By Dr. Duane Dobbert
The 2007 abduction of then 13-year-old Ben Ownby from his bus stop in Missouri suggests that child sexual predators "cruise" bus stops looking for any child that is unescorted. While this appears to be an opportunistic behavior, it is not.
Michael Devlin, arrested and convicted for the abduction of Ownby, was also convicted of abducting, sexually assaulting, and holding Shawn Hornbeck captive for a few years.
Both Ben and Shawn were abducted at the time of their puberty thus suggesting that Michael Devlin is afflicted with hebephilia. In contrast to pedophilia, in which the afflicted person's fantasy love group is prepubescent children, a person afflicted with hebephilia's fantasy love group is youth who have arrived at sexual maturity. Further, there is a gender preference.
Michael Devlin's fantasy love group is boys who are at sexual maturity, yet sexually inexperienced. It is this "virgin" quality that precipitates recurrent, intense, sexual arousal in the hebephile. Michael Devlin possessed the delusion that these boys, once they had their sexual encounter with him, would love him equally in return.
The abduction of Ben, the second boy, lends credibility to the diagnosis. Shawn was no longer "just" arriving at puberty and had been sexually assaulted by Devlin for years. Devlin was no longer intensely sexually aroused by Shawn and needed a new young man who was just reaching puberty and was a virgin.
Devlin was not opportunistic; he was premeditated. He was locating a specific age and gender. He is not aroused by girls or women, nor prepubescent or post-adolescent males. His fantasy love group is middle school age boys.
Consequently to meet his intrinsic psycho/sexual needs, he had to search out a specific fantasy lover from his fantasy love group. It just happens that Ben was his victim. Devlin could have found an unescorted pubescent boy at age group soccer practice, little league baseball, boy scouts, etc.Devlin abducted Shawn and Ben because they met his intrinsic psycho/sexual needs, not because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Dr. Dobbert presented the accredited seminar "The First Line of Defense Against Sexual Predators" and the workshop "Law Enforcement & School Transportation Collaboration on Amber Alerts" during the 2009 STN EXPO in Reno, Nev.
Showing posts with label Dr. Duane Dobbert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr. Duane Dobbert. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
An Introduction to the Topic of Sexual Predators
After catching a presentation by Dr. Duane Dobbert at another conference a few years back, Bill Paul, the founder of School Transportation News, invited him to speak at the 2007 STN EXPO. Here is a video clip of Duane's keynote address at the conference.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
You Need This Book
Although I consider Dr. Duane Dobbert a friend, this is not an advertisement for him; he doesn't need it. In 2004, Duane released Halting the Sexual Predators Among Us: Preventing Attack, Rape, and Lust Homicide. I am about halfway through it and I can only say one thing (that's not true, there's very little I can only say one thing about): Read this book! It will give you a clear, yet unsettling understanding of sexual predators, identify their precursor behaviors and help protect your community by being aware of their presence in it. As I said, I am no salesman. Consider this quick "review" of Duane's book a word of advice from one parent to the millions out there that want to keep their children even safer than they already do.
Welcome to Another First Step
By Stephane Babcock
For over two years now, I have had the distinct pleasure of knowing a gentleman by the name of Dr. Duane Dobbert, a 40-year veteran of the criminal justice professional serving in clinical, corrections, administrative, training and consulting capacities. He has written three books, is a professor of both Florida Gulf Coast University and Capella University, and has spoken on the subject of sexual predators all around the country. My first conversation with Duane, as he often asks to be referred to as, was 45 minutes that changed how I saw the world around me. Now, I have never been naive, but the conversation left me with a sickening feeling in my stomach and a new knowledge that there are monsters all around us and we must be alert and ready to do what we can to protect our children from them.
I am a father of four wonderful children, which I must, of course, thank my wife for (Thanks Baby!). My wife and I have always told our children to stay together, watch out for strangers and to scream at the top of their lungs if anyone ever touched them. But, when we went to one of the many parks in our city, I would only keep an eye on my kids. I have learned, through Duane, to take a step back and watch who's watching my kids.
Look around the next time you are at a park, a children's sporting event or the food court of your local mall on a rainy day. Look for men that seem out of place, who are not a parent or grandparent, but are watching a group of children, or one specific child, intently. Now, I am not saying that every person that watches children in public is a pedophile that is preying on children, but there are definitely those out there that take advantage of large, ominous crowds to watch children and fantasize about what Duane describes as their "fantasy love child." I know, it sounds disgusting and vile, but this is how these predators think. There are specific age ranges that they are looking for when searching for their next victim, although they believe these children will love them and want to stay with them forever.
This blog is here to inform you. It is here to help you pull our nation's head out of the sand concerning sexual predators. As a father, this is something that I am passionate about. My children mean everything to me and I will do whatever I can to protect them. This blog will give the necessary tools to whoever has the same mission, whether it be a parent, a police officer, a social worker, a teacher, an attorney, a superintendent or a school bus driver. We are all soldiers in the same battle and we need to be armed with the knowledge and understanding to fight against these monsters.
For over two years now, I have had the distinct pleasure of knowing a gentleman by the name of Dr. Duane Dobbert, a 40-year veteran of the criminal justice professional serving in clinical, corrections, administrative, training and consulting capacities. He has written three books, is a professor of both Florida Gulf Coast University and Capella University, and has spoken on the subject of sexual predators all around the country. My first conversation with Duane, as he often asks to be referred to as, was 45 minutes that changed how I saw the world around me. Now, I have never been naive, but the conversation left me with a sickening feeling in my stomach and a new knowledge that there are monsters all around us and we must be alert and ready to do what we can to protect our children from them.
I am a father of four wonderful children, which I must, of course, thank my wife for (Thanks Baby!). My wife and I have always told our children to stay together, watch out for strangers and to scream at the top of their lungs if anyone ever touched them. But, when we went to one of the many parks in our city, I would only keep an eye on my kids. I have learned, through Duane, to take a step back and watch who's watching my kids.
Look around the next time you are at a park, a children's sporting event or the food court of your local mall on a rainy day. Look for men that seem out of place, who are not a parent or grandparent, but are watching a group of children, or one specific child, intently. Now, I am not saying that every person that watches children in public is a pedophile that is preying on children, but there are definitely those out there that take advantage of large, ominous crowds to watch children and fantasize about what Duane describes as their "fantasy love child." I know, it sounds disgusting and vile, but this is how these predators think. There are specific age ranges that they are looking for when searching for their next victim, although they believe these children will love them and want to stay with them forever.
This blog is here to inform you. It is here to help you pull our nation's head out of the sand concerning sexual predators. As a father, this is something that I am passionate about. My children mean everything to me and I will do whatever I can to protect them. This blog will give the necessary tools to whoever has the same mission, whether it be a parent, a police officer, a social worker, a teacher, an attorney, a superintendent or a school bus driver. We are all soldiers in the same battle and we need to be armed with the knowledge and understanding to fight against these monsters.
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