Female paedophiles seek justification for their crimes but are ‘mentally disturbed’ says expert

THEY’RE rarely discussed or understood, but female sex offenders are out there, and they’re terrifying.

LIBRARY Physical education teacher Karen Ellis leaves court after receiving a suspended 22 month jail sentence for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student, in Melbourne. Ellis, a married mother-of-three, pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court to six counts of sexual penetration with a child under her care, which carries a maximum 15 year sentence. Ellis admitted she had unprotected sex with the student at her home last year while her husband was away on business and her name has been added to sexual offenders' register. AFP PHOTO/William WEST

RIGHT until the end Marie Black protested her innocence.

When the verdicts were read this week, the tears flowed and the 34-year-old sobbed that she had been “stitched up.”

But what really had happened was the mask was slipping on a little understood, but not rare, type of offender — the female paedophile.

Black was convicted of 23 offences, including rape, conspiracy to rape and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, after police smashed a paedophile ring she’d been running over a decade.

Experienced investigators called the case the “most harrowing” they had ever encountered and believed Black was at the centre of it.

But just as shocking was the fact five other women were also on charges relating to the sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

Psychologist Michael Carr Gregg has worked with female sexual offenders and told news.com.au they had not developed sexually the same as other adults.

“They see themselves as much younger than they really are ... They are really mentally disturbed.”

He said the motivation for female paedophiles was undoubtedly one of pure “sexual gratification”.

“That is the driving force, they prey on these children, but I think there are other factors.”

One of those is the breakdown of their relationships, including those who have gone through divorce.

Marie Black led a paedophile ring in the UK.

“When you speak to these women they feel, deflated, desolate, empty ... So they form these relationships with children.”

He said it was a need for intimacy, so they allowed a relationship to start with a child.

In contrast a normal functioning adult wouldn’t — for example a teacher with a child — who deflected a crush.

Female paedophiles then tried to use this as justification for their actions.

“There is quite a big internal construct going on there, they are trying to say ‘this is OK’.”

“The justification is amazing — they are saying ‘I really need this relationship.”

A major difference between female and male sexual predators was men were quite often the victims of abuse themselves so it “flowed through to their adult lives”.

“But with women [paedophiles] — rarely do I find they have been abused themselves.”

The impact on the child was “quite devastating,” he said.

“They can’t form normal peer relationships and have trouble re-engaging with their own family.”

The effects could be long lasting as well, with some victims never recovering or falling into everything from alcoholism to depression.

A 2011 Deakin University study showed female sex offenders were as dangerous as their male counterparts.

A survey of nine men and five women who had been sexually abused by women found both sexes suffered similar trauma.

A major police conference in Queensland earlier this year heard from experts from around the world, where the hot topic was the rise of female sexual offenders.

Schoolteacher Michelle Dennis was jailed in 2009 for four years for having sex with two boys.

Karen Ellis, a teacher, pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16. She was jailed in 2005 for six months for having sex with a 15-year-old student.

A leading forensic psychologist — with more than 20 years counselling child victims — attended the conference and spoke of his belief that female abusers were far greater than the conviction rates suggested.

“What I can say for certain is that it’s way more prevalent than people fully appreciate or understand,” Dr Joe Sullivan told the ABC.

Research showed offending could be as high as 25 per cent. But overall conviction rates for women were only three to four per cent.

A possible reason for the discrepancy was the reluctance to report abuse by women.

“Our experience is that victims of female perpetrators tend to be less likely to come forward. They tend to feel as though they’re less likely to be believed.”

Another factor was a reluctance from wider members of the community to accept that female sex offenders were real.

“Society does not believe that women really do sexually abuse children,” he said.

“There’s almost a perception that boys should be happy or grateful, or certainly not experiencing sexual contact with females as abusive.”

A consequence of that was female paedophiles could be treated less harshly than males convicted of the same offence, the ABC reported.

Detective Inspector Jon Rouse, leads Taskforce Argos, a specialist unit in charge of searching for sex offenders.

He told news.com.au in April police were seeing more female paedophiles.

“In 12 months we arrested 172 sex offenders — three have been female. The proportion is very different, but we are interested in what drives this to happen.”

Just as with male sex offenders there was no typical profile that could be attached to an offender.

“They come from all walks of life. There’s no way you can put them in a box.

“There are always common denominators …[but] there is no single common denominator.”

Originally published as Female paedophiles seek justification for their crimes but are ‘mentally disturbed’ says expert