MAP Forum

A newly formed organization wants to line up health care providers willing to treat latent pedophiles and prevent them from acting on their fantasies.

Carroll County-based B4U-ACT Inc. – whose mission statement promises “compassionate assistance in prevention of offending” for those sexually attracted to children – expects to create and publicize a list of psychiatrists, social workers and counselors who might try innovative approaches to treating potential pedophiles.

“We are not trying to protect people from the consequences of their actions,” said Russell A. Dick, a licensed social worker at Springfield Hospital Center in Sykesville who is chairman of the nonprofit group. “We are trying to prevent those actions by getting help to them ahead of time.”

Another B4U-ACT official draws upon his experience in arguing that more outreach is needed. Michael Melsheimer served a three-year prison sentence several years ago in New Jersey for sexually assaulting a teen-age boy.

“We are,” he said, “trying to reach people like myself.”

But Ellen Mugmon, a member of the state Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, questions why any group would want “to reinvent the wheel” on treatment. She referred to criteria established by the Association for the Treatment of Sex Abusers.

“There are excellent guidelines and practice standards in place,” she said. “Why should this group want to make up its own?”

She pointed out that prominent among the guidelines is the admonition that “community safety takes precedence over other considerations.” The association also stresses that there is no known cure for pedophilia and that “management of sexually abusive behavior is a lifelong task.”

Melsheimer lobbied state officials and legislators for more than a year, urging them to offer those with sexual disorders easily accessible information and counseling.

“I want information publicly promoted that says it is OK to talk about this with a professional who can help,” said Melsheimer, 60, who has made his disorder known to his neighbors in Westminster.

State health officials responded to Melsheimer’s requests by saying they would create a directory of available treatment for sexual disorders and post a list of providers with their specialties on the state Web site – information the state routinely makes available to the court system. But the state gave those responsibilities to Mental Health Partners, an organization that identifies all providers in the state and lists them according to specialty.

Larry Fitch, director of forensics services for the state Mental Health Administration, gave B4U-ACT a list of providers. The organization mailed about 850 letters last month to health-care and counseling services, seeking applications from treatment providers and a pledge to support B4U-ACT’s “principles of practice with individuals sexually attracted to children,” according to a letter written by Dick.

Eight providers from different areas of the state have responded so far and expressed a willingness to work with those individuals, Melsheimer said last week.

B4U-ACT plans to set up a toll-free number and Web site that those who are attracted to children can contact for help. The organization would refer these people to health-care providers.

Fitch is not overly optimistic about the effort.

“Most pedophiles come into the mental-health system because the law makes them,” he said. “I would be surprised if this group has people volunteering for its services. Not many people on their own will seek treatment for something they enjoy. But there may be some so bothered by the deviancy, they will want treatment. Then, the best you can do is help them cope with urges.”

How successful the effort will be is impossible to guess, said Dr. Fred Berlin, founder of the Baltimore-based National Institute for the Study, Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Trauma, a research and treatment center. Melsheimer came to Maryland for treatment with Berlin. A member of Berlin’s staff is serving on the board of B4U-ACT.

“It is important that this effort is coming from the public-health perspective rather than through the criminal-justice system,” Berlin said. “Some people may respond, given there is this opportunity. But it is a tremendous challenge, not the least of which is that the provider would have to report any actual sexual abuse.”

Many latent pedophiles are “looking and hoping” for help and not intent on committing a crime, he said. Few statistics exist on how many people are afflicted with pedophilia, Berlin has said.

“In any other area, you know where to go for help,” Berlin said. “But when it comes to sexual disorders, some people are reluctant to even talk to the family doctor. This is the most ignored area of mental health.”

Baltimore Mental Health Services, a city-government program, has paid about $2,000 in startup costs for developing B4U-ACT and had promised the organization about $10,000 next year, but that sum may decrease because of state budget cuts.

Sue Diehl, director of adult services at Baltimore Mental Health Services, says B4U-ACT fills a need.

“There is no clear place for a pre-pedophile concerned about his attraction to go for help,” she said. “We have to get a handle on this. Let’s try something that might work. Revulsion does not help.”

Most pedophiles come into the mental-health system because the law makes them. I would be surprised if this group has people volunteering for its services. Not many people on their own will seek treatment for something they enjoy. But there may be some so bothered by the deviancy, they will want treatment. Then, the best you can do is help them cope with urges.

A Westminster man, once convicted and imprisoned for sexually assaulting a teen-age boy, wants the state to offer help to those struggling with pedophilia before they commit a crime.

Michael Melsheimer, who has undergone treatment for pedophilia and has made his disorder known to his Carroll County neighbors, said Maryland lacks a comprehensive list of services and treatment programs, for prevention and intervention, and has no money available for outreach efforts.

“Unless there is dialogue, you will never solve this problem,” said Melsheimer, 59. “People don’t think we want to do anything about this problem, but many of us do. The state deals with offenders after someone is hurt, but it never does anything for prevention.”

Melsheimer has lobbied state legislators, health administrators and the governor to make treatment programs readily available for those afflicted with sexual disorders. The General Assembly passed a bill this month that allows judges to sentence repeat sexual offenders to life in prison.

Maryland is slowly moving forward with publishing a directory of treatment services for pedophiles – but it probably will be available only to the courts. Such limited circulation “defeats the whole purpose,” Melsheimer said.

Melsheimer was convicted of sexual assault in the 1970’s in New Jersey and served three years in prison there. On his release, he sought help from Dr. Fred Berlin, founder of the Baltimore-based National Institute for the Study, Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Trauma. Sexual disorders are among the most ignored areas in mental health, Berlin said.

“Pedophilia is looked at as a moral and criminal justice issue and not a public health issue,” Berlin said. “We are at the point today with pedophilia that we were with alcoholism before there was a Betty Ford Clinic.”

In a letter dated Feb. 13 to Maryland’s Mental Health Administration, Melsheimer asked the state for a listing of therapists willing to treat sexual offenders and for a promotion of their programs through local health departments.

Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, recently replied to Melsheimer with a list of state services for sexual disorders. The state also expects to post a list of providers and their specialties on the health department’s Web site by June 1.

Melsheimer’s letter coincided with a survey undertaken by several state agencies that could result in the publication of a directory of sex offender treatment providers. The state’s Family Violence Council said a directory listing all treatment providers and their services does not exist.

The council and several state agencies – the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, the Department of Human Resources and the health department – have begun to compile the list “to assist referral sources in making educated decisions about where to refer sex offenders for treatment,” according to the Feb. 28 letter to mental health professionals.

Larry Fitch, director of forensics services for the state Mental Health Administration, said the directory should be complete within the next several months, but that it will be primarily for use by the courts.

Fitch said the state can refer the mentally ill to about 12,000 caregivers. About 600 professionals are trained to deal with pedophilia and other sexual disorders, but their services have not been much in demand, he said. “We don’t see these people coming in voluntarily,” he said. “Most often, they are referred by the courts.

“I hate to say this is a low priority, but there are so many people with serious mental illness who can be treated and who respond dramatically. Sexual disorders are not so amenable to treatment. The success rate is awful.”

Saying pedophilia cannot be treated is “extremist and not in keeping with the facts,” Berlin said. Few statistics exist on how many are afflicted but the numbers could be as high as those with schizophrenia, and pedophilia poses a tremendous burden on society, he said.

The state is not providing help “because we think of these people as undeserving of help,” said Berlin. “We have demonized them. But, if we can see them as people struggling with a problem, we can make society a better place by treating them.”

Berlin said treatment ideally should occur before a crime is committed.

Pedophilia and related sex crimes have dominated national and state news lately with allegations that several Roman Catholic priests have abused boys and hidden their crimes for decades.

In Maryland, the murder of 9-year-old Christopher Ausherman prompted several bills to strengthen punishment for child predators.

State Sen. Timothy R. Ferguson, a Republican representing Carroll and Frederick counties, dubbed the bills “Christopher laws,” in memory of the child who was killed by Elmer Spencer Jr., a man with a history of violence and sexual offenses. Spencer, 46, was found guilty two months ago of murdering and molesting the child and is awaiting sentencing.

One law allows judges to impose life without parole on defendants with a history of sex crimes, regardless of the age of the victim.

“Child predators have demonstrated a pattern,” Ferguson said. “You can’t fix them, and you can’t cure them. You can only hope they can manage their compulsions. But if they continue to commit these crimes, they should be put away forever.”

Ferguson finds Melsheimer’s arguments “worthy of debate” but riddled with problems. Legislation would be difficult to write and enforce, he said.

“If you have a problem, will you come forward?” Ferguson asked. “It could be incriminating. The state does not owe anybody anything in the realm of preventable criminal justice.”

Those trying to control their behavior should turn to family, church and community organizations, Ferguson said. Sentencing for repeat offenders should be swift, strong and unforgiving, he said.

Berlin countered, “You cannot punish away or legislate away pedophilia. It is a sexual disorder. There is no evidence that prison erases someone’s sexual attraction to children or enhances the capacity to successfully resist acting on desires.”

The state of Maryland has paid $200,000 to the parents of a slain 9-year-old boy to settle their claim that the killer, a convicted sex offender, was wrongly freed from prison five days before the murder. But the boy’s mother may seek more, her attorney said.

Attorney Judson H. Lipowitz said Mary Voit plans to seek as much as $775,000 more from the state Board of Public Works or the General Assembly.

Christopher Ausherman Jr. was sexually assaulted and bludgeoned to death in a baseball field dugout Nov. 19, 2000, by Elmer Spencer Jr. Spencer had been freed from prison five days earlier after serving about 31⁄2 years of a 10-year term for assaulting a woman. Now 50, he is serving two life terms plus 20 years for convictions stemming froe Christopher’s death.

Voit and the boy’s father, Christopher Ausherman Sr., sued in 2003 seeking $20 million from the state and $80 million from Spencer. The complaint alleged the state prison agency had miscalculated the good-behavior credits that led to early release for Spencer, a mentally retarded man with a history of assaults, including the rape of an 11-year-old boy.

The state said that the calculations were correct, and that a release was mandatory.

A state law caps the amount payable by the state treasury in wrongful death cases to $200,000, but Lipowitz said the Board of Public Works has discretion to pay more.

The father’s lawyer, Paul V. Jorgensen, declined to comment. Assistant State’s Attorney Michael O. Doyle, who represented the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services in the dispute, didn’t immediately return telephone calls from the Associated Press seeking comment.

Spencer was ordered to pay the family more than $30 million in March, but court documents say he has no resources to make that payment.