I have been working on the June 3-7, 2013 SANE/SART course, to be held at the Citadel. One of the tasks is to review the reference list, and in doing so I came across an interesting article on the sex offender's thinking in the suspect interview process. It reminded me of the opportunity I had several years ago to stand behind the two-way glass and observe a detective interview a suspect - and I was fascinated! The detective clearly had a good grasp of the techniques in this article. The first thing she said was "Now I know that you did not really do this and I am not worried about that. This is just routine, can I get you anything, a cup of coffee, a glass of water?" Of course being a naive nurse, I was clueless about the process that was unfolding. Over the course of 1 hour she went from putting the man at ease to handcuffing him. To this day she is one of my heroes.
So take a look at the article. It describes the strategies to be used when interviewing sex offenders. The author calls them "the five trademarks of the suspect interview":
1. The offender will diminish the severity of the offense.
2. The offender will blame the victim to some degree.
3. The offender will attempt to control the interview.
4. The offender will never give 100% of the information regarding the offense.
5. The offender will never talk about crimes the investigator does not already know about.
A copy is in the exam room, or you can locate it from the MUSC on line journal collection.
Howell, D. (2013). The five trademarks of sex offenders. Sexual Assault Report, 16(3), 33,44-46.
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