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.
Don’t even get me started on judges & the judicial system.
Who appoints these judges? POLITICIANS!
Judges are nothing more than political operatives for the politicians who appoint them, working under the veil of “judge”.
Furthermore, I’m not sure I am too keen on the LIFETIME appointments we give our judges.
Dr. L said: “There was apparently a psychiatrist and a psychologist who diagnosed OCD and prescribed medication for same.”
Rosa said: “Don’t even get me started on judges & the judicial system.”
And I say: Don’t get me started on judges OR psychiatrists and psychologists!
I agree with Dr. Leedom that Judges and Attorneys should have training on psychopaths/sociopaths as the more knowledge the better. But even if they do, when some hired gun psychiatrist or psychologist enters the courtroom (like is done in many cases) and presents testing results and a diagnosis, I would imagine the Judge is going to give more weight to a professional in the mental health field than his own “opinion” of what the disorder might be because the law requires “proof” or “evidence”, which is what a psychiatrist testimony would be.
And really, if psychiatrist and psychologist are duped by the psychopath and get it wrong in spite of mental health being their field of expertise, how can we expect a Judge whose field of expertise is the law and not mental health to not be duped. Even in domestic or child custody cases, the judge often has not much more than “he said, she said” type testimony, and for goodness sakes, WE were duped by the psychopath (even after alot of interaction sometimes because they are just that good and believable) so it isn’t like a Judge is psychic and knows which party is actually telling the truth and which one is lying. In course, WE know we are the ones telling the truth and the P is lying, but how would a Judge know it was not the other way around and know how to distinguish the P from the normal person, unless the P has a length criminal record or something for the Judge to give weight to ?!
But of course, training would help. I just doubt it is going to make a Judge a magician in pulling truth out of a hat when it comes to the psychopath.
And while training is going on, I think it would be REALLY helpful if psychiatrist and psychologist could get their Sh*t together and get properly trained and in agreement about apd, sociopathy, and psychopathy and how to diagnose it.
I think judges have done an excellent job of showing us all that they are going to do exactly what they want when it comes to handing down sentences, regardless of the evidence they may have in front of them.
There are examples all over this site, and in the media.
Another factor to consider, it’s not the judge who determines guilt or innocence in criminal cases, it is the jury.
They need to be educated as well.
Bottom line, we all need to be educated.
It’s inexcusable for a Judge to be ignorant of the psychological profile of criminals, since this speaks directly to probable recidivism.
It just doesn’t make sense for this ignorance to continue.
Okay, I take back my comments on another block about pitying narcissopaths. Pity should be reserved for innocent victims.
Great…what about educating cops? I was falsly arrested numberous times the 15 months married to Socio. He called 911 over 75 times !!!! Finally the reports to his house (after we got divorced) say “Mentall Ill Person”. Gee…ya think? I finally have some money to sue over the crap that I was put through, but who do I sue? The Sheriff’s Dept. or him? I can’t do both. What attorney do I get to sue the Sheriffs Dept? I have to do this before the statue of limitations is up.
Please keep lobbying for training for those in the legal system. An maybe a little investigation?
I am currently facing mediation with my p-ex ; he’s also worked in sales for 15+ years, so it will be up-hill all the way. Mediators aren’t trained to spot men like him.
He has worked with the same attorney for 20 years(she also was mine years back, but this WASN’T a conflict of interest??? in our divorce according to WI officials.) She’s helped him divorce destroyed wives #2 and #3, and get off on a sexual harrassment in the workplace suit. Does this say anything about the legal system?
lostlittlegirl,
I could not sympathize with you more. I was married 25 years and to a npd/sociopath. He fooled the judge , He fooled my attorney and he is now dating someone that knows the “Big Guys” ~ You can’t win with them. They fool the entire world. When it comes to the judicial system it sould be Absolutely Manditory that they be familiar with this subject. They even said that they would put me in jail because I said during a hearing that he was lying. Throw me in jail ????? My attorney , I believe , had a confilict of interest as I believe that she knows My ex’s girlfriend. In your case You definitely sound like you have a confilict of interest and I would pursue it with every dime I had to bring the subject out in the open. Your attorney cannot fight for you then drop you and become his attorney that is a major Confilict of Interest unless you two agreed to use the same attorney which I am not sure is legal?? I hope all goes well with you. My son lost the case because the law just could not support his not paying me. However, when I went to my attorney to hold him in contempt for not paying the attorney said he was not contemtual so was not in contempt. I have not recieved that money to this day. The judge did not even uphold his own sentence but said that he would have to re-hear the case. I don’t think that this was legal either.
I meant to say husband at the end not son ~ sorry, I have PTSD from my long marriage to a sociopath and cannot even work. It was hell on earth and no judge even begins to understand the implications of the n has on his spouse.
Dear Dezzyray,
Welcome to LoveFraud, glad you have arrived here. Knowledge=power, so read and learn and read more and learn more! The more you know, the easier the healing road will become. You will have validation and support here. Again, welcome!