By Stephen Kindland
Staff writer
ORANGE PARK – Somer Thompson’s grandmother was among 300 people who came to hear child safety expert Ken Wooden give advice on how parents and other adults can teach children how to protect themselves from increasing numbers of sexual predators.
When the two-hour presentation held at First Baptist Church on Saturday, March 6, was over, Debbie Bowling said she can only hope Wooden’s message might someday spare others from living the nightmare she has endured the past four months.
"It’s too late for Somer, but I hope this will help other families," she said, standing near a pew where she and her daughter, Diena Thompson, cried together during an October memorial service for the 7-year-old child who was abducted and murdered on her way home from Grove Park Elementary School.
"It was very compelling," Bowling said. "There are evil people living out there."
Wooden, a former journalist, told his audience that the best way to protect children is to teach them the ploys predators use most often.
"Pedophiles are organized and they don’t give up," he said to an even mix of men and women, including Clay County School Board members, county commissioners and Sheriff Rick Beseler. "If predators are using lures, shouldn’t we be teaching our kids the lures?"
Based on interviews he has had with convicted child abductors, rapists and murderers about their methods, he presented several examples of those lures, the most common of which is exploiting a child’s "endless need for affection or attention." He said pedophiles engage children in conversation to learn what types of relationships they have with their parents -- and what type of relationship their parents have with each other.
"A predator once said to me, ‘Show me a boy whose dad is psychologically absent and I’ll show you my next victim,’" Wooden told his audience, which included people watching a simulcast on First Coast News.
He said children are just as susceptible to the "assistance" lure, such as being asked to help an adult carry a package to a nearby car; and the "authority" lure, since they feel obligated to obey an adult who appears to be a public official.
"Fake badges are popular with serial rapists and other sexual predators," Wooden said.
Implicit in Wooden’s message was a "call for action" in which the school system, law enforcement agencies and community leaders to implement a unified defense plan that could include peer education through teen-operated newscasts, in-school programs and media broadcasts.
"I believe the mind is a safe place," he said. "Give [children] the tools."
Wooden became a child protection expert long after he discovered high numbers of convicted child molesters applying for jobs driving school buses when he had a job classifying fingerprints in New Jersey; and shortly after he covered high-profile stories as an investigative network TV reporter. His work included coverage of the Jonestown massacre, where scores of children were murdered; and an exclusive story in the early 1990s concerning widespread child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.
Wooden told his audience that the number of registered sex offenders in Florida has risen from 41,950 in 1997 to 51,000, and that predators run the socioeconomic gamut – from blue collar workers to corporate CEOs, military members and high-ranking public officials.
"The average molester will have 144 victims in his lifetime," Wooden said. "It’s a cancer and it’s growing."
Pam Bertwell, a single mother who lives near the Diena Thompson family, said she was "shocked" by some of what she learned.
"But it was practical information for everybody, regardless of your age," she said. "I never thought that I could go to help someone and end up dead.
"The tools he was giving us were right on," Betwell added. "Once you know better, you’re supposed to do better."
She also said she and several friends were disappointed that only 300 people attended the well-publicized event, and that a measurable increase in crimes against children "has changed the way we live" our daily lives.
"That’s the saddest part," Bertwell said. "It’s scary."
Sheriff Beseler said he was impressed with Wooden’s preparation but wasn’t really surprised because of his law enforcement experience.
"I was sitting here playing back in my mind cases … where these lures were used," he said. "Those lures won’t change in 50 years."
School Superintendent Ben Wortham said he and school board members are "keenly aware" of the public’s heightened awareness of child sexual abuse because of the Thompson case, which drew national attention and united communities throughout Clay County.
He said his district has worked with the Sheriff’s Office to make presentations at several schools, and that the district is doing everything it can despite some schools having to cut their "Stranger Danger" child safety programs due to lack of funding. "It’s a terrible excuse, but it always boils down to money," Wortham said.
Tim Hurse, whose wife, Kim, began a grassroots effort to bring Wooden to Orange Park, said he hopes the Child Lures and Teen Lures Prevention program will make its way into the school system "at some level."
"I thought it was very, very worthwhile," he said.
Wooden is a member of Team Lures Prevention. More information about the team’s efforts can be found at www.avoidthecon.com, www.childluresprevention.com and www.teenluresprevention.com.
March 10th 2010 - 7:59PM