Documents from 2002 and 2015 Show That I Experienced Protagonist Syndrome from 2013 to 2015

     Protagonist Syndrome is a mental disorder in which a person believes that they are one or more characters from a work of fiction. I have discovered two documents - a list of movies from 2001 or 2002, and a list of characters from 2015 - which document several facts that show I experienced this problem.
     I believe that I suffered from Protagonist Syndrome coupled with Dissociative Identity Disorder, because in early 2015 - while attempting to recover from the psychological issues I experienced in late 2014 and early 2015 - I created a long list of people from history, and from works of fiction, whom I thought I was. It also felt, at times, if these characters were different personalities of mine.

     The fact that I experienced delusions in late 2014 and early 2015, should not be construed to suggest that what I remember about the abuse I suffered as a child, is not credible. I experienced these delusions because I had been molested at the ages of 8 and 9, and then brainwashed into thinking that the abuse had not happened.
     The reason why I suffered delusions - like the ideas that I was Jesus, or Odysseus, or Rasputin, or God, or the Devil - was because those things seemed more likely to me, than the possibility that my father had molested me, and then deceived me about it for almost two decades.
     Recovering more vivid memories of molestation helped me recover from my delusions, because it allowed me to admit that I was, in fact, not Jesus Christ - and did not come to this Earth solely in order to suffer - and therefore my father was not God, and it was not acceptable for him to torture me.
     I believe that my father's emotionally abusive and psychologically manipulative treatment of me over the years, eventually caused Martyrdom Complex to manifest in my mind, so severely that I began to suspect that I was Jesus Christ and that I came to this world in order to suffer.
     This is why I say that I suffered from Protagonist Syndrome perhaps as early as 2013. I also got scrapes on my wrist from climbing over a chain-link fence on the outskirts of Madison, Wisconsin. That occurred in the late summer of 2013, when I left Madison to hitchhike to Oregon.
     I have also been aware, for several years, of the ideas of "theosis", "messianosis", and "Christosis"; i.e., the ideas that a person is supposed to identify with the suffering of Jesus Christ, in order to become more like God, or like the Messiah. Jesus and his suffering, and my relation to Jesus and his suffering, were things that I have thought about a lot, in relation to the way my father treats me. My father's bad advice about jobs, and his domineering way of speaking to me, impacted my emotional and financial well-being a lot in those days.

      In late February 2015, I moved from Portland, Oregon to Lake Bluff, Illinois. For the next three years, I lived with my father and childhood sexual abuser, Richard Steven Kopsick, at 132 Welwyn Street, in the Knollwood neighborhood of west Lake Bluff.

     While in Portland, I experienced sexual dysfunction, due to the genital pain I was experiencing - at the site of my circumcision scar - when having too much sex and masturbating too much. I begun to develop resentment towards my father regarding his making the decision to have me circumcised.

     That resentment about my father's decision to circumcise me, is what prompted me to ask myself whether he had ever molested me as a child. While in Portland, I only had questions and images in my mind's eye; it wasn't until I was back, living with my father - in his face all the time, dealing with him shouting at me nearly every day - that I recovered vivid memories of sexual abuse.

     Between December 2014 and February 2015, I suffered from a psychotic break, after developing symptoms of what I now recognize to be Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D.) and probably also schizophrenia. D.I.D. is the new term for Multiple Personality Disorder.
     Victims of abuse will often suffer from a "splitting" of their personality, resulting from their abuser provoking the victim's angry side that remembers the abuse, and then soothing them to get the happy side that doesn't remember the abuse, to come out. This is what my father did to me. Although I still haven't been diagnosed with any psychiatric disorder(s) - and / because I still haven't been given a full psychiatric evaluation - I suspect that my father's treatment of me resulted in splitting and D.I.D..
     I also believe that my father has Martyrdom Complex - probably due to his mother dying at a young age - and I believe that he transferred his Martyrdom Complex onto me.
     Additionally, I believe that I experienced schizophrenia in late 2014 and early 2015, due to extreme loneliness and isolation from most other people (aside from a few close friends and my landlady in Portland, Ann Theroux, whom I didn't trust).
     That sort of thing will happen to a person who is alone for extended periods of time; for example, the Tom Hanks movie Castaway depicts a man befriending and naming a volleyball. To anyone else, such a person might look insane, but "Wilson" was probably the only thing keeping Hanks's character connected to society and reality.
     I suspect that the long periods of silence I had to endure, living by myself without a girlfriend or any friends, increased my desire to believe that I was hearing voices that weren't really there. Believing that I was hearing imaginary voices, comforted me, because it made me believe I was special (because nobody else could hear the voices).
     Between December 2014 and February 2015, I believed that I was hearing voices (including coming from inanimate objects), and I believed that I was other people (including people from history, and characters from works of fiction).

     In early 2015, while trying to jog my own memory about my childhood, I wrote down several lists of terms that I thought would help jog my memory more. I published those lists of terms in my April 2021 article "Correcting the Record: How I Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse at the Age of Twenty-Eight", which can be read at the following link:

     http://www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2021/04/correcting-record-how-i-recovered.html

     In attempts to jog my memory about my childhood, I also went through my childhood toys, and some writing and projects from school that I did between the ages of six and eighteen years old. The smell of my toys helped me remember smells from my childhood. I also tried to remember the smell of Nintendo game cartridges, to help myself remember the way our basement smelled. I did this because I was molested in the basement on our gray couch.

     One of the documents I found in 2015 was a list of movies I had watched before the year 2001 or 2002. I created this list at the age of 14 or 15, and even asked Walt - the owner of Center Video in Lake Bluff - for some help remembering a few of the titles.

     Incidentally, when I rented the 1983 film WarGames, that video store owner told me that the movie featured a young Ally Sheedy doing yoga while wearing a leotard. Sheedy was about 20 years old when she filmed that movie. Still, looking back on it, it seems inappropriate that Walt told me about what Sheedy was wearing in the film; because I was only 14 or 15 years old at the time. It seems obvious that that video store owner was attracted to much younger women.

     I am reproducing the list below, here, in order to help explain why I believe that I suffered from Protagonist Syndrome especially in 2015 (and also to some extent during the two years prior). The fact that I saw hundreds of movies before the age of 14 or 15, should help explain why I experienced Protagonist Syndrome years later.

     What follows is an excerpt from a list that I created in early 2015.
     That list consists of people from history, and fictional characters, whom I thought I was at various times.
     At the top is an excerpt from the portion of the list which focuses on religious figures whom I thought I was, and at the bottom is the part of the list consisting of fictional characters whom I believed I was.
     Readers will notice that one of those fictional characters was Ally Sheedy's character from WarGames.

Greek Legends

Atlas

Hercules

Icarus

 

Homer

Cassandra (from The Iliad)

Odysseus, esp. as Nohbdy (from The Odyssey)

Paris (from The Iliad)

 

Shakespeare

Banquo (from Macbeth)

Hamlet (from Hamlet)

Macbeth (from Macbeth)

From Peanuts

Linus

Pigpen

Schroeder

From “The Brady Bunch”

Bobby Brady

Oliver Brady

 

From “The Breakfast Club”

Ally Sheedy’s character, Alison; and Sheedy’s character from WarGames

John Bender

 

From The Simpsons

Abraham J. Simpson

Agnes Skinner’s change purse

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

C. Montgomery Burns

Chester J. Lampwick

Comic Book Guy

Shelbyville Manhattan

 

From King of the Hill

Bobby Hill

Kahn Subanusenphone

Lama Sanglug

Luanne Platter

The Exterminator (composite with Dale Gribble’s occupation)

The Ghost of Rusty Shackleford

 

From “Futurama”

Bender the Robot

Cubert Farnsworth

Philip J. Fry

Professor Hubert Farnsworth

Robot Nixon

Turanga Leela



Figures from the Bible

Bartholomew the Apostle

Doubting Thomas the Apostle

Esau

Enoch

God

Jesus

Joseph (all of them)

Job

Jonah

King David

King Solomon

Lucifer

Moses

Noah

Samson

St. Anthony of Padua

St. Emerentiana of Rome

St. Francis of Assisi

The Devil

The Pharaoh

     This is only a partial list. These 55 personas represent less than twenty percent (20%) of the more than 350 people whom I thought (or suspected) that I was, in early 2015. I created that list in March and/or April of 2015.

     Again, I realize how ridiculous it sounds to ask people to believe that I was molested as a child, while explaining that I, at one time, believed that I was hundreds of other people (including fictional characters, figures from religious, and inanimate objects).

     I do not now believe myself to believe any of those things. But I also firmly resent the idea that I "am" Joe Kopsick. First, because I share a last name with my child molester. Second, because my last name sounds awful. Third, because I and my name are not the same thing. I "am" not Joe Kopsick; I was named Joseph William, by the clan Kopsick, which is my family. I am not Joe Kopsick; I am a person who was named "Joe Kopsick".

     This feeling of lack of identification with my name - coupled with my resentment of my father (over naming me, allowing me to be circumcised, molesting me, and mistreating me), and also losing my best friend and girlfriend - are what caused my feelings of dissociation to grow so badly that they began to manifest as more recognizable and nameable disorders such as Martyrdom Complex, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and Protagonist Syndrome.

     I repeat: My delusions resulted from trying to remember whether I had been abused, and from struggling to come up with alternative explanations about why I was suffering so much. The fact that I suffered from mental distress and confusion about reality should therefore not be used to suggest that my memories about the abuse are not reliable.

     Moreover, I did not recover the vivid memories about the abuse on the gray couch (the incidents which I remember the most clearly) until mid-2017, a full two years after I stopped suffering from schizophrenic and dissociative delusions.

     On the other hand, I did recover at least one memory in early 2015, when I was still in the midst of trying to recover psychologically; this was the memory of my father caressing the back of my head at the Union League Club Hotel in Chicago in December 1996 (after which I blacked out). I referred to this incident as "Incident #20" in my second statement to Lake Bluff police.

     That statement can be read at the following link:

     http://www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2021/03/second-statement-to-police-regarding.html

     But the vast majority of vivid memories regarding sexual abuse, were recovered two whole years after I stopped experiencing delusions.

List of movies created in 2001 or 2002,
and found in 2015

List of personalities created in March and/or April 2015

This article written and published
on May 20th, 2021

List of religious figured added on May 24th, 2021

Establishing a Typology of Potential Child Sexual Predators Based on Whether and Why They Offend

Introduction

           I have written this article, and created the infographics below, in continuation of the research I published in my May 2021 article "Dismantling Five Myths About Child Molesters That Are Helping Them Evade Notice, Capture, and Judgment".

     That article can be read at the following link:

     http://aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2021/05/not-all-child-molesters-are-exclusively.html

     The first infographic can be found in the original article, linked above.

     The second infographic is new.

     I have created this typology - consisting of eight categories of people, six of which are pedophiles and/or child molesters - for several reasons.

     The primary reason is to clarify the distinctions between child molesters and pedophiles, and people who fit into both categories, and people who fit into neither. Another reason is to highlight the distinction between pedophiles who love children in one or more ways, versus predators who target children mostly out of feelings of hatred.
     I believe that this is necessary, to establish an accurate nomenclature to describe predators who harm children sexually, but do not have either romantic feelings, nor feelings of sexual attraction, towards the children they victimize. The idea of calling such people "pedophiles" (which literally means "child lover") does not adequately describe them. [I have classified these people as Type 6; what I call the "Sadistic Abuser".]

     Of course, none of this is to imply, of course, that a person who molests a child because they love them, is necessarily any less dangerous than a person who molests a child because they hate them.
     The purpose of this article is to caution parents that some people might pretend to love their kids in order to get close to them and harm them sexually, while while other people might pretend to hate their kids in order to get close to them and harm them sexually.

     Love of children or hatred of children may be used, as someone's cover, for molesting children.

     I believe that it will also be helpful - to police, criminal psychologists, and psychiatrists - to have a typology of potential child sex criminals, because these professions, and parents, should should be familiar with several paradoxes related to child molesters.

     The first is that - as I explained in "Dismantling Five Myths About Child Molesters That Are Helping Them Evade Notice, Capture, and Judgment" - not all child molesters are pedophiles, and not all child molesters are pedophiles.

     The second is that some people love children so much - including inappropriately - that they cannot bring themselves to molest a child; while other people hate children, and cannot bring themselves to molest a child due to that hatred, despite having a sexual attraction to children.
     The former class of people is called "Righteous pedophiles" or non-offending pedophiles; which I have labeled as Type 1. The latter class of people may be rare, and may even not exist. But still, it's logically possible that there are child-attracted child-hating non-offenders. I have labeled that class as Type 2 (the "hateful pervert" or "repulsed non-offender").

     Another important paradox to keep in mind - which is a major reason why I developed this typology - is that some child molesters feel romantic feelings, or even (what they would describe as) feelings of love, towards their victims and potential victims.
     [Note: In the typology, I have grouped people with healthy affection towards children, together with people who develop romantic feelings towards children. I have only done this in order to distinguish those who have mostly hatred towards children, from those who have mostly love towards children. I do not mean to imply that romantic feelings towards children, and affection, are the same thing; I have only done this for the sake of simplicity. I welcome my readers' attempts to refine this typology and make it more precise.]
     Some abusers even shower their victims with gifts, to manipulate them and stop them from coming forward about the abuse. This is particularly common in familial relationships which involve C.S.A. (child sexual abuse and/or assault). To cite a real-life example, Jeffrey Epstein paid for some of his victims to have housing and to get through college. Abusers like this use the fact that they have helped their victim, to get the victim to put up with more abuse.
     It is important to remember that some offenders fall in love with their minor and child victims, because it helps us remember that someone who is especially affectionate towards children, could just as easily be a pedophile, as they could be a normal person.
     Abuse does not always look like abuse. Sometimes it looks like a loving relationship. It's important to know the warning signs of abuse, to watch for them, and to think about what you have seen.

     

One way of visualizing the information

Click, and open in new tab or window, and download,

to see in full resolution.

Two Types of People Who Don't Harm Children Sexually and Don't Want To

1. Normal person with a healthy love for children
     (shown in light green;
          loves children emotionally but not romantically, not attracted to children sexually, does not offend)

2. Non-child-attracted non-pedophile child-hater, a/k/a "normal person" who hates children but doesn't sexually harm them
     (shown in medium green;
          does not love children emotionally nor romantically, not attracted to children sexually, does not offend)

Six Types of People Who Harm Children Sexually and/or May Want To



Type 1: "NON-OFFENDING PEDOPHILE" / "'RIGHTEOUS' PEDOPHILE"
          (i.e., a non-offending child-attracted pedophile)
     [shown in orange;
          loves children emotionally and romantically. attracted to children sexually, does not offend]

     This type of person is a pedophile, but not a child molester. This is sometimes called a "Righteous pedophile" (meaning a person who is sexually attracted to children but does not offend), or a non-offending pedophile. This type of person has inappropriate sexual feelings towards children, and also has romantic feelings and emotional attachments to children.

     This type of pedophile loves children so much that it is inappropriate and sexual, but the intense emotional love of children also prevents the pedophile from offending against children in his or her lifetime. This type of pedophile often wishes that they weren't a pedophile, due to the conflicting feelings they have, being sexually attracted to children while also feeling love and compassion for them.

     To clarify: The fact that someone qualifies as a "righteous pedophile" or "non-offending pedophile", or has been identified as such, does not necessarily mean that they will never offend. Some pedophiles will try to be "righteous pedophiles" who refrain from offending, but will fail. Those Type 1 Righteous Pedophiles who give into the temptation to offend, and hurt a child, will fall into the Type 3 category, the child-molesting child-attracted pedophile.

Type 2: "HATEFUL PERVERT" or "REPULSED NON-OFFENDER"
          (i.e., a non-offending child-attracted child-hater)
     [shown in brown;
          does not love children emotionally nor romantically, attracted to children sexually, does not offend]

     This type of person hates children and feels no emotional attachment to them, and is attracted to children sexually, but does not end up offending in their lifetime. Type 2 individuals are attracted to children sexually, but not emotionally, nor do they develop romantic feelings for children. It's possible that people in this category are too repulsed by their emotional hatred of children, to harm them in a sexual way.

     This is not to say, however, that a Type 2 individual could never molest a child; Type 2 is just the class one falls under if one does not offend during one's lifetime, and is also sexually attracted to children, but not emotionally compassionate towards them. If a Type 2 "Hateful Pervert" or "Repulsed Non-Offender" commits a sex crime against a child, then that person becomes a Type 5 "Hateful Child Molester" or "Perverted Hateful Abuser".

Type 3: "CHILD-MOLESTING PEDOPHILE" / "CLASSIC PEDOPHILE" / "CHILD-LOVING ABUSER" / "CHILD-WOOING ABUSER"
          (i.e., a child-molesting child-attracted pedophile)
     [shown in light blue;
          loves children emotionally and romantically, attracted to children sexually, does offend]

     A Type 3 individual is both sexually attracted to children, and emotionally and/or romantically in love with one or more children. This type of person acts on their sexual and romantic feelings, and will often use those romantic feelings to justify the sexual urges they are feeling (i.e., romanticizing their feelings), and act on those feelings.

     This type is probably more likely than the other types to be mentally ill or retarded, especially emotionally immature, and/or sexually immature in some way, which makes it difficult for them to relate to adults socially and sexually at the level at which one would expect a fully developed adult to interact.

     A "Righteous Pedophile" or non-offending pedophile (Type 1) will become a Type 3, if that individual fails to refrain from harming a child sexually.

Type 4: "REPRESSED CHILD MOLESTER" / "TICKING TIME-BOMB ABUSER" / "UNWITTING ABUSER"
          (i.e., a non-child-attracted child-molesting pedophile)
     [shown in pink;
          loves children emotionally, not consciously attracted to children sexually, does offend]

     A Type 4 individual is not consciously attracted to children, and believes themselves to love children in a healthy way. But a Type 4 person is also an offending pedophile. A person who is abused as a child, and then forgets that abuse, and then finds oneself suddenly accused of molesting a child - and they have no idea why they did it, but are beginning to recover their own childhood memories of abuse - likely falls into the category of Type 4.
     Such a person may be said to be subconsciously sexually attracted to children, due to their prior abuse. Due to their prior abuse, they may also have subconscious resentment, and/or survivor guilt, regarding children who have not suffered any sexual abuse. This may motivate them to find a victim, as a way to transfer the trauma they suffered.

Type 5: "HATEFUL CHILD MOLESTER" / "PERVERTED HATEFUL ABUSER"
          (i.e., a child-molesting, child-attracted non-pedophile)
     [shown in medium blue;
          does not love children emotionally nor romantically, attracted to children sexually, does offend]

     This type of person hates children, and wants to harm them - sexually, and possibly also physically, and maybe other ways as well - due to that hate. Type 5 individuals do offend in their lifetimes, and violate children sexually due to both hatred and sexual attraction. Type 5 individuals do not feel any emotional attachment, nor romantic love, for children.

     If a Type 2 "Hateful Pervert" or "Repulsed Non-Offender" commits a sex crime against a child, then that person becomes a Type 5 "Hateful Child Molester" or "Perverted Hateful Abuser".

Type 6: "SADISTIC CHILD MOLESTER" / "UNATTRACTED SADISTIC ABUSER"
          (i.e., a non-child attracted child-hating child molester)
     [shown in medium red;
          does not love children emotionally nor romantically, not attracted to children sexually, does offend]

     This type of person hates children, and wants to harm them due to that hate. Type 6 individuals do not feel any emotional attachment, nor romantic love, for children. Although Type 6 individuals are not sexually attracted to children, they commit sex crimes against children for reasons of power and control - and in order to take advantage of children's vulnerability - rather than due to sexual attraction or romantic or emotional interest.
     If a person who hated children were on the track to becoming a Type 6 "Sadistic Abuser" - but somehow managed to avoid offending against any children during their lifetime - then that person would belong to the non-pedophilic type which I have shown in medium green in the infographics; that is, a so-called "normal" person who hates children (and is not sexually attracted to them).

Conclusion

     I hope that a deeper and more detailed understanding about the various and overlapping causes of pedophilic attraction, will lead to proper diagnoses regarding typology of potential child sexual predators.

     I also hope that this typology will be helpful in designing psychiatric treatment specialized towards each particular type of pedophile and potential offender. The wrong diagnosis, or the wrong cure, could make the problem worse.

     As I have explained, for some people, hating children keeps them from offending, while for others, loving children keeps them from offending. Therapies for each given condition, should reflect an awareness of these facts.

[Note:

     It may also be useful to establish a typology of potential child sexual predators, based on whether they are: 1) attracted to men, women, or both; and 2) whether they are exclusively attracted to minors, or are attracted to both minors and adults.]

Images created, article written, and blog entry published

on May 17th, 2021

Edited and Expanded on May 24th, 2021

Six Locations in Schaumburg, Illinois Where Human Trafficking Is (or May Be) Occurring

     I wrote the following after discovering that sex trafficking and prostitution busts have occurred at hotels in Schaumburg, Illinois, and after discovering that Schaumburg hotels, and dancing and modeling studios, are hosting "dance" events which sexualize children.

     These "dancing and modeling studios" may not be overt schemes to traffic children, but it's possible that they are defrauding the children's parents for money, or even scamming them for cheap photographs and videos of their children, which the operators of the dance studios can sell. An investigation is needed.

     Most of these locations are very close to one another, as well as to a local high school. They are also close to o'Hare International Airport, another major human and sex trafficking hub.
     Parents in the Schaumburg area, and parents of students at Rolling Meadows High School, should be cautioned about what is happening in their community, in regards to the information below.

1. Model Act Studios – Schaumburg

     - Dance studio for children, affiliated with International Modeling and Talent Agency (I.M.T.A.).

     - Accused of taking money for photos, without offering adequate dance instruction to kids.

     - Might be a scam to defraud parents for money and/or obtain photos and videos of children.

     - Sources:

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Modeling_and_Talent_Association?fbclid=IwAR1DjFvkDNKxN-y1AHAuq9HG_AGsElmb888hrFMAwL7_1fQMWwRS7vdYf0k

          http://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=844103332445369

      - Location: 1750 E. Golf Rd., Schaumburg

     - See this location on Google Maps at the following link:

          Model Act Studios - Google Maps
     




2. Model Act Studios – Lemont

      - Location: 115 Stephen St., Lemont

     - See this location on Google Maps at the following link:
          Model Act Studios - Google Maps






3. Hyatt Regency – Chicago / Schaumburg

     - Sex trafficking has occurred here.

     - The Hyatt hotel chain is owned by the family of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.

     - Location: 1800 E. Golf Road, Schaumburg

      - See this location on Google Maps at the following link:

          Hyatt Regency Schaumburg, Chicago - Google Maps

4. Hyatt Place – Chicago / Schaumburg

     - Sex trafficking has likely occurred here.

     - Location: 1851 McConnor Parkway, Schaumburg

     - See this location on Google Maps at the following link:
          1851 McConnor Pkwy - Google Maps

     - Source: Sex trafficking bust at Schaumburg hotels:

          http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/3-charged-prostitution-sting-schaumburg-hotels/29266/

     - Source: Jeffrey Epstein court documents mention J.B. Pritzker's cousin Tom
          http://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-pritzker-epstein-blagojevich-peoptone-provident-the-spin-20190812-ny2zvf37qvb53hpfijvfdmcpri-story.html

5. Private Events by Sam & Harry’s

     - Sex trafficking has likely occurred here. Reputed trafficking area.

     - Location: 1551 Thoreau Drive North, Schaumburg (part of the Renaissance Convention Center)

      - See this location on Google Maps at the following link:
          Private Events by Sam & Harry's - Google Maps

6. Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center

     - Hosts Tremaine dance studios conventions, including the one in winter 2019.
          Source: http://www.tremainedance.com/winter-2021-22/chicago-il/

     - Model Act Studios, and Tremaine dance studios, teach young girls sexually charged dance moves, which they tell the girls are simply "rhythmic gymnastics". The girls are told to be "sassy" while they dance, which is being used as a replacement term for "sexy”. This is done to avoid all chances that the girls will recognize that they are being exploited and objectified by their parents and dancing and modeling instructors.

     - Location: 1551 Thoreau Drive North, Schaumburg

      - See this location on Google Maps at the following link:

          1551 Thoreau Dr N - Google Maps

 

Five of the six locations listed above,

are all within several miles of each other,

and also to the Rolling Meadows High School.

Information collected between March 2021 and April 3rd, 2021

Written on April 3rd, 2021

Edited on May 15th, 2021

Published on May 15th, 2021

 

Thirteen Proposed Highway Extensions and On-Ramps That Could Help Relieve Traffic in Chicago (Incomplete)

     Here are some changes that I would recommend be made to the highway system of the city of Chicago, Illinois.
     The choices of these thirteen proposed extensions, was informed by a map charting the location of the city's road congestion at different times of the day. That map can be found at the following link:
     http://www.illinoisvehicle.com/about-us/blog/traffic-patterns-chicago/


     1. Make the Interstate 290 / Dan Ryan Expressway connect to Butterfield Road better. (Between western Elmhurst and eastern Hillside)

     2. In western Evanston, build a highway off-ramp leading from McCormick Road, to a highway to be built over (or in place of) McDaniel Avenue and Park Avenue (leading north to Wilmette). (Evanston and Wilmette)

     3. In the south Skokie neighborhood, expand the portion of Highway 50 / North Cicero Avenue, where it meets Interstate 94. Allow cars traveling from south to north on Interstate 94, to more easily merge into North Cicero Avenue. (Skokie)

     4. Streamline the transition from N. Lake Shore Drive, going northwest, to North Ridge Avenue, in the Edgewater neighborhood. (North Side)

     5. In the northwest part of the Lincolnwood neighborhood, build an on-ramp leading from W. Touhy Ave. to Route 41. (North Side)

     6. Create a more efficient interchange where Interstate 94 meets Caldwell Avenue / Highway 50 and Highway 14. (West Side)

     7. Build an extension off of Highway 64 / North Avenue, at the corner of Thatcher and North, curving northward, then west to merge with Highway 19 (which lies south of o’Hare International Airport). This should help relieve congestion southeast of o’Hare Airport. (Northwest Suburbs).

     8. Develop Highway 20, Lake Street, and Kinzie Street into a highway (building highway over train tracks on Kinzie), or connect these roads. This will provide an alternative route from downtown Chicago to Elmhurst and the west suburbs, allowing drivers to avoid the Dan Ryan Expressway / 290 if their destination is north of the Dan Ryan. (West Side & Downtown)

     9. Connect Highway 56 to St. Charles Rd., and to Main Street, Central Avenue, and Kinzie St. (possibly by building highway over train tracks on Kinzie). This will provide an alternative route from downtown Chicago to Elmhurst and the west suburbs, allowing drivers to avoid the Dan Ryan / 290 as long as their destination is north of the Dan Ryan Expressway. (West Side & Downtown)

     10. At the Jane Byrne Interchange, build on-ramps and off-ramps enabling access to North and South Halsted streets from the Dan Ryan / Interstate 290. This should help relieve congestion on the Dan Ryan. (Downtown)

     11. In the northern part of the Englewood neighborhood, build an on-ramp connecting traffic moving south on N. Halsted, over W. 63^rd Street, to Interstate 90 going southeast towards Indiana. (Near South Side)

     12. Create an interchange where Highway 50 meets Highway 55 / Stevenson Expressway (north of Midway Airport). This should help relieve congestion on the Stevenson, and near Midway. (South Side)

     13. North of the McKinley Park neighborhood, build a new highway that connects the Stevenson Expressway to W. 31^st St., Historic U.S. 66, and Highway 34 / Ogden Rd. Build a highway over these streets, or widen them and connect them in some way. This should help relieve congestion on the Stevenson. (South Side)

Written on May 14th, 2021

Published on May 15th, 2021

Responses to the Movement for a People’s Party’s Endorsement Questionnaire

 

Preface

     The following is my response to the Movement for a People’s Party’s endorsement questionnaire, in regard to my candidacy for Illinois State Assemblyman from the 60^th District in 2022.

     I wish to note a few things about the three biggest potential sticking points between the People’s Party’s platform and views held by libertarians and supporters of the Constitution; namely, basic income, the Green New Deal, and Medicare for All.

     I support basic income, but only as a temporary solution to poverty and the broken social safety net. But basic income should also last long enough for people to be able to rely on it. I support the maintenance of a universal basic income program, without a work requirement, for ten years. But severe taxation and budgetary reform must happen concurrently, for the U.B.I. to be able to end without causing people to become impoverished for lack of alternative solutions regarding how to obtain resources.

     I support a Green New Deal, as long as it is implemented as locally as possible, and in a way that brings about more Land Value Taxation in the localities, and results in the replacement of states with bioregions.

     I support Medicare for All, but only if it is implemented constitutionally; i.e., after a proper constitutional amendment has been passed, which would authorize exclusive federal and public involvement in health insurance, and enable a floor vote on Medicare for All.

     I support an Economic Bill of Rights, and recognizing health and/or health care as a human right. But these rights should be understood as already existing, and flowing from our negative liberty to keep our health information private (and between ourselves and our doctors), rather than from a positive right to government involvement in our health. Amendment IX implies that the absence of the word health in the Constitution does not necessarily mean that it is not among our many rights, so any recognition of health as a human right, in American law, should be predicated upon that notion.

 

 

 

Questions

(aside from questions about basic contact information)

 

     Q1. Would you refuse all corporate PAC dollars and contributions?

     A1. Yes


     Q2. Would you refuse to accept all money and favors from corporate lobbyists?

     A2. Yes


     Q3. Are you already running for office?

     A3. No


     Q4. Would you like to run for federal office?

     A4. Not running for federal office


     Q5. Or would you like to run for a State or Local office?

     A5. State (State House, State Senate, or elected Administrative position)


     Q6. What office would you like to run for?

     A6. Illinois State Assembly, 60^th District


     Q7: Would you support an Economic Bill of Rights?

     A7: Yes


     Q8: Would you fight to get corporate money out of politics?

     A8: Yes


     Q9: Would you work to pass healthcare as a human right?

     A9: Yes


     Q10: Do you support the People’s Party’s racial and social justice policies?

     A10: Yes


     Q11: Do you support a basic income?

     A11: Yes


     Q12: Do you support tuition-free college, quality education and student loan debt forgiveness?

     A12: Yes


     Q13: Please tell us about your work and educational background.

     A13: I graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, in 2009. I have been involved in self-directed study since then, publishing my research on my blog www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com. I have worked as a janitor, and in restaurants and a law office, and am currently a private security guard.


     Q14: What are your connections to your community?

     A14: I have lived in Waukegan for four years. I grew up in Lake Bluff and Lake Forest, and have lived in Lake County for most of my life. I ran for U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 10th district in 2016 and 2020.

 

     Q15: Are there any community projects or initiatives that you have been involved in?

     A15:

- Various spontaneous anti- Iraq War protests, 2005-2009, in Madison WI

- One month of campaign work for Ben Manski's Liberty Tree Foundation, 2014

- Volunteer work for Kash Jackson's 2018 Illinois gubernatorial campaign

- Four of my own independent write-in campaigns for U.S. House (2012, 2014, 2016, 2020)

     Q16: Have you ever ran [sic] for office before in a previous election/s?

     A16: Yes


     Q17: What seat/s did you run for?

     A17: U.S. Representative


     Q18: Tell us about your previous run/s. What party did you run under? What were your lessons learned?

     A18: 2012: Ran for U.S. House as an independent write-in, from Wisconsin's 2nd district. Received 6 votes. Learned that campaigning as an independent is an uphill battle to get noticed.

2014: Ran for U.S. House as an independent write-in, from Oregon's 3rd district. Dropped out before election. Learned not to run while I am busy moving to a new state.

2016: Ran for U.S. House as an independent write-in, from Illinois's 10th district. Received 26 votes. Learned that I needed to take time off from campaigning to do more writing and research, to be better prepared for my next run.

2020: Ran for U.S. House as an independent write-in, from Illinois's 10th district. Sought Libertarian and Green nominations but did not receive either. Received 21 votes. Learned to plan campaign calendar better, and that I need to work harder meeting people, finding volunteers, and distributing literature early.


     Q19: Have you ever held office?

     A19: No


     Q19: How long have you lived in the state/district/community?

     A19: 10 or more years


     Q19: Why would you like to run for office?

     A19: I want to help solve the financial struggles and moral decay that are plaguing Americans, which paradoxically never seem to be solved through increasing the central government's power to do something about it. Making taxes more efficient at the local level, will allow local governments to balance their budgets and be more effective at alleviating poverty; this will allow state and federal governments to gradually exercise less and less external authority over people's lives and productivity. Peace, decentralization, and maximizing respect for the consent of the governed in all policy areas, will guide disaffected voters towards the right electoral choices.


     Q20: Why do you wan [sic] to run with the People’s Party[?]

     A20: I want to advance the party's goals, and achieve change rapidly. The Democratic Party is not remotely anti-war, anti-imperialism, or against corporate influence on politics, enough, to be effective in the fight against economic and political domination. Minor parties are needed, to fight for ballot access, to raise new issues, and to galvanize support against the major parties that have had a chokehold on American politics for 180 years.


     Q21: What do you know about the People’s Party and have you been involved in any way with the movement?

     A21: have not been involved with the movement yet, but I became aware of the party, and Nick Brana, from watching the Jimmy Dore show. I know that the People's Party is trying to form an alternative to the two major parties, which is a goal I've shared for at least 13 years.


     Q22: Tell us why you are driven to unseat the incumbent you will be challenging?

     A22: Assemblywoman Rita Mayfield is a dedicated public servant, who indisputably has the district's interests at heart. But Illinois is experiencing severe budgetary problems; it consistently suffers from a lack of sustainable revenue sources. I would like to use my past research, writing, and policy proposals regarding tax revenue sourcing and environmental taxation, to help solve this problem. I firmly believe that legislators whom have not ever heard of Georgism / Land Value Taxation, are insufficiently equipped to address Illinois's biggest problem. Nothing personal against Rep. Mayfield, but I feel that I would be effective in achieving change for the district, and in representing the 60th district in the state legislature, because of my studies on revenue, and because of my attention to detail. I also feel that I am qualified for the position, due to my particular education in political science (which Rep. Mayfield lacks, having studied science, organization, and information systems). It's time that we were governed by someone whom has heard of more than just the two most famous economic systems.


     Q23: Are there any stories that you’ve heard about life in your district that have motivated you to run?

     A23: District 60 is like a lot of places in America; densely populated, poor, and filled with polluted and abandoned construction projects and vacant lots. I spent the early 2010s traveling across the country, and saw that there is very little variation in terms of these problems, and in terms of drug addiction. I have experienced temporary homelessness (despite growing up in a modestly wealthy suburban home), and met others who have struggled with the same problem, and with perpetually losing wallets and phones. Child abuse, child neglect, and parental neglect of children's needs to acquire worthwhile marketable skills while in school, have led to a hollowing-out of the middle class, and increased the financial disparity and social alienation between the employing/lending class, and the working poor and the unemployed. Despite living indoors, I and my neighbors who rent apartments struggle to get consistent heat, due to not fully owning our homes and having little access to attorneys. Sometimes not owning a home still feels like being homeless. Nobody should have to work overtime just to maintain the cheapest apartment they can find. I want to free the economy from monopoly controls, to create a fairer economy that respects everyone's opportunity to participate, and which recognizes that everyone has something to contribute (even if they don't do what's traditionally considered socially valuable work that deserves monetary pay). I would also like to advance an in-depth proposal which would reform the laws governing the behavior of Illinois state police, in order to prevent unjustifiable police shootings like that of Justus Howell, who was shot to death in Zion (which is near the 60th district).


     Q24: What are some of the most critical issues that you can change by being a representative in the seat you are seeking?

     A24:

- Health: As long as the federal government refrains from passing Medicare for All -type legislation, advocate for the creation of a truly optional public option to insure Illinoisans. Support reforms to enable access to low-cost health services, such as by 1) reforming medical workers' contracts, 2) urging non-profits and charities and health cooperatives to work with clinics offering direct primary care, and 3) relieving taxes on medical goods and services.

- Environment and taxation: Advocate for differential property taxation, split-rate taxation, or Land Value Taxation, in order to reform property taxes, and replace self-depleting and unsustainable taxes on production, with taxes on waste and destruction of public resources. This will help fully fund government at the local level, allowing many other budgetary problems to be solved, including the public pensions funding problem.

- Immigration: Support any and all attempts by Illinois and Waukegan to be a sanctuary state and a sanctuary city. Urge the governor to interpose I.C.E. agents attempting to act within Illinois, and to nullify the federal law which unconstitutionally authorized I.C.E..

- Policing: Support reforms which will bring about increased surveillance of, and transparency into the actions of, the police, while on duty (including more body cameras, and increased penalties for turning off or interfering with cameras). I plan to use my experience as a security guard, to help establish a set of principles by which to delineate the different responsibilities which should be either split-up among, or shared by, private security guards and police officers. Replace beat cops with peace officers. Establish a strict use-of-force continuum, which includes a protocol requiring police to identify the person who called police, before arriving at the scene, and then finding that person and ensuring that they're safe, as soon as police arrive on the scene.

- Education: Support bringing auto and wood shops (and modernizing shop through other trades courses, such as CAD and 3-D printing) back to high schools. Avoid the risk of lawsuits against schools arising due to shop injuries, by implementing lawsuit waiver systems for students wishing to participate, and by splitting-up high school campuses so that only juniors and seniors attend school at campuses that have shop (and parking).


     Q25: Facebook link

     A25: http://www.facebook.com/groups/2908918519377509

     Q26: Twitter link

     A26: http://twitter.com/JoeKopsick


     Q27: Website link/s (personal, campaign, or other websites that you are associated with)

     A27: www.joekopsick.com

 

     Q28: Are you involved in any People’s Party hubs or in any volunteer capacity? If so please describe.

     A28: Not yet

 

 

 

Responses written on May 13^th, 2021

Preface written on May 13^th, 2021, and edited on May 14^th, 2021

Published on May 15^th, 2021

 

Reference Chart Regarding the As Many As Twenty-One Incidents of Sexual Abuse Which I Endured as a Child

      The following image is a spreadsheet which should help explain the between four and twenty-one incidents of sexual abuse which I endured as a child.
     This image is a clarification of the grid found in my second statement to police, which was written between January and March 2021, and delivered to Lake Bluff police in early March 2021.
     That statement can be read at the following link:
     http://www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2021/03/second-statement-to-police-regarding.html


     

     I was molested no less than three or four times - in 1995 and probably also 1996 - via forced subjection to unwanted genital touching, during overwhelming tickling by my father. The restraint and forced laughing to which my father would expose me, for as long as five minutes at a time, caused partial suffocation.
     Some of the memories I have are vivid, while others are partial. I have vivid memories of no less than three or four of those incidents, partial memories of as many as eight other incidents of possible abuse on the couch, and nine other incidents.

     That partial suffocation, coupled with my father's routine screaming at me for years after the abuse, caused me to forget the abuse some time between the ages of ten and thirteen years old (between Incident #20 and Incident #21).
     [Note: The process by which a person's conscious mind is shielded from dealing with painful and traumatic memories, is called Adaptive Information Processing (A.I.P.). When memories of trauma are so suppressed that it begins to affect a person's personality, this can cause what is called the "splitting" of the psyche; for example, into a "Jekyll and Hyde", or into "multiple personalities". Multiple Personality Disorder is now called Dissociative Identity Disorder.] 

     I have also created this spreadsheet to explain which incidents I remember the most clearly, and which I remember the least clearly.

     I began recovering memories of the other incidents in late 2014 and early 2015 (at the ages of 27 and 28 years old). More vivid memories surfaced in 2017; of Incidents #5 through #16 (the incidents of abuse on the gray couch).

     Incident #21 was the last possible time that my father may have tried to touch me against my will; I suspect that Incident #21 was a failed molestation attempt.
     I have always remembered Incidents #1, #2, and #4, but I remain uncertain as to whether sexual touching occurred during those incidents.

          The incidents of genital touching via forced tickling on the gray couch, are the incidents I remember the most clearly.

     Incidents bearing a low percentage (in terms of how sure I am that something sexual happened during the incident) are the incidents which I remember the least clearly.

Click, and open in new tab or window, and download,

to see in full resolution

Created and Published on May 12th, 2021

How to Write a Successful Article in Five Paragraphs and 25 Sentences (for Persuasive and Expository Writing)

     Do you have to write an article or essay? Do you lack experience and know-how regarding how to organize your thoughts into an easily digestible article? If so, then look no further.
     Here are some tips about how to write a persuasive or expository five-paragraph article in an easy-to-remember format consisting of twenty-five sentences.

     Before writing your article according to those 25 steps, it helps to write down your thesis (or main point), and the three strongest arguments that show that that thesis is true.
     It may help to envision those arguments, and the introduction and conclusion, as the columns that are supporting your main point.

Sentence #1: State the thesis (or main point) of your article. Do this in a way that hooks the reader, by making it clear that they stand to benefit, in some way, from reading it.

Sentence #2: Summarize the first argument that supports your thesis.

Sentence #3: Summarize the second argument that supports your thesis.

Sentence #4: Summarize the third argument that supports your thesis.

Sentence #5: Re-state the main point of the article, in a way that exposes your conclusion, but without revealing so much information that it makes the reader want to stop reading.

Sentence #6: Remind the reader what the first supporting argument of the thesis is, but avoid making this sentence too similar to Sentence #2.

Sentence #7: Explain a fact that proves the first supporting argument. (This could be a hypothesis, a question, or a statement of fact necessary to understand the topic.)

Sentence #8: Explain a second fact that proves the first supporting argument. (This could be a statement of fact, an observation or thought-experiment, or a comment about how to perform an experiment which will help determine the truth about something.)

Sentence #9: Explain a third fact that proves the first supporting argument. (This could be a statement about facts that we can draw from our observations.)

Sentence #10: Re-state the first supporting argument, in a way that integrates the information from the previous three sentences.

Sentence #11: Remind the reader what the second supporting argument of the thesis is, but avoid making this sentence too similar to Sentence #3.

Sentence #12: Explain a fact that proves the second supporting argument. (This could be a hypothesis, a question, or a statement of fact necessary to understand the topic.)

Sentence #13: Explain a second fact that proves the second supporting argument. (This could be a statement of fact, an observation or thought-experiment, or a comment about how to perform an experiment which will help determine the truth about something.)

Sentence #14: Explain a third fact that proves the second supporting argument. (This could be a statement about facts that we can draw from our observations.)

Sentence #15: Re-state the second supporting argument, in a way that integrates the information from the previous three sentences.

Sentence #16: Remind the reader what the third supporting argument of the thesis is, but avoid making this sentence too similar to Sentence #4.

Sentence #17: Explain a fact that proves the third supporting argument. (This could be a hypothesis, a question, or a statement of fact necessary to understand the topic.)

Sentence #18: Explain a second fact that proves the third supporting argument. (This could be a statement of fact, an observation or thought-experiment, or a comment about how to perform an experiment which will help determine the truth about something.)

Sentence #19: Explain a third fact that proves the third supporting argument. (This could be a statement about facts that we can draw from our observations.)

Sentence #20: Re-state the third supporting argument, in a way that integrates the information from the previous three sentences.

Sentence #21: Re-state the main thesis in a way that profoundly integrates the information from the three previous paragraphs.

Sentence #22: Re-state the first supporting argument, in a way that profoundly integrates the information from the second paragraph.

Sentence #23: Re-state the second supporting argument, in a way that profoundly integrates the information from the third paragraph.

Sentence #24: Re-state the third supporting argument, in a way that profoundly integrates the information from the fourth paragraph.

Sentence #25: Write a final sentence that summarizes the key message that you want the reader to take away from reading the article; for example, a new way of thinking about the main topic.

Click, open in new tab or window, and download,

to see in full resolution

Written and Published on May 12th, 2021

Based on what I learned in English class at
Lake Bluff, Illinois public school District #65

Dismantling Five Myths About Child Molesters That Are Helping Them Evade Notice, Capture, and Judgment

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Definitions of Paraphilias
2. Dismantling Myth #1: The False Idea That All Child Molesters Are Exclusively Attracted to Children
3. Dismantling Myth #2: The False Idea That All Child Molesters Are Exclusively Attracted to the Gender They Victimize
4. Dismantling Myth #3: The False Idea That All Child Molesters Are Pedophiles and Vice-Versa
5. Dismantling Myth #4: The False Idea That All Child Molesters Have Hundreds of Victims
6. Dismantling Myth #5: The False Idea That All Child Molesters Inflict Grievous Harm or Visible Injuries
7. Conclusion

 

Content

1. Introduction: Definitions of Paraphilias

      Ephebophilia is the primary sexual attraction to people aged approximately fifteen to nineteen years old.
     Hebephilia is the primary sexual attraction to children aged approximately eleven or twelve to fourteen years old.
     Pedophilia is generally defined as the primary sexual attraction to very young children, below the age of ten years old.
     Infantophilia (or nepiophilia) is the primary sexual attraction to children aged five or younger.

     These classes of paraphilic sexual attraction towards young people, are accepted among the psychiatric community, and several of these classes are listed in the D.S.M.-5 (the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders).

     If you first heard about these classes of sexual attraction outside of a criminological or psychiatric context, then you are probably familiar with the ongoing effort - by N.A.M.B.L.A., and organizations affiliated with the so-called “pedosexual” movement - to legitimize and normalize sexual relations between adults and minors, and to defend adult sexual attraction to minors, and to fight for the recognition of a freedom to act upon that attraction.
     Such organizations, and their supporters (almost all of whom are pedophiles), often cite the existence of different classes of age-based paraphilic sexual attraction, to downplay the seriousness of adult sexual attraction to minors, and to downplay the dangerous consequences of acting on that attraction.

     While it is factually accurate to point out that ephebophilia - the primary attraction to teenagers - is different from pedophilic attraction to children, that fact does not make sexual relations between adults and teenagers (i.e., rape) any safer. Also, the fact that a person is attracted to teenagers, does not necessarily mean that they are not attracted to even younger children as well.
     It is not the aim of this article, to defend sexual attraction to minors (i.e., ephebophilia, hebephilia, pedophilia, and infantophilia), nor acting upon that attraction, at any age or age range.

     I want to make it absolutely clear: All sexual relations between people over the age of 18, and people below the age of 16, should be condemned, illegal, and punished.

     In my opinion, states should come together to draft a uniform standard regarding whether the age of consent should be 17, and whether and how Romeo and Juliet laws can help solve the problem.

     I have explained my thoughts regarding legal solutions to this, at length, before; in my 2020 platform regarding child protection and sexual consent laws, which I called the Safe Kids Amendment (S.K.A.).

     I only mention the difference between the age classes of paraphilic attraction to minors, in order to explain that the differing definitions of these classes, makes it difficult to diagnose people as the exact class of pedophile that they are.

     This is important to talk about, because fussing over definitions can make it difficult to easily identify, and properly label, an adult who is suspected of being a pedophile or suspected of having molested a child.
     If the family of the victim is distracted by arguing about which term to use to describe the suspected abuser - "if" that person is indeed guilty - then the family will be unlikely to believe the person claiming abuse. Police, and the families of the people involved in the accusation, might have difficulty accepting that the accused person exactly matches the description offered by the person claiming to be their victim.

     Physical evidence is what matters most in these cases, but family members failing to notice an accused abuser's past patterns of abuse, could cause the family's secret pain to stay secret, instead of being noticed by investigators. Those family abusers who exhibit signs of narcissism or psychopathy will often inflict emotional abuse and psychological manipulation on their entire families - often more and more over the years, gradually, without them even noticing - in order to cover-up and/or distract from the physical and/or sexual abuse they committed in secret. Thus, the abuser's success in keeping the whole family in silence, confusion, and argumentation among themselves, should be recognized by investigators as something which could prevent the full disclosure of evidence related to the case.
     To put it another way, suspected child molesters often inflict emotional abuse which should be understood to function as a destruction or suppression of evidence, because of the chilling effect which that abuse creates on the family members' freedom of speech,

     Since it's possible for someone to be a pedophile but not a child molester - and since it's arguably possible for someone to be a "serial child molester" without having multiple victims - it's important to explain the differences between definitions, and to explain stereotypes that are making it difficult to identify child sex criminals.

     Throughout the remainder of this article, I will explain what I believe are the top five "harmful stereotypes" about pedophiles and child molesters. But these stereotypes do not harm child molesters; they are harming children; by helping child molesters evade notice, capture, and judgment.

     These stereotypes are as follows:

     1) some child molesters are attracted to adults in addition to children;
     2) some child molesters are bisexual;
     3) not all pedophiles become child molesters;
     4) some child molesters only have one or a few victims, rather than many; and
     5) injuries will not always be visible after a child has been molested.

2. Dismantling Myth #1: The False Idea That All Child Molesters Are Exclusively Attracted to Children

     As I stated above, one common definition of pedophilia is that it is the primary sexual attraction to children age ten years and below.

     We might conclude, therefore - from that, and from the fact that infantophilia pertains to attraction to children age five and below - that “pedophile” might most accurately apply to people whom are primarily attracted to children between the ages of five and ten.

     While one common definition of pedophilia is that it is the primary sexual attraction to children age ten and below, there is another definition, which some people accept, which I do not think is correct. This definition is that pedophiles are exclusively attracted to children under ten, rather than primarily.

     What is the difference, you might ask? Again, to be clear, there is certainly no difference in an ethical or moral sense, between someone who is exclusively, versus primarily, attracted to children. And certainly, some - maybe even many - pedophiles are exclusively attracted to children.

     But the difference on which I wish to focus, comes in the difference seen in the difficulty establishing an M.O. (i.e., a modus operandi; that is, a mode of operating), when we make unfounded assumptions about child molestation suspects that are based on possibly false definitions.

     If we define pedophilia to mean "a person who is exclusively attracted to children", then we risk making the mistake – whether consciously or unconsciously – to reject, with prejudice, the possibility that a person suspected of molesting a child, might have done what he or she is accused of, because they’re mostly (but not exclusively) attracted to children.
     If the "exclusively attracted" definition of pedophilia were officially or universally accepted, then it would be technically correct that a person who is secretly molesting his child while maintaining a sexual relationship with his spouse, is not a pedophile (because the fact that he's attracted to his wife, means he's not exclusively attracted to his child).
     There is a difference between a definition being technically correct or legally accurate, and the definition being helpful, or easy to understand. Ideally it should be easy enough for a child to understand it, because a child might have to make a claim that abuse occurred.
     The fact that a child's attacker is attracted to adults in addition to children, does not mean that the child suffered any less, nor that the attacker is any less dangerous. It might even mean that the person in question is more unpredictable than someone who is exclusively attracted to either children or adults.

     To illustrate the risks involved in misunderstanding, or disagreeing about, definitions, let’s take an example from pop culture. In Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, Humbert Humbert married a woman in order to have a sexual affair with her underage daughter.

     Taking an example from real life: Jeffrey Epstein maintained a sexual relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell (his girlfriend, handler, and assigned protectee) while they were sexually abusing teenage girls together and apart. Not only that, but French fashion designer Jean-Luc Brunel once wrote a note to Epstein saying that he had “a” girl for Epstein, whose age was “8 x 2”. This might refer to a sixteen-year-old, but if you’ve heard the rumors of Epstein’s interest in twelve-year-old French triplets, it’s just as likely that this might refer to two eight-year-olds.

     Moreover, plenty of men marry women, and then cheat on their wives with their wives’ daughters from previous marriages (i.e., their step-daughters). Some survivors of domestic abuse have posted on social media sites that their stepfathers had sex with them, and then their mothers blamed their own daughters for seducing the mother’s boyfriend or husband. This is often followed by the daughter telling the mother that it’s the mother’s fault for allowing it, or for choosing a boyfriend or husband who is a pedophile.

3. Dismantling Myth #2: The False Idea That All Child Molesters Are Exclusively Attracted to the Gender They Victimize

     If it is conceivable that a man can rape or molest his daughter or stepdaughter, without being exclusively attracted to minors, then why should it be inconceivable that a man could marry a woman, and then go on to develop a sexual attraction towards his own son or sons?

     What I am about to say is not in any way a knock against same-sex marriage, nor is intended to promote suspicion of gay couples. But it is possible for a homosexual man to disguise his attraction to men, and marry a woman.
     In American slang, the woman is known as the man’s “beard”. This is because – like a beard – she creates a false vision of manliness for her husband. Such a man could undoubtedly molest his son, using the false claim that he is straight, to provide a cover or alibi, if he is accused of that type of same-sex relation. In the case of a man using his wife to provide a cover for molesting his son, that man's wife becomes a beard for the man's pedophilia rather than his homosexuality.

     Aside from gay men who marry women to cover their homosexuality, there are also bisexual men who marry women because they’d rather marry a woman than a man. Early 20^th century American songwriter Cole Porter, and his wife Linda, are one example of a couple that fit that description. [Note: Cole Porter didn’t molest his son, because he didn’t have any children. But I don’t care to speculate on whether Porter was a pedophile, since nothing would suggest that. The point is that a man can be attracted to both males and females, and then marry a woman, get her pregnant, and have a son, and potentially molest that son.]

     Additionally, there have been incidents in which children and teenagers have been coaxed into watching pornography by adults, and then gone on to molest, rape, and/or torture other (usually smaller) children. From the fact that these children molest younger children because they saw porn that probably featured adults, we can reasonably conclude that in most cases like this, the child will grow up to be attracted to both children and adults for the rest of their life (unless they get successful therapy for the abuse they suffered).
     Bisexual pedophiles do exist. A man, or a woman, could be bisexual (that is, attracted to both men and women), have children, and molest either their son or their daughter, or both. A pedophile's sexual attraction doesn't always determine which sex they are likely to victimize, but we shouldn't underestimate the likelihood that a person's choice in a victim, reflects sexual attraction in addition to the urge to dominate someone smaller and more vulnerable (i.e., that it reflects both sexual attraction and the abuser's penchant for violence).

     I say none of the above in order to promote or excuse unfounded suspicion of child molestation on the part of anyone matching the descriptions listed above.

     I am merely illustrating several real-life and fictional examples which show that not all people who molest children are exclusively attracted to children.

4. Dismantling Myth #3: The False Idea That All Child Molesters Are Pedophiles and Vice-Versa

     I also wish to make it clear that not all pedophiles are child molesters, and not all child molesters are pedophiles.

     I say “not all pedophiles are child molesters” because some adults are primarily or exclusively attracted to children, but do not go on to offend. Some of these people call themselves “righteous pedophiles”, but I do not say this to affirm the righteousness of being a pedophile. There is none. There is righteousness, however, in not offending, needless to say.

     I say “not all child molesters are pedophiles” because it’s possible that some people who molest children, are not primarily attracted to children, or at least are not consciously attracted to children.
     For example, suppose that someone were molested as a child, and the abuse were so traumatic that they forgot the abuse, and they went on to molest a child while lacking memory of their own abuse. Such a person would probably claim, when caught, that they “don’t know what came over” them. They might even realize, after molesting the child, that they think they did it because they were abused as a child, and are now recovering memories of their childhood abuse.
     Furthermore, the word pedophile literally means "child lover". To be clear, when a child is molested, there is no difference for that child whether the person who molested them, did it because they hate children, or because they "love children too much". But the fact remains: Some people who molest children love children too much, while some people molest children because they hate children.
     There are people - like Jimmy Savile, for example - who admit to hating children, yet raped children. Of course, Savile claimed that he hated children, in order to dismiss accusations that he raped children. But when Savile says he hates children, we should believe him; that is probably the one thing he was telling the truth about. I find it hard to imagine Savile falling in love with any of the sick and dying children he raped on their deathbeds.
     I say this not to downplay the seriousness of sex crimes perpetrated by people who don't hate children. I merely wish to point out that there are people who profess to hate children, yet will be around them (in order to rape them). This is important to think about because it is easy to dismiss the possibility that a person who claims to hate children, could be abusing them when they're left alone with them nd nobody is looking.
     I also wish to point out that there are people who say they love children, and do love children, but are still risks to children (i.e., because they "love children too much"). Many of such people could probably be adequately described as mentally ill pedophiles who have not only a sexual attraction to children (or one or the other gender, or both genders, of children), but also particular romantic feelings towards one or more children in particular. Such people may use their love for children, as a cover for their pedophilia, and/or as a justification for their feelings.
     Such people may be just as much of a potential danger towards children, as someone who professes to hate children (whether that child-hater is a child sex criminal or not).
   

     To say that “not all child molesters are pedophiles” is not to reduce suspicion of anybody. Most - and probably even nearly all - child molesters, are pedophiles, in fact. To say otherwise would be ridiculous, unless it happened that most molested children were assaulted by people who had no sexual attraction to children, or very little as compared to their attraction to adults.
     The point is that you have to be watchful of both child haters and child lovers who may wish to harm your children - and you have to be aware of how they may wish to use hate or love as a cover for harming children.

     Hopefully the following three infographics, which show three different methods of visualizing this information, will help the reader understand the differences between child molesters and pedophiles.

This diagram shows that

child molesting pedophiles are both

child molesters and pedophiles;

while there also exist

child molesters whom are not pedophiles,

as well as pedophiles whom are not child molesters.

This diagram shows what happens when you combine

categories of offense with the

pedophile vs. child molester category.

Since "offending non-offending pedophiles"
and "non-offending child molesters"

do not exist, only four types of

potential child sex offenders are shown here.

This diagram shows, and compares and contrasts,

six types of potential child sex offenders,

as well as two types of people whom are

extremely unlikely to sexually harm children.

Click, open in new tab or window, and download,

to view in full resolution

5. Dismantling Myth #4: The False Idea That All Child Molesters Have Hundreds of Victims

     In fact, I have said all of the above, in order to caution my readers that anybody could be a pedophile, or a child molester, because what most people think they know about the profile of child molesters, is based on unfounded rumors.

     It is commonly thought that all or most people who perpetrate sex crimes against children, do all of the following: 1) are exclusively, rather than primarily or even just somewhat, sexually attracted to children; and 2) will definitely offend; 3) will offend repeatedly or serially; and as such, 4) have dozens and dozens of victims already.

     This may sound like a farfetched claim, but this is, unfortunately, the stereotype about child molesters and child rapists, which has been allowed to propagate through American society. This is partially owing to the widely-repeated, and unfounded, claim, that every child molester has molested hundreds of children. It is also owing to the stereotype that every child molester is a serial child molester.

     This rumor has suffered from the “telephone game”; it was actually based on a real statistic; that the average serial child molester may have as many as four hundred victims in his or her lifetime. That is very different from saying that every person who has touched a child inappropriately, has four hundred victims.

     Again, I say this not to diminish the seriousness of the crimes of child molestation and rape. I say this to make it clear that just because the average serial child rapist might have four hundred victims in his lifetime, that is no guarantee that your husband will not molest your son or daughter once or twice in his entire lifetime.

     It is important to keep in mind that it is possible for a person to be a serial child molester or rapist, while only having one victim. A person who repeatedly victimizes the same child, is a "serial" child molester or rapist, every bit as much as someone who targets multiple children.
     It is important to keep in mind because sometimes a child is molested or raped by its own parent multiple times and nobody sees it. When that happens, it will often be difficult for people to believe it. They might say, "That's ridiculous, your parent loves you, and besides, everybody knows that child molesters are (fill in the blank)."
     Fill in the blank with "all fat and lonely and don't have families", or with "all criminals who are constantly on the run", or "all have multiple victims, so it would be easy to tell, because someone would have come forward by now."

     A study called "Psychological Profile of Pedophiles and Child Molesters" by John B. Murray, explains common (but not all-pervasive) profile characteristic of pedophiles and child molesters. The abstract of that study reads as follows:
     "Pedophiles and child molesters share some characteristics. Most are male, and they can be heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. Some prefer adult sex partners but choose children because they are available and vulnerable. The sexual abuse perpetrated may be a 1-time incident and may consist only of fondling. Penetration is unlikely with young children. Perpetrators' ages range from teens to midlife. Most victims are girls, and the perpetrator usually is a relative, friend, or neighbor. The home of the victim is often the setting for the incident. When boys are victims, sexual abuse may take place outside the home, and perpetrators may be strangers. Perpetrators of sexual abuse of children often claim they they themselves were victims of childhood sexual abuse."

     The abstract continues (I advise the reader to focus on this sentence):
     "Psychological profiles are helpful but are compromised partly because many perpetrators are prisoners and control groups are lacking for this research."
     http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00223980009600863?journalCode=vjrl20
     The fact that psychological profiles of child molesters are "compromised partly" should prompt us to use logic - and ask ourselves if we can think of examples of exceptions to the rules we thought we knew - to reconsider what information needs to be added, to the accurate information regarding child sex offender profiles, to complete our knowledge about this topic.
     That is why I have written this article.
     

6. Dismantling Myth #5: The False Idea That All Child Molesters Inflict Grievous Harm or Visible Injuries

     Knowing that not every person who molests a child is a serial child rapist with hundreds of victims, we should also keep in mind that not every act of child molestation or child rape will always leave life-threatening injuries, or even visible scars.
     Oprah Winfrey has discussed, in multiple episodes of her television show, that some children who have been molested, will not even know that they have been molested. This, according to Oprah, is because the abuse was not physically painful. Some child molesters - but not rapists - abuse children by tricking them into focusing on any physical or sexual pleasure which the child might derive from the act.

     This is not to say that molestation can be good for a child; it is simply to acknowledge that some child molesters intentionally include some pleasurable touching when they molest children. They do this: 1) to confuse the child about whether they like the touching; and/or 2) because rape is (almost always) about both violence and sexual attraction.

     To say that child molesters sometimes get away with their crimes by gently restraining the child, and then molesting them without severely injuring them or raping or penetrating them. This could potentially cause the child to remember more pleasure than pain being involved in the event. And that is, of course, the outcome which the child molester would desire, because a molested child who can't remember an incident being more painful than pleasing, is unlikely to come forward to report the way they remember the event.

     Parents should keep in mind that wounds, lacerations, blood in the stool, bruises, and other forms of easily visible injuries, will not always appear on a child who has been molested.
     Blood in the stool likely indicates anal rape, as does anal fissure. Torn labia, and blood, indicates vaginal rape.
     But a boy who has been forcefully restrained, and masturbated against his will, is likely to have no more than a visible bruise or two, if even that. It is certainly possible to molest a child without leaving a mark. It is probably not possible to rape a child without causing injuries and leaving evidence, but it is certainly possible to molest a child and leave them unscathed, except for the obvious emotional and psychological trauma, and physical stress, which result from being forcibly restrained and molested.
     I would name some examples of ways to molest a child without leaving a mark, but I don't want to give anyone - child molester or not - any wrong ideas. So it's best to just end here.     

7. Conclusion

     If we go on thinking that these unfounded rumors and stereotypes about what sort of person is likely to molest our children, are true, then we risk thinking that, if our child gets molested, then it could only have been by someone who is a crazy, psychopathic, serial child rapist, who has many, many other victims already.

     No child-molesting husbands or wives are going to get caught, if we go on giving parental molesters of children a sort of “qualified immunity”; believing that the fact that the child is being taken care of, means that they couldn’t have been molested. [Note: Some courts will give parents who sexually abuse their children "slaps on the wrist", such as by making them take a class, or read a pamphlet, about how molesting children is bad.]
     And moreover, nobody will get caught, if we go on believing that children couldn’t have been molested by anyone for whom the police aren’t already searching.
     None of these stereotypes help detect child molesters, either before or after they offend. They only help people remain in denial about what's going on in their own families.

          Lastly - and this point probably deserves its own section - a child is more likely to be molested, raped, and/or kidnapped, by someone they know (like a family member, neighbor, or teacher) than someone they don't know (like a criminal from off the street).

     Learn the warning signs of child sexual abuse and neglect.
     Is the child particularly afraid of one parent, or a specific adult? Does the child seem to want to talk about nothing but their own safety, or about how they're being mistreated by someone? Does the child know too much about sex at a young age? Has the child sexually abused or tortured other children or animals? Does the child have dark circles under its eyes? Does the child seem distant, lonely, or scared most of the time? Does the child have few friends, or few close friends? Does the child seem to have a hard time trusting certain people, or people in general?
     If this describes a child you know, then that child might be suffering from neglect, abuse, or even sexual assault.
     If the child has reported an injury related to sexual abuse, document that injury, visit a doctor, and get a rape test (if necessary) as soon as possible. Document everything you can regarding the abuse, and make sure to save anything and everything (clothes, furniture, other items) that might have the abuser's DNA on them.

     Child sexual abuse and assault are sensitive subjects. For years, courts have shied away from prosecuting priests accused with such crimes, based on the notion that the trial would traumatize the victim, and make them re-live the traumatic experience (even though one cannot say that without accidentally admitting that the first traumatic experience happened to begin with).
     Many courts simply don't want to get involved in child molestation cases. It's almost as if the courts see these criminal cases as "intra-family disputes" in which the state should not interfere.
     It is difficult to find trustworthy therapists, police officers, and social workers, who are not either abusers themselves, or else have come to see child abuse as an inevitable fact of life, which pays their bills, giving them no incentive to do anything but pass victims off to other therapists, police officers, and social workers.

     Before deciding whether to come forward, learn about whether there have been more complaints, in your state, about children suffering abuse at the hands of either the police or the child protective services agency or agencies in the state.

Written and Published on May 8th, 2021

Edited and Expanded on May 12th, 16th, and 17th, 2021

Images Added on May 17th, 2021

Originally published under the title
"Not All Child Molesters Are Exclusively Attracted to Children"

Title changed to
"Dismantling Five Stereotypes About Child Molesters That Are
Helping Them Evade Notice, Capture, and Judgment"

on May 12th, 2021