KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana |Interview With a Rapist

Interview With a Rapist

May 17, 2006

Reported by Libby White

While serving time in prison for forcible rape, one sex offender says he realized there are a lot of laws and policies that need to be changed when it comes to sex crimes. Brian was convicted of forcible rape and served fifteen years in prison for that crime. Now out on parole, he thinks laws regarding sex offenders need to be toughened up and rehabilitation should be revised.

"You had some very violent, very sick individuals in the prisons that really need treatment," Brian said. "Some of them, I don't feel, should ever get out." He claims to be rehabilitated now that he's out of prison. "I don't look at women today and say, oh, I'd like to attack her."

What helped him the most? Getting his GED and going through a sex offender treatment program. Education is something he thinks should be mandatory for anyone convicted of a sex crime. "The system needs to take a broader look at the offenders they're trying to rehabilitate," Brian said. "It's not required that a sex offender take sex offender treatment, they have the right to refuse it."

Brian says he's required to register as a sex offender for the next ten years. Even though he's on it, he thinks sex offender registration web sites are a great tool for the public."When I first realized I had to do it, I was a little embarrassed knowing that if a lot of people went to the web site, they were going to see me. Then, I said, I brought this on myself," he said.

He would like to see harsher laws for child predators because he thinks there is a difference between sex offenders who commit crimes against adults and those who prey on children. "They don't put adult victim, molestation, child victim, or anything like that. They just put sex offender. I believe sex offenders need to be categorized," said Brian. Even though the woman he raped was an adult, "I can't go to my son's graduation because I'm a sex offender, but I'm not a child predator." Brian says not all sex offenders come out of prison plotting their next victim.

Glen Hanks with probation and parole says while a sex offender is under their supervision, it is policy that they can not attend any school functions, regardless of the age of their victim. Hanks also says there is no mandatory treatment for sex offenders.

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