ABSTRACT
A prominent morning radio personality recently proclaimed (in answer to a comment from a caller) that all child sexual offenders should be put away for the 'term of their unnatural lives'. Perhaps this short statement sums up the community feeling about this category of criminal. While the sexual abuse of children is unnatural, there is often nothing unnatural about the perpetrators. Those who believe that sex offenders are easily distinguished from non-offenders make a grave error. Until offences are revealed, most child sexual offenders are perceived by other adults as 'good blokes' or men who 'get along well with kids'. It is this social visage of normalcy that helps offenders to gain access to victims and prevents those who receive children's disclosures from believing them and taking the necessary action to stop the offences.
