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Notes on the video:

Sexual Predators

Westley Alan Dodd

·        Started exposing himself at the age of thirteen, eventually moved up to molesting children.

·        Didn’t think he would ever get caught and thought that kids would never report the abuse.

·        He stated that he could pick the ones that wouldn’t say anything.

·        He profiled victims that were small and shy. (An interviewer brought to his attention that he had chosen victims that were similar to him. Westley stated that he had never thought about it that way before.)

·        Privacy is the key factor in picking a victim. More often a molester is someone the child knows.

·        The molester will groom the parents to trust in him and will molest the child in private.

·        In 1990 Washington State enacted a law, which identifies sexual offenders.

·        Sexual offenders will often repeat the crime.

·        Supervision is critical to prevent recommitting the crime.

·        It is important for the offender to know that the community is aware of the offender and will be watching them.

·        When pubic awareness is raised, the community needs to protect their children.

·        Daughters have a 50% chance of being sexually abused.

·        Sons have a 25-30% chance of being sexually abused.

·        Tips for parents include: talking with your child early to prevent possible abuse (good touch, bad touch), teach children to not trust people they don’t know and self-protection skills.

·        Tips for parents from Westley Alan Dodd: teach kids to say no to an adult, tell kids to get away from someone who is trying to abuse them and tell their children that making a promise to keep silent about the abuse is a promise that they can break.

·        To reduce the risk: talk to your child, role-play and create a safe environment where the children are always supervised.