By Justin George
Camera Staff Writer

ERIE — There are bright-colored trucks and rows of children's books in the Stevenson study, ready to transport the children to the land of fantasy and dreams.

The escape is needed. The real world has been somewhat of a struggle for Ian and Kiersten Stevenson, they said, even though more than a year has passed since their son, now 4½, and almost 3-year-old daughter were molested by a teenage baby-sitter.

• Proposed standards and guidelines TENDENCIES Profile of juvenile sexual aggression: The first offense is most likely to occur when the perpetrator is about 13 or 14 years old. Victims are most likely to be female acquaintances or siblings; rarely are they strangers. A significant minority of youthful child molesters have both female and male victims. Most offenses by a child molester could be construed as coercive rather than violent. Serious delinquency, drug and alcohol abuse and interpersonal aggression are relatively uncommon among teens who molest only younger children. Adolescent male child molesters tend to be shy if not socially isolated, lack self-esteem and are aroused to children but are attracted to girls their own age. Being a victim of some form of abuse or neglect increases the likelihood of sexual offending in adolescence. But most juvenile sex offenders do not appear to have been sex abuse victims, and most victims of child abuse do not become perpetrators. Most males who sexually abuse younger children do not re-offend, at least not sexually, during the five to 10 years following apprehension. There is a fair likelihood that juvenile sex offenders will come to the attention of police for non-sex offenses. Juvenile sex offenders who have been institutionalized are more likely to reappear in court than those who have not. — Source: The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado.

The legacy of child-on-child sex abuse is lasting, the couple said. With Erie police arresting five boys suspected of sexually abusing several younger children within the last two months, the cases have reopened some scabbed-over wounds for the Stevensons, they said.

Christopher Deininger was sentenced to 12 years of adult probation after pleading guilty to one adult count and two juvenile counts of attempted sexual assault on a child. Police said the then-16-year-old teenager used his neighborhood baby-sitting service to molest as many as 10 children, including the Stevensons' kids.

The couple, who live in the Arapahoe Ridge neighborhood, say they want people to know that healing is slow, hoping that their story can stop future juvenile sex offenses or at least expose them.

"This thrives in secrecy," Kiersten Stevenson said, "and the more light you shed on it ... the more it won't happen."

The Stevensons continue to take their children to therapists. Their careers have been interrupted. They have lost trust. But more than anything, they second-guess many of their children's responses — wondering if it is childhood that makes them act a certain way or the lingering effects of past abuse.

"It's maddening to question everything," Kiersten said.

Ian said his son sometimes tells him he's a "bad" kid, something he repeated over and over after being abused.

"We make concerted efforts not to use that word," Ian said.

Their son, who struggles with physiological problems therapists have said may stem from his abuse, has trouble understanding boundaries, the Stevensons said, especially when it comes to physical play and touch.

But there are many signs that he is regaining self-confidence, such as when he recently told his mother: "Don't you ever touch my privates," while he was taking a bath.

"I thought that was good," Kiersten said.

Still, every day is a struggle. Kiersten, who helped found a Lafayette children's play center, gave up on the business, partly because she wanted to spend more time with her son.

She said she wonders what the family's life would be like if innocence hadn't been lost.

Ian said their son still suffers nightmares. Their daughter, who was only an infant when she was abused, hasn't shown recurring effects of abuse, but the Stevensons said that may come over time.

"It's getting better," Ian said. "Every now and then you see a light at the end of the tunnel and then it slams shut. But with a little time, we'll progress."

Contact Justin George at (303) 473-1359 or georgej@thedailycamera.com.

May 26, 2002

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