Despite Bland, Frank Cases, Most Molesters Aren’t Violent

Although two cases that have drawn much recent media attention in Southern California involve men accused not only of molesting children but of torture, most experts agree that that sadists are probably a minority among child abusers.

While there were 2,781 reported homicides in California in 1985, only nine involved victims age 14 or under, according to the state Bureau of Criminal Statistics. That ratio has been fairly constant in recent years.

In a state of more than 26 million, “it’s very small numbers,” said the bureau spokeswoman Charlotte Rhea.

Of about 140 child molestation cases being prosecuted in Orange County, only about two “involve the infliction of physical harm and violence in addition to the molestation itself,” said David L. Himelson of the Orange County district attorney’s child abuse and sexual assault unit.

One case involved Theodore Frank, who had an extensive record of torture and sexual assault of children before he raped and strangled a 2-year-old girl after torturing her with pliers. A few weeks ago, in an Orange County court, he was sentenced to death.

The other involves Warren James Bland, who also has a record of torture and sexual assault of children. Bland now is charged with the death 7-year-old Phoebe Ho of South Pasadena, and he is a suspect in the rape and murder of 14-year-old Wendy Osborn of Placentia.

Others dispute the contention that violent molesters are rare.

“The children who disappear and who are not parental kidnapings or teen-age runaways, what do you think happens to those children?” asked Irving Prager, a former Ventura County deputy district attorney who prosecuted Frank. Generally, according to experts, sadistic violence is difficult to predict--until the molester has already committed such an act. In those cases, experience shows, violence is likely to be repeated.

Research indicates “that a prediction that somebody is going to be violent is accurate in only one in three cases,” according to Dr. Robert Wettstein, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and member of the school’s Law and Psychiatry program.

“Some are basically sadistic to start with,” said Fullerton psychologist Martha L. Rogers, who acts as a court-appointed evaluator in sex-crime cases. “But in a case like Bland . . . he begins with adults. He then works down to children because they’re more easily coerced or manipulated.”

“There’s a very sadistic component,” Rogers said. “These types are very dangerous. After that last boy he tortured . . . I don’t think I’d have recommended to let the guy out. Eventually they may kill the victim to avoid having anyone who can talk.”