Last week, Lovefraud readers brought two disturbing cases of abuse to my attention. The cases were disturbing because of the depraved actions of the perpetrators, and because most people would not suspect that they were predators at all.
The Lovefraud reader BloggerT7165 sent me a link to the case of Jessica Banks, a 65-year old woman from Moreno Valley, California, who was convicted in July of 13 counts of child abuse and two counts of sexual penetration by force and fear. Two weeks ago she was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
The Lovefraud reader Ox Drover alerted me to a recent program on ABC’s 20/20 called Handsome Devil: The man who spread HIV. It recounts the case of Philippe Padieu, age 53, who was convicted of intentionally infecting at lease six women with HIV. Padieu, was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Jessica Banks
The victims in the Jessica Banks case were her five adopted daughters. The five girls—who are sisters—were abused in their biological family and placed in foster care with Banks in 2000. Banks legally adopted the girls in 2004. Shortly after that she took them out of public school. They started attending school at the Word of Life Apostolic Church, which was located in a Moreno Valley strip mall. Jessica Banks was the pastor of the church, which prosecutors described as a cult.
In 2005, one of the girls was found curled up on the sidewalk in front of another business near the church. She had a black eye. With that, the four girls, aged four to 11, were discovered. When authorities removed them from Banks’ custody—they were living in a hidden room in her garage, wearing long black dresses and two layers of diapers.
The girls were emaciated, with only moldy food to eat. Prosecutors said Banks kicked them daily and beat them with cords, sticks, high-heeled shoes, belts and extension cords. She also made them take sleeping pills. Two of the girls were sexually assaulted with paint sticks.
The girls said they attended séances at Banks’ church, which only had a handful of members. One of the girls sat there with a rope around her neck. Saying the girls made up the stories, Banks denied all charges of abuse. The jury didn’t buy it and convicted her.
During the sentencing hearing, Banks’ attorney argued for leniency, stating that the woman did not fit the profile of a typical sexual predator.
To read more about this horrible case, see Girls adopted by Jessica Banks
Philippe Padieu
After her marriage fell apart, Diane Reeve from Dallas, Texas, decided to try Internet dating. She met Philippe Padieu, an exotic man who was born in France and worked as a network security analyst in Frisco, Texas. They shared an interest in martial arts, and Diane had a relationship with him for four and a half years.
Eventually, however, she learned that the Padieu was cheating on her. She went through his cell phone bill—she was paying for it—and contacted nine other women to alert them to Padieu’s infidelity.
A few months later, one of the women, “Susan Brown” (a pseudonym given her by 20/20) called Reeve back. She’d tested positive for HIV. When Diane Reeve herself was tested, not only was she HIV positive, she had AIDS.
Brown had called Padieu, told him about the HIV, and that she had reported him to the health department. Padieu wasn’t worried about the infection, but he was furious that he’d been named.
At this point the women took on a mission to warn the other women that Philippe Padieu was sleeping with. In fact, six women, who ranged in age from 40 to 60, formed both a support and investigative group. Padieu was bringing a parade of women into his home, knowing he was HIV positive. He had to be stopped.
To see how they did it, I recommend that you watch the 20/20 episode, which is available online at Handsome Devil: The man who spread HIV.
Padieu himself is interviewed at the end. Of course, he denied everything, and said one of the women infected him.
You can also read a 20/20 article about the case at: How women united to stop HIV-positive man.
Unlikely perpetrators
Both of these cases are horrific and shocking, and thankfully, both perpetrators are going to be locked up probably until they die.
But look how long they were both out on the street harming innocent victims without attracting any attention. That’s because they weren’t typical perpetrators.
Jessica Banks was a 65-year-old grandmother and church pastor who abused her own adopted daughters.
Philippe Padieu was a 53-year-old computer guy who targeted middle-aged women.
Once again, appearances can be deceiving.
Dear donna,
Thanks for posting this article. I hadn’t heard about the woman, but the show on Padieu made my skin crawl. These women are in my estimation saints for what they did by banding together and getting him off the streets.
.
Sadly, I think there may have been some “typical” aspects about both of these abusers.
It’s impossible to collect statistics, but I think most abusers are “the last person you’d suspect”. Most get away with it time and time again because their victims don’t expect abuse from them, and no one believes their victims claims after the fact.
I wonder how many abusers truly “fit the profile”.
This is terrifying. I know my P has an STD because I found his medication. I feel sick….
JBizzy…I am so sorry!
Elizabeth, I had the same reaction. Maybe it is because the P I was involved with was a doctor, a megamillionaire, one adopted child, three of his own…that I’m more expecting that of course they look “normal”. Or even stellar. But I do agree that the general public does not have that perception.
Just a quick example. The P I was involved with was head one year of the blood drive for his community. Turns out his main personal interest in giving blood was a no-cost test for aids. They are something else. He was CHEAP and also using the blood donation in a way that it is not supposed to be used, and not answering truthfully on the screening tests, etc.
Both these cases are so random it’s frightening. How would you know as victims in either case. That means this can happen anywhere to anyone.
Elizabeth,
The truth is that there really is no “typical profile” for abusers. They come in all genders, ages, social classes, etc. Sexual abuse by a female offender is one of the most, if not the most, under reported crimes there is. One program showed that less than 1/2 of percent of those that had disclosed being sexually abused by a female (such as the banks case) ever reported it and 80+% of those that did report it were not believed which they reported made the experience even worse.
The sad reality is that we are all humans and the only typical profile is that the abusers are people and if we forget that we create blind spots that can be taken adavantage of.
A few excerpts from studies to highlight what I mean (if anyone wants them I can provide links to them):
(From WomensHealth.gov) – One in six adult men reported being sexually molested as children, and — in a surprise finding — nearly 40 percent of the perpetrators were female, a new study found.
In a study of 17,337 survivors of childhood sexual abuse, 23% had a female-only perpetrator and 22% had both male and female perpetrators. ( Dube, Shanta R et al. “Long-Term Consequences of Childhood Sexual Abuse by Gender of Victim.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine. (2005):28(5), p 430 ”“ 438.)
According to a major 2004 study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education – In studies that ask students about offenders, sex differences are less than in adult reports. The 2000 AAUW data indicate that 57.2 percent of all students report a male offender and 42.4 percent a female offender with the Cameron et al. study reporting nearly identical proportions as the 2000 AAUW data (57 percent male offenders vs. 43 percent female offenders)..
BloggerT,
My son is 10. When he was 9 there was an older girl in his Sunday school class who just wouldn’t keep her paws off of him. I finally had to read her the riot act.
Too many of my male friends describe first sexual encounters with aggressive older girls. They don’t necessarily describe this as traumatic, just less than ideal.
I’m not sure what’s going on in these girl’s minds. I understand the women even less. It’s incomprehensible to the rest of us, so we’re usually blind to it.
I had a foster child, girl, who (at age 7, 8)would rip off her clothes and go after boys if ever she found herself alone with them. She also went after her sister. In her case, she had been sexually raped by her father and grandfather. She was highly sexual in her orientation to life as a result. Heartbreaking all around.