A profile released by officials Thursday of supposed child molesters seems to be at odds with current thinking on the topic and is heavily biased against males.

A review of literature available on the Internet shows that Costa Rica’s official profile does not find much support in police or academic circles elsewhere.

The profile, which enraged some North Americans living here, seems to be just another example of the scattergun approach officials have taken in the wake of public outcry about child murders.

Although President Abel Pacheco is a psychiatrist, it is not known how much, if anything, he contributed to the creation of the profile.

The profile also says that such individuals have a great interest in participating in games with children and frequently touch children. The profile also says that such persons involve themselves in organizations dedicated to children.

Several North Americans here pointed out that as language-challenged single men who like sports, they fit the profile perfectly. Costa Ricans were urged to call 911 emergency telephone operators to report such individuals in their neighborhood.

But a popular U.S. author on the subject, a former television producer who studied the phenomenon, said:

"Pedophiles possess no tidy criminal profile. They come from all walks of life. Some are married, some single; some professional, some blue-collar; some young, some retired. Some prefer boys, and some prefer girls. Some are attracted to young children, others to older children. In short, pedophilia, or sexual attraction to children by an adult, is a sickness that does not discriminate by race, class, or age. It knows no bounds, and afflicts people in every segment of society." 

That was the words of Kenneth Wooden, who wrote "Child Lures Parent Guide: How to Keep Your Child Safe From Exploitation, Abduction, Drugs & School Violence," which also is available in Spanish. 

Studies of pedophiles also draw a sharp distinction between molesters, who generally do not mean their victims harm, and child rapists seeking sexual gratification at the expense of the child. The Costa Rican profile makes no such distinction.

A South Carolina case does not seem to fit the Costa Rican profile where the suspect was a 31-year-old, well-known lawyer in the community. However, a spokesperson for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children there said the suspect fit the classic profile of a child molester, enticing children and plying them with liquor and pornography before seducing them, according to The State newspaper. Costa Rican officials had help from a new branch of the same organization in drawing up their profile.

In a June 2002 publication, "The Child Molester: A review article," two clinical psychologists from University of the Free State in South Africa surveyed the current academic and clinical literature. They said that a bias exists in singling out males. "The common perception of [child sexual abuse] considers the majority of offenders to be males who sexually abuse females/girls. Studies on females who sexually abuse are rarely performed. Until recently, abuse by females was thought not to exist." 

The researchers said that underreporting of female abusers was due to a gender bias in favor of women, in part because male victims are less likely to disclose the acts. There also is a  lower index of suspicion because the female is viewed as a caretaker and their behavior is seen as seductive or inappropriate nurturance rather than abusive or criminal. 

Female child abusers did not differ from male perpetrators in terms of the number of victims abused, number of acts per child (five to seven) or the severity of the abuse, but they tended to abuse younger victims, said the researchers.

Bias found in favor of women leads to a decrease in registering and reporting of cases, said the researchers, and bypassing of prosecution may lead to continued abuse and victimization. 

The conclusion:

"Identifying child sexual abusers using multiple analytic tools and describing biological, socio-cultural and psychological aetiological components have been attempted without success. This is due to the demographic, behavioural and psychological heterogeneity of child molesters."

Another author, Julie Posey, said "There isn't a real profile for sex offenders. They can be male or female, come from any racial background, any social background and any economic background. They range in age from 10-80."

The Christian Science Monitor, a respected U.S. daily newspaper, reported last July that the number of abductions in the United States have decreased dramatically because children have been better educated to avoid those who would abduct them. 

Radiográfica Costarricense S.A., the internet monopoly, has linked an Internet page where computer users can file a complaint against Web sites that promote child pornography. 

The Web page is linked directly to RACSA’s homepage and is said to be sponsored by the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia and the Agenda Nacional. The Agenda is a mix of private and public organizations that seeks to create an agenda for children and youth through the year 2010, according to the site.

The page also contains a space where a computer user can fill in the address or an offending Web site. The person making the complaint does not have to give his or her name. In fact, there is no space for a name.

There is no explanation of what will happen when someone files a complaint. RACSA has said it will block sites that contain child pornography. 

Child pornography is obscene depictions of children or drawings or other devices to simulate children. However, the administration has embarked on an effort to keep Internet pornography of whatever description out of the computers of children. RACSA on the same Web page offers filtering software for parents.

Pacheco announced Monday that children will be restricted from visiting Internet cafes after certain evening hours depending on the child’s age.

The Agenda Web site characterizes child pornography and sexual exploitation of children as violence against children.

The RACSA homepage contains a description of filters and what it considers to be the problems of the Internet for children, including unsolicited messages on taboo subjects.

Costa Rican health officials are gearing up for a public relations campaign Thursday against dengue, the mosquito-born disease that can be a killer.

The disease is fast approaching an epidemic with more than 5,400 cases reported to date this year, some 2,000 more than last year, said María del Rocío Sáenz, minister of Salud.

Hard hit are Puntarenas, Limón, Nicoya and the Osa Peninsula area. Places like Grecia, Santa Ana and Alajuela, which usually are not prone to the disease, have cases this year, as does San José proper, health officials said.

A handful of the case are of the hemorrhagic type that may be fatal.

The incident of disease can be decreased by eliminating the water where the mosquito lays its eggs and the larva grows. Thursday will be dedicated to eliminating these breeding spots, including things like old cans and tires.

One contributor to the increase in the disease is the Central Valley custom of not putting screens on windows. As a result, many Costa Ricans are exposed at night to mosquitoes.

Drug suspect held
on old U.S. charge

Investigators arrrested a man they said is a fugitive from California justice in Cacao near Golfito Tuesday.

The man was identified as Charles Lyle Cohea, a U.S. citizen wanted to face trial on charges of narcotrafficking and possession of firearms. He is a 

Charles Lyle Cohea

fugitive from the Superior Court in Contra Costa, Calif., said investigators in a news release. The charges against Cohea are nine and 10 years old and involve raids at his home where police said they found a laboratory for the production of methamphedamine and chemicals consituents.  A rifle also was found, generating the

When police raided his home in 1994, they found gear that linked him to the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang, they said. The Hell’s Angles is known as a major distributor of narcotics.

Cohea faced justice once before when he was charged with unpremeditated homicide in 1983 after the torso of a police informer was found on his property, said investigators. They did not say what the outcome was of that charge.

Cohea has lived in San José and Quepos as well as the community of Cacao, said investigations. He came here for the first time in 1993 and was in the process of gaining residency through marriage to a Costa Rican woman, they said.

The arrest Tuesday was made by agents of the International Police Agency (INTERPOL), the Judicial Investigating Organization and the agents of Migración in Golfito, said the release.

Sidewalk prostitution
targeted in proposal

Prostitution is tolerated in Costa Rica, but if Juan José Vargas, a national deputy, has his way, soliciting would be forbidden on the public streets.

A number of prostitutes, including transvestites, conduct business from streets and corners in San José and other major cities.

If the law proposed by Vargas is passed, the prostitutes would be subject to a fine or three months in jail for being repeat offenders.

The law, presented to the Comisión Permanente de Asuntos Sociales, also would call for more state control, designation of an area where prostitutes could work and efforts to change their lifestyles.

Five with false papers
found by immigration

Immigration officials said they found five illegal workers in the last two weeks who were using false work documents.

The Policía de Migración arrested the five in operations in Montezuma at the foot of the Nicoya Peninsula July 12 and also in San José last weekend, the said. The individuals involved were Peruvian and Argentines. Because they had false papers they were deported immediately, said immigration officials.

The Dirección de Migración y Extranjeria said that potential employers can check the validity of any work permits presented to them by contacting the appropriate immigration department at 220-1860.
 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission announced July 21 that it will settle charges against an individual who the agency says devised an online scheme to deceive customers into providing private financial information.

The FTC calls this sort of online fraud "phishing," and it violates U.S. law. In this case, the agency alleges that the individual — an underage, unidentified minor — sent e-mail to customers of the widely used Internet service provider America Online. The e-mail advised the customers that AOL needed to update payment information, and directed them to use a hyperlink to reach a Web page. 

When the customers followed the hyperlink, they were directed not to an AOL page, but one mocked up, using AOL logo and graphics. Customers thought they were conducting an online transaction with their Internet service provider, the FTC alleges, but they were actually giving private credit card numbers to the scammer. 

"Phishing is a two time scam," said Timothy J. Muris, chairman of the FTC. "Phishers first steal a company's identity and then use it to victimize consumers by stealing their credit identities. This is the FTC's first law enforcement action targeting phishing. It won't be the last."

An FTC press release says the individual has agreed to a settlement in which he is forever barred from sending unsolicited e-mail, and will sacrifice the $3,500 falsely obtained in the scheme. 

The FTC offers a publication entitled "How Not to Get Hooked by a Phishing Scam" available here.
 

Professional Directory A.M. Costa Rica's professional directory is where business people who wish to reach the English-speaking community may invite responses. If you are interested in being represented here, please contact the editor. Lawyers Lang & Asociados ATTORNEYS AT LAW HENRY LANG J.D. UNIVERSITY OF COSTA RICA LAW SCHOOL LL.M. HARVARD LAW SCHOOL REAL ESTATE LAW — IMMIGRATION INCORPORATION AND CORPORATE LAW INVESTMENT PROJECTS — TRADEMARKS English, French, Italian Spoken Telephone (506) 204-7871 FAX (506) 204-7872 info@langcr.com www.langcr.com Adolfo Rojas Breedy Breedy Abogados S.A. —Attorneys-at-Law— Since 1957. Best experience in: • Real Estate Transfer of Title and Title Search • Business • Investments • Commercial & Civil Litigation • Corporate Law & finance • Capital markets Law • International Taxation (506) 233-7203/221-0230      breedy@racsa.co.cr Web page:  www.breedy.com INVESTMENT RECOVERY CENTER Learn how to best protect your interests in the Villalobos case. Explore your options at http://www.irccr.net Also, we invite you to join one of the most active discussion groups on the case.  Find out what people who care are saying. Join at irccr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 232-8/16/03 Real estate agents MARGARET SOHN  of Carico 15 years Costa Rican real estate experience Member of the Costa Rican Real Estate Association, Lic. #1000  Member, Costa Rican-American Chamber of Commerce samargo@racsa.co.cr www.realtorcostarica.com (506) 232-5016 home   (506) 233-8057 office  (506) 382-7399 cell  229-8/9/03 Web Design Personalized Web Design •Hosting •Promotion •Logo Design Prices so reasonable they will astound you Call for a quote:  220-4602 www.alegria-webdesign.com We have over 12 years international experience 214-7/14/03