-2e).
Parental Deviance
Another influence on how a child develops into an adult is the behavior of
their parent, this ideology is known as parental deviance (Siegel, 2019). This
phenomenon is demonstrated at the Elmira Correctional Facility in New York;
inside of this facility, Bernard Peters and his son Scott share a cell for crimes they
committed in 1995 (Siegel, 2019). In the case of pedophiles, it is commonly
believed “that pedophilia is heritable and that genetic factors are responsible for
the development of pedophilia” (Siegel, 2019, p. 452).
Breaking the Cycle
Although it is common for children of sexual abuse to go from victim to
abuser, this is not the case for all victims. Those who manage to turn their lives
around are often said to have “broken the cycle.” Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Dugard,
and David Pelzer are prime examples of individuals who have broken the cycle of
sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. Elizabeth Smart, who was held captive for
nine months and “repeatedly raped, starved and forced to drink alcohol and view
pornography” chose to use the horrors of her teenage years to help others
(Biography, 2021, para. 1). Smart once said, “how will I integrate what's
happened into who I choose to become in the future?” (Good Reads, 2021). She
answered this question when she established the Elizabeth Smart Foundation
based on her motto “I believe” (she aspires to make a safe place for victims to
divulge their traumatic experiences) (Elizabeth Smart Foundation, 2021).
Similarly, Jaycee Dugard was also kidnapped and subjected to
molestation; however, she remained in captivity for eighteen years and birthed
two daughters by her rapist (Biography, 2021). Dugard once said, “I don't believe
in hate. To me it wastes too much time. People who hate waste so much of their
life hating that they miss out on all the other stuff out here” (Good Reads, 2021).
Rather than follow the cycle “victim to abuser,” Dugard chose to forgive her
perpetrators.
Lastly, David Pelzer was a victim of his mother’s abuse and was not
considered a human being but rather an “it” (Famous Author, 2020). The abuse
he experienced is the “most horrendous and gruesome of all such cases reported
by that time in California” (Famous Author, 2020, para. 2). Pelzer once said that
“it is important for people to know that no matter what lies in their past, they can
overcome the dark side and press on to a brighter world” (Good reads, 2021).
Instead of transforming from victim to abuser, Pelzer chose to join the bright
world rather than engage in a dark one.
Conclusion
While recent evidence supports the premise of victim to abuser, more
research needs to be conducted before this ideology is considered fact, especially
since, certain individuals break this cycle of abuse and go on to become model
citizens. For instance, research needs to be conducted to discover what causes
victims of abuse to break this cycle – Religion? If researchers could discover
what ends this cycle, then perhaps sexual abuse could become nonexistent.
Lastly, the most pressing concern is the fact that children silently endure these
horrors. Methods need to be developed to expose abuse before it becomes
detrimental and life-altering. Psalms 82:4 says, “Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (English Standard Version, 2001).
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