I am late getting my blog done this week partly because I have been helping a crime victim get justice. I hope at some point to be able to share the entire story with you but for today I want to share part of it and not yet name the offender. The offender is in prison for kidnapping and physically assaulting (torturing) a child.
The victim’s mother provided me an official copy of the sentencing transcript where the defendant plead guilty to those crimes. He was sentenced to 3-12 years in prison. It is unclear to all of us exactly how it is determined if the defendant serves 3 years or 12 years or something in between.
The sentence of 3-12 years was handed down after the defendant and his attorney made the case that OCD caused him to torture the child. There was apparently a psychiatrist and a psychologist who diagnosed OCD and prescribed medication for same.
OCD is a mental disorder that involves obsessions or thoughts that keep replaying in a person’s mind and compulsions or behaviors that the person has to repeatedly do to reduce anxiety. For more on OCD see the US NIMH website.
Because I did not remember from my training any association between OCD and violence, I did a search and found this statement in an article summary of two cases of OCD with violent obsessional thoughts, “Both cases were characterized by preoccupation with aggressive thoughts and images, a need for reassurance that they would not act on their impulses, and a history devoid of violent or aggressive behavior.”
Nevertheless the court transcript indicated the Judge and even the DA believed the assessment that the defendant had OCD and that this played a role in his violent behavior. Furthermore they believed this to be a mitigating factor that lessened the sentence. The words of the Judge according to the transcript were, “My gut reaction in a situation where a person does not have OCD and getting treatment and so forth would be to really hammer you hard for a long, long time.”
I spoke with both the victim (who is now of age) and victim’s mother, because they wanted to understand the psychological state of the defendant. I asked them for specific examples of the offender’s behavior and verbal statements relating to both the offender’s contact with reality and symptoms of OCD and psychopathy as measured by the PCL-R. The offender was known to the victims for years and never displayed any symptom of OCD. He is your basic grandiose, charming and manipulative, power motivated psychopath who lacks empathy and remorse. His lack of empathy and remorse were apparent during his sentencing statement.
Both sources were able to give me specific examples verifying that the offender is likely highly psychopathic. There was also some evidence that the offender hallucinates and is paranoid. That evidence was provided by the victims and also by the offender’s statements during the sentencing. A psychotic psychopath is the most dangerous felon there is, want proof, check out Charles Manson.
In reading the transcript which was 45 pages long, I was struck by the observation that everyone in the proceeding seemed to be searching for an answer to the why question. Why did this perpetrator do what he did? In answering the question “OCD” they could maintain their sense of safety. The Judge said to the offender,
“I do believe that at your core you are a good person, this is just a problem you have. In the 10-15 years I have been doing this I have seen relatively few evil people come through the courtroom. Three, I believe, that were so inherently evil that everybody in the courtroom couldn’t wait to get them in the prison system because they hurt everybody they were around. And I don’t believe you are a monster and I respect your religious beliefs and hope they help you heal.”
The offender had convinced the Judge that not only did he have OCD, he was a true believer and constantly asked WWJD! And I mean this literally.
If the mental health statistics are correct and that 80% of offenders have some degree of psychopathy and 25% have the full blown syndrome there are so many sociopaths out in the world that it is likely no life will be untouched by the disorder. However, this Judge feels safe in his little bubble where he has seen only 3 evil defendants in his lengthy career.
It should be mandatory that all Judges receive an officially sanctioned educational program on psychopathy/sociopathy. That would help immunize them against being fooled by sociopaths/psychopaths and their corrupt attorneys.
My husbands ex wife told their children 5 yrs ago on their sons 13th b’day that she was”dying of 4th stage uterine cancer…her brother, sister, neices and nephews were also present…she called them all together to make the”announcement”! (all to get my husband who was divorcing her at the time to move back in to take care of her).She has convinced the state if Indiana that she has GBS(Guillen Bare Syndrome)without any confirimg spinal taps or tests and gets SSI. This is the 2nd time she has been dying of a fatal disease the 1st time it was breast cancer.(any normal God fearing human would be terrified to claim this if it were untrue). I guess the operative word there is “Human”! She has threatened to get me fired from my job, accused my husbands brother many years ago of molesting their son(which was never pursued because she was called on it), has told her children even tho she gets $4400.00 amonth between child support and mortage payments and her $1138.00 a month cobra ins/ we are ordered to pay that they will be ‘living on he street.’ All of her lies has cost their son (who is now 18)not to see or speak to us for a year now…he “hates his dad, he is a loser”! She sent their 13 yr old daughter to our home on xanax and adavan just so she colud tell the court that the child was suffering from anxeity, even tho she had been coming to our house for 4 yrs. My husband stopped having normal visitation with his daughter with the exception of 2 hrs weekly, I, of course are excluded from seeing my stepdaughter…both kids hate me because of the lies they’ve been feed 24/7….despite the love and patience I have given them for 5 yrs. She defrauded her church of $24000.00 in 2 yrs after just joining…..Yes, she’s a pro. Her and the children told them my husband was a “deadbeat dad, and had abandoned them and they had no income”! The church saw all of our paperwork and court orders and stopped giving her $. She bought a brand new car during their divorce that we got stuck paying for. She has lied from day 1 to all of the friends and family they have known. The therapist (2nd one) we got the court order for their daughter to see is a psycologist, but after the 1st visit defended her and is sure she is “the victim”! She got to him 1st and told him her lies. She walks into court with a cane and crying….all other times she walks w/out any help just like you and I. She has had incurable diseases, miraculous religious convictions ect…. but the worst horror she has done is to alienate they children to the point of where my husband son is estranged and the daughter has anxiety over seeing her dad for 2 hrs. weekly. She manipulates people with guilt and pity. We have spent over $28,000.00 in 6months just defending the kids and ourselves. The court system in Lake County Indiana is so corrupt…it is known to be one of the worse. The judge has never once asked about the well being of the children and knows nothing of her tactics or lies or the alienation. They don’t want to hear that stuff…..even tno we pay our atty. $275.00 per hr. I was forced to quit my job 1 yr ago so I could cash in my 401k to hire a new atty.We have to pay her atty fees also because she has vowed to “never work again” and is “disabled”! We have spent over $58,000.00 just staying afloat and now it is all gone. After all of this my husband who adores his children and has been there for them since day1, even will she was having an affair during their marriage, sees his daughter 2 hrs a week and his son not at all. I of course see neither one of the kids for the past year…I am the monster that “caused all of this” ! The only consolation I get from this horrific circumstance is that I am her #1 arch enemy. I catch her every time before she attempts another evil act. I have grown to sense this before hand…I think for self preservation! It is kinda like an animal adaption for survival. We have at least 8 more years of this. I don’t see it stopping until the daughter is out of college @22. God give us perserverance…and keep us strong ang loving each other…it takes 2 strong, weel rounded people to survive the wrath of Laura. Were are blessed to be so strong. Beth V
bethv, jeez, this is just a nightmare, I will pray with you that God keeps you both strong and loving each other, I pray for his children to see the truth. There are some archived articles at this website regarding children and the courts, I hope you will read some of the old articles, there are other people here who have been through this also. God Bless.
Thank You shabbychic…..fortunately we are both strong individuals in our marriage, and even stronger together. As a mother of a well developed 24 yr old daughter, the pain for what my husbands ex does comes to me because I am indeed a mother. Not to lesson what non parent victims of sociopaths go thru. but I believe if I had never experienced motherhood the pain for my stepchildren would not be so great. The courts here in Lake County Indiana could care less about the damage being done to the children. It is all about who will pay the lawyers which I have found to be bottom feeding, moraless, unethical and unscrupolous. No one has ever asked for the truth, and proof of the truth…we have all of the proof , but our lawyer never gives my husband a chance to speak 1 word..ever in court, and of course I am kept out of the court room by his ex and her atty., they know I will speak up!