She was the perfect target. The child of a single mom, Tanya Weiland was only two years old when her dad was arrested for domestic violence and only six when her mother died of breast cancer, leaving her vulnerable and completely alone in a world much larger than she could imagine. Tanya was an easy mark for a pedophile.1
Her step-uncle, Gregory Rutherford, took Tanya into his home and raised her. During those early years, everything seemed to be normal. Rutherford had a good job. Oftentimes, he bragged to Tanya about “days gone by” when he managed his own trucking company, was a reserve police volunteer, and was the chief of reserves in Minnesota. He allowed her to play with his old duty belt. They lived in a nice home in a good neighborhood. Tanya went to school and made decent grades. They attended church, and she went to Sunday school. She played with and collected Barbie dolls. At first glance, Tanya had everything a little girl could want and more. Rutherford loved to tell police war stories, and he taught Tanya how to hunt. He made her feel extra special, and everybody knew she was “daddy’s little girl.” But things began to change when Tanya turned 11. There were overnight hunting trips. Grooming led to fondling, which resulted in incidences of rape, sodomy, and incest. Tanya took her first drink of alcohol as a minor with Rutherford. By the time Tanya was 18 years old, she had been sexually violated repeatedly in four different counties in South Dakota. Rutherford molested her in their home, in a vehicle, in a tent, in a camper, in a deer stand, and in various motel rooms. As she says, “Sexual violence became her new normal.”2
Tanya enrolled at South Dakota State University in the fall of 2015. There, she attempted to be a typical college student. All the while, Rutherford tracked Tanya’s movements through the GPS in her cellphone. He texted and called her excessively. When she tried to break away from his firm grip, he became more controlling, more vindictive, and verbally violent. Every week, Rutherford badgered her until she returned home or agreed to meet him in motel room in a nearby town. Every weekend, he continued to violate her.
Tanya started partying at school, which led to more alcohol consumption and promiscuous behavior. One evening, she refused to respond to Rutherford’s texts and calls. Instead, Tanya hung out with friends. Rutherford tracked her location and called the police on her, which resulted in a ticket for underaged consumption of alcohol. Tanya’s coursework and grades suffered. Ultimately, she was placed on academic probation, which prompted her to explore other educational opportunities.
Tanya contacted the Lake Area Technical Institute (LATI) in Watertown, South Dakota. She submitted an application and took the necessary entrance exam, and in the fall of 2016, she began her studies at LATI in the law enforcement program.3
Tanya arrived for class the first day of the fall semester and shared her desire to be a law enforcement officer so that she could follow in the footsteps of “dad”—Rutherford. She wanted to make a difference in the world. By all accounts, Tanya appeared to be a typical law enforcement student; however, within the first semester, things changed. Tanya was constantly on her phone and distracted during class. During a counseling session for excessive cellphone usage, Tanya showed the text messages from Rutherford to her law enforcement instructor.4
Tanya’s disclosure of sexual violence resulted in a multijurisdictional investigation and prosecution led by State’s Attorney Chris White of South Dakota. Initially, Rutherford was facing 28 charges in four counties. The extreme and bizarre text messages proved to be substantial evidence supporting Tanya’s testimony and sealing the fate of Rutherford. “The text messages were not from a loving father (figure), but a psychotic boyfriend figure,” said White.5
Subsequent to a plea agreement, Rutherford plead guilty to two counts. He was sentenced to 15 years in Brown County and 5 years in Brookings County for incest-related charges.6
Tanya is reclaiming her life and healing from a horrific seven-year sexually abusive relationship. Unfortunately, Tanya’s story of child sexual violence is all too common for women in South Dakota, the United States, and other countries across the globe. However, the investigation and prosecution of her case was uncommon and places Tanya’s case in the minority.
Most sexual violence incidents never get reported to the police. According to RAINN (the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), “Only 230 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to police. That means about 3 out of 4 go unreported.” That means 995 sexual offenders walk free. Of the 230 incidents of sexual assault that will get reported to the police, only 46 perpetrators will be arrested. Only 9 cases will be referred to prosecutors. Only 5 cases will lead to a felony conviction. Finally, only 4.6 sex offenders will be incarcerated.7
Prevalence
Child Sexual Violence: South Dakota
In South Dakota alone, 4,000 children are sexually abused every year: one in four girls and one in six boys.8
According to the 2018 Crime In South Dakota report published by the Attorney General’s Office of South Dakota, there were 490 reported incidents of sexual assault in 2018, of which 194 victims were under 18 years of age, and only 49 arrests were made. There were 39 reported incidents of sodomy, of which 24 victims were under 18 years of age, and only 2 arrests were made. There were 377 reported incidents of fondling. of which 273 victims were under 18 years of age, and only 36 arrests were made. Finally, there were 15 reported incidents of incest and 105 incidents of statutory rape, of which 110 victims were juveniles and only 11 arrests were made.9
The aforementioned statistics do not include incidents occurring on tribal lands. In South Dakota, there are nine Native American reservations. Native American women are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault than any other ethnic group in the United States.
“What do I tell my daughter when she is raped?” was a question posed to Charon Asetoyer, Chief Executive Officer of the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center by a young mother on the Yankton Dakota Reservation in Lake Andes, South Dakota. In an interview by The Guardian, Asetoyer recalled her reaction:
The feeling… I can’t even begin to explain how that made me feel. Not if she’s raped, but when she’s raped…We’re aware of how bad the problem is in our reservation community, but when somebody puts it to you that way, you realize it’s even worse than you thought it was.10
Child sexual violence is not just a problem in South Dakota or in the United States. Globally, sexual violence against children has been found in every culture and in every society. Statistics gathered by international organizations fall short of the full rates of child sexual violence, because most incidents are never reported. In fact, one out of three child victims tells no one.11
In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that up to 1 billion minors between the ages of 2 and 17 years old have experienced violence—either physical, emotional, or sexual—including fondling and rape.12 During the same year, UNICEF reported that, in 38 low- and middle-income countries, almost 17 million adult women admitted having a forced sexual relationship during their childhood.13
In Europe in 2013, WHO estimated that almost 18 million children had been victims of sexual abuse (13.4 percent of all girls and 5.7 percent of all boys). Additionally, according to UNICEF, across 28 European countries, approximately 2.5 million young women have reported sexual abuse before the age of 15. A 2017 INTERPOL report on the sexual violence of minors contributed to the identification of 14,289 victims in 54 European countries.14 Research indicates that the problem goes far beyond Europe.15
In India, there was reported a total of 48,338 cases of the rape of minors between 2001 and 2011, with an increase of 336 percent of the number reported from 2001 (2,113 cases) to 2011 (7,112 cases).
In the United States, more than 700 million children are the victims of violence and abuse every year according to government data.
In Australia, in 2015–2017, one out of six women (16 percent or 1.5 million) reported that they experienced physical or sexual abuse before the age of 15, and one out of nine men (11 percent, or 9.92 thousand) reported that they were abused when they were boys. Furthermore, between 2015 and 2016, indigenous children were seven times more likely to suffer abuse or abandonment than their non-indigenous peers.
In South Africa research revealed that in 2016, one out of three South Africans was at risk of sexual abuse before reaching the age of 17. The national-scale study showed that 784,967 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17 had already experienced sexual abuse. The victims were prevalently boys, and less than one-third had made reports to police.
Research and Prevention
Identifying Perpetrators
Child sexual violence is an international epidemic. In 2001, Dr. Gene Abel and Nora Harlow published The Stop Child Molestation Book, in which they propose steps that ordinary people can do in their everyday lives to protect children. In a nutshell, the Stop Child Molestation Plan for ordinary people follows:
A. Tell others the facts.
■ Child molestation can be over. We have the knowledge to end it.
■ There are 39 million adults living in the United States who have survived child sexual abuse.
■ More than 3 million U.S. children are victims.
B. Save the greatest number of children in the shortest possible time. Currently, 90 percent of our efforts go toward protecting our children from strangers. Instead, 90 percent of our efforts should be focused on saving our children from molesters who are not strangers—molesters in their families and molesters who are friends of their parents.
C. Focus on the cause. Start saving children at the beginning—before a child becomes a victim. In general, molesters fit into one of four broad categories:
1. They are children or teenagers who are sexually curious or experimenting.
2. They have medical or mental problems that need treatment.
3. They are opportunists, who lack feelings for others and who have an antisocial personality disorder.
4. They have an ongoing sexual interest in children.16
Child Molestation and Pedophilia
In the past, law enforcement officers, teachers, and parents taught Stranger Danger; however, most child molesters are family members and friends of parents. They are not strangers.
According to Abel and Harlow, “The single greatest cause that drives a grown-up to sexually interact with a child is a sexual desire for a little girl or boy.”17 The molesters in category four are pedophiles and they have a sexual desire directed at children.
Why is this information important for ordinary people to know? Pedophiles molest 88 percent of children who are molested. They commit 95 percent of the acts.18
It’s important to understand that pedophilia is a well-known disorder defined by the American Psychiatric Association. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), in order for pedophilic disorder to be diagnosed, the following criteria must be met:
■ Recurrent, intense sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child (generally age 13 years or younger) for a period of at least 6 months.
■ These sexual urges have been acted on or have caused significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
■ The person is at least 16 years old and at least 5 years older than the child in the first category. However, this does not include an individual in late adolescence involved in an ongoing sexual relationship with a 12- or 13-year-old.19
Furthermore, it is important to educate ordinary people on the differences between pedophiles and child molesters. Child molesters sexually touch children. They have in fact molested a child. On the other hand, a pedophile is different. He or she may have all of the diagnostic criteria for being a pedophile, but this person has not yet molested a child.
As per Abel and Harlow,
Child molesters fall into four categories: much older children, mentally or medically disabled, anti-socials, and pedophiles. Within the last category—pedophiles—there exists teenagers and adults who are in an early stage of pedophilia.20
According to Abel, it is during that early stage before a pedophile becomes a child molester that is critical. Being able to identify that early stage of pedophilia would greatly enhance the ability of everyday people to stop 95 percent of the sexual violence against children before it happens.21
It’s common sense. It is necessary to focus on the cause of child sexual violence to stop child sexual violence. What causes pedophilia? There are three main causes: (1) spontaneous occurrence in childhood development, (2) accidental conditioning, and (3) a molested child’s identification with his or her aggressor.22
It’s important for ordinary people seeking to protect children to understand that 1 in 20 males will develop pedophilia (only 1 in 3,300 females develop pedophilia).23
Abel is best-known for his Assessment for Sexual Interest and for the Diana Screen, which is marketed to non-clinicians with the purpose of determining whether a job-volunteer applicant might pose a “sexual risk to children.” The Diana Screen is marketed to churches, summer camps, schools, and foster care agencies, and it is widely used by juvenile detention and residential treatment centers. However, like all psychological assessments and psychosexual assessments, none are an exact science.24
Proactive Approach
“If you always do what you’ve always done, then, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.”—Tony Robbins.
Stopping child sexual abuse requires a proactive approach. Attempting to stop child sexual abuse after the fact fails to protect children from sexual violence. Furthermore, stopping child sexual abuse can never be accomplished alone by professionals—physicians, therapists, police, and the courts—because they always get involved after the fact, when a child is already a victim of sexual violence. They arrive too late. By the time professionals arrive, the children have already been molested. Saving children at the beginning—before they become a victim is key.25
So, what’s the solution to this monumental problem? The professionals—the physicians, therapists, police, and the courts—cannot go it alone. They cannot carry the water, nor can they get everybody to drink. Instead, community collaboration is imperative. But, in the end, parents hold the key to ending child molestation.
Since 1 in 20 boys grow up to be a child molester, ordinary people need to be educated and open-minded enough to consider the possibility. The focus has to be on stopping child sexual violence before it happens.
Evidence-based research has shown that a “sexual desire for much younger children suddenly emerges in some teenagers when they hit puberty at 13 or 14.”26 Therefore, it’s imperative for all communities and all community members to talk about the issue and do something to prevent child sexual violence.
Education has always been the key to crime prevention. Proactive measures are always better then reactive measures. Consider this modern-day parable:
Once upon a time, a group of professionals was walking alongside a river, deeply engaged in inspiring conversation. In the group there was a doctor, a social worker, a therapist, a teacher, an elected official, a minister, a police officer, the director of a nonprofit agency, and many others who cared deeply about children and families and worked to make their lives better.
Suddenly, a nurse in the group spotted a child drifting by on the current, struggling mightily to keep from drowning. As the child succumbed and began to disappear beneath the surface, the nurse jumped in the river, pulled out the child, and began resuscitation procedures. Just then, another struggling child appeared in the currents, and the doctor jumped in to retrieve her. Then another came down river, then another, and another.
Pretty soon, all of the professionals were jumping into the river, pulling out the children, performing triage, and helping those they could help to the best of their abilities. But it was, in many ways, a lost cause, because the children kept pouring downstream, struggling to keep from drowning, and in many cases being pulled under to their deaths. The professionals simply did not have the bandwidth to save all of the children.
Finally, the minister, having just lost yet another child, stood up and loudly declared, “I’m going upstream to see what’s causing all these children to fall in the river!”
It’s time to go upstream for the sake of the children. Tanya Weiland, an ordinary person, is doing something extraordinary—she’s going upstream. She acquired her associates of applied law enforcement degree from LATI. Today, she attends Mount Marty College and is seeking a bachelor’s degree. Then, she has plans to obtain a master’s degree. Her goal is looking forward while giving back to her community so that she can make a difference. She has aspirations to be a sex-specific counselor so that she can prevent child sexual violence and help survivors recover from the devasting effects of child sexual violence. She realizes that there’s no time to waste because children are being sexually abused every day.
While going to school and working full-time, she volunteers for a faith-based nonprofit—Divine Providence of South Dakota. She, along with other ordinary people are involved in a variety of grassroots initiatives in South Dakota. Their vision is monumental—to end child sexual violence by talking about it, discussing it, and doing something about it.27 Every Sunday evening, Tanya works with other survivors who help children who have been sexually abused through the use of horses—equine experiences at Joy Ranch. She also leads a Bible study for teenage girls who have been sexually abused. She serves on the leadership team for Hope in God ministries that provides emotional and spiritual support for women, men, and teen survivors of child sexual abuse and sexual assault. Tanya talks to various groups and shares her story to help stop child sexual abuse. She is an ordinary person doing extraordinary things in her community.
During April 2019, Tanya helped to lead a Community Awareness Scavenger Hunt designed to educate community members about child sexual violence in northeast South Dakota. The project engaged more than 90 businesses, churches, schools, and organizations that posted Community Awareness Ribbons representing the number of children sexually abused in the Watertown area in 2018. Each ribbon, was numbered (1–90) and displayed a fact about child sexual abuse to educate community members. They created a hashtag—#StopAt90 and used radio, newspapers, and social media to reach as many people as possible. They were awarded a grant from the Watertown Area Community Foundation to acquire 1,000 window clings to further educate community members about child sexual abuse in their community. The hunt lasted the entire month of April—Sexual Assault Awareness Month. They created on online pin map to help hunters find the Awareness Ribbons throughout the Watertown area. It was fun and free to play, and hunters used their phones, digital cameras, or Polaroid cameras to take selfies with the Awareness Ribbons. Participants were encouraged to post their selfies on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter using #StopAt90. Winners of the hunt were awarded a variety of prizes, ranging from tuition scholarships to 40 pounds of beef to Watertown Bucks.
Conclusion
Community collaboration with ordinary people is key to ending child sexual violence. The role of law enforcement officers as community leaders is fundamental in helping to educate their communities, but they cannot carry the burden alone. Watertown is blessed to have the REACH team. REACH (Respond—Educate—Advocate—Counsel—Heal) is a team made up of law enforcement, medical providers, child protective services workers, mental health providers, victim advocates, and prosecutors. It is South Dakota’s first regional multidisciplinary team, designed to help victims and their families navigate the criminal justice system. Once child abuse is discovered, the victim comes to the child advocacy center where the child will meet the REACH team, and evidence is collected while the victim and the victim’s family receive information on the next steps and support services that are available.28
However, it’s important to understand that reacting to child sexual abuse ultimately fails children. It’s been said that it takes a community to raise a child. It also takes a community to solve a problem. Everyone, especially ordinary people, need to talk about it and do something. They need to consider the possibility that their child or their neighbor’s child is developing pedophilia. Steps can be taken to protect other children and help young boys who develop pedophilia.
1. Move to protect the other children.
2. Talk to your children about their sex thoughts. Have a conversation with your son. Have a conversation with your daughter.
3. Get professional help. See a sex-specific therapist for testing and evaluation.29
What do ordinary people—fathers and mothers—do that turn their sons into child molesters? Nothing. However, it’s important to not ignore sexual incidents that offer an opportunity to stop the disorder happening early in the child’s life—pedophiles often commit their first acts of molestation in their teens.30 Talk about it, discuss it, do something. Educate your officers, your community members, and the families you serve. 🛡
Notes:
1 Darkness to Light, “Child Sexual Abuse Statistics: Risk Factors.”
2 Tanya Weiland (survivor and child sexual assault recovery volunteer), interview by author, July 12, 2019.
3 Weiland, interview by author.
4 “Tanya’s Story,” in Courageous Women of the Prairie, vol. 2 (Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace, 2018), 69–73.
5 Elisa Sand, “Rutherford Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison in Incest Case,” AberdeenNews.com, February 14, 2019.
6 Sand, “Rutherford Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison in Incest Case.”
7 The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), “The Criminal Justice System.”
8 Jolene’s Law Task Force, Final Report (Pierre, SD: South Dakota Department of Health, January 2016).
9 Erin Baumgart, Crime in South Dakota 2018 (Pierre, SD: Office of Attorney General, Criminal Statistical Analysis Center, March 2019).
10 Sydney Parker, “Native American Mothers Ask: ‘What Do I Tell My Daughter When She is Raped?’” The Guardian, March 17, 2016.
11 Protection of Minors in the Church, “A Look at Child Abuse on the Global Level,” 2019.
12 World Health Organization, Violence Against Children (Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, June 7, 2019).
13 Protection of Minors in the Church, “A Look at Child Abuse on the Global Level.”
14 Protection of Minors in the Church, “A Look at Child Abuse on the Global Level.”
15 Protection of Minors in the Church, “A Look at Child Abuse on the Global Level.”
16 Gene Abel and Nora Harlow, The Stop Child Molestation Book (Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Corporation, December 24, 2001), 44.
17 Abel and Harlow, The Stop Child Molestation Book, 46.
18 Abel and Harlow, The Stop Child Molestation Book, 46.
19 “Pedophilia,” Psychology Today, February 2, 2019.
20 Abel and Harlow, The Stop Child Molestation Book, 48.
21 Abel and Harlow, The Stop Child Molestation Book, 48.
22 Abel and Harlow, The Stop Child Molestation Book, 52.
23 Elise Ellsworth, “Keeping Abusers at a Distance,” United Families International, January 27, 2019.
24 Maurice Chammah, “The Sex-Offender Test,” The Marshall Project, July 9, 2015.
25 Abel and Harlow, The Stop Child Molestation Book.
26 Abel and Harlow, The Stop Child Molestation Book, 59.
27 “Divine Providence of South Dakota,” website.
28 The Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment, “REACH Team.”
29 Abel and Harlow, The Stop Child Molestation Book, 71–72.
30 Abel and Harlow, The Stop Child Molestation Book, 30.
Please cite as
Jo Vitek, “Sexual Violence: Stopping Child Sexual Abuse,” Police Chief Online, November 13, 2019.
