Joe could be among last to receive help
Studies show circles are major factor in reducing recidivism in offenders
Trust has never been Joe’s strong suit.
The only thing harder for him than trusting others is getting them to trust him. A group vying to change that may be running out of time.
Joe, 28, is a pedophile. His criminal profile includes (along with his real name, withheld for his protection) his sexual preference: boys between seven and 13.
When he was 14, Joe sexually abused his two half brothers. His real name is being withheld to protect the identity of his victims and the fact he was a young offender at the time of some offences. One was 12, the other nine. Since then, he has been in and out of prison — both juvenile and adult — for a variety of criminal breaches and admits his predilection for young boys still exists, the same way an alcoholic may never consider himself sober.
When he was 18, shortly after being released from prison, frustrated by what he felt was inappropriate treatment from a support worker and worsened by an inability to refill his antidepressant medication, he nearly extended his crimes to strangers.
“For several days I was fixating on this kid because he used the same route every day to go back from school. And then, one day ... I finally told myself, ‘This is it, I’m going to do it. It’s now or never,’” he recalled.
He told his support worker he was going out for a walk.
“I followed this kid into an alley and I put my hand around him so that he wouldn’t scream. That’s when something told me, ‘Stop, right now.’ And I did. He ran off and I ran off.”
He confessed what had happened to a former counsellor. The judge sentenced him to treatment, noting his last-minute restraint.
To speak with Joe, it’s hard to tell whether he truly feels remorse. For every wrongdoing, he seems to have a story of someone else who messed up as well or a selfserving anecdote about how far he has come.
But the excuses aren’t without merit. Reasons for the persistence of his own trust issues are also glaring.
Joe has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. His mom drank when she was pregnant, which led to him spending his first 13 years with his grandmother and to him having stunted social growth — at times a teenager stuck in the body of someone almost 30.
He said his mother lied to him about his family to regain custody and, after his initial crime, chose not to have anything to do with him.
Prison wasn’t any help. He recounts several times when social workers, lawyers and guards weren’t there for him, including one time he was nearly raped and not allowed to press charges.
Today, a group of Edmonton volunteers is helping fill that trust void, however, keeping the problem from getting even worse and the victim count from growing.
The Edmonton chapter of Circles of Support and Accountability — or COSA — has taken Joe on as member.
Formed in Ontario in 1997 and
Everybody comes out at some point. The question is, if people come out, do we want them to be successful or not?
since spread around the world, COSA links willing sex offenders with a group of volunteers who meet with them a few times a week.
They keep an eye on changing behaviours, take the offenders on outings and communicate with extended supports with a simple mandate: no more victims.
It’s worked and not just for Joe. Some studies have shown a 70-percent decrease in recidivism for sex offenders in the program.
Some offenders are able to manage