Managing Denial in Sex Offender Interviews (Part 1)

Denial is among the most common issues which interviewers encounter when speaking to someone suspected or accused of sexually exploiting children. This presentation will explore how denial typically manifests in offender accounts, how to recognize the type of denial used and techniques for engaging and working through erroneous denial. In association with Lt. Jay Donaldson of the Louisiana State Police, Dr. Sullivan outlines a case study of an investigation of inappropriate sexual contact between an adult male and multiple juvenile females. The suspect superimposed his face and his daughter’s faces in photographs so that it appeared that he was having sexual relations with his daughters. The suspect was also in possession of over 2200 images/videos involving child sexual abuse. He also admitted to inappropriate contact with juvenile family members. The presentation will use investigation material and video of a post-sentence interviews with the sex offender to illustrate the key points and to demonstrate effective interview techniques.