Sex Offenders and Mental Illness

This is why I believe sex offenders need to be studied more carefully. It's not a routine criminal situation in which you simply throw them in prison for life, or as some advocate, condemn them to death row. The sex offender registry is also fraught with problems. But when a 29-year-old man tries to enroll in school by pretending to be 12 with the aid of a 61-year-old man who supposedly also believes the man to be 12, there are clearly others issues involved than merely a sexual appetite for children.

AP photo

The Yavapai County sheriff's office also said Neil Havens Rodreick II conned two men he was living with and having sex with into believing he was a young boy. One of them, 61-year-old Lonnie Stiffler, called himself Rodreick's grandfather when he tried to enroll him at Mingus Springs Charter School as "Casey Price."

It would be interesting to see video of the man. I find it hard to believe he could pass himself off to anyone as being 12.

Stiffler and Robert James Snow, 43, "were very upset when the detectives told them they had been having a sexual relationship with a 29-year-old man and not a pre-teen boy," Quayle said.

[...]

Deputies who served a search warrant at a Chino Valley home Thursday found Stiffler, Snow, Rodreick and Brian J. Nellis, 34. Quayle said Nellis was apparently Rodreick's cell mate in an Oklahoma prison, where both served time for sex offenses.

They were "very upset" the guy wasn't 12? Jee-zus! Personally, I think they should have been greatly relieved but what the hell do I know.

It's rare for me to rendered almost speechless by a piece of news so strange and twisted. Bring on the mental health professionals and let's see if they can unravel this one. I'm sure there are varying degrees of illness contributing to a desire for pre-teen sex. And with proper counseling maybe some sex offenders can get it under control. In the case of this group of men, it's beyond extreme and I'm just guessing, but returning to a normal life in society seems completely off the table.