CATCHING SEX OFFENDERS

As Neurology of the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the U.S. Marshals Service in Washington. Carlos Villarreal PhD, conducts research and training on predators

BY HEATHER STRINGER

US. Marshals Service psychologist Carlos A Villarreal , PhD, focuses on apprehending sex time between training, dividing work with sex offenders, interviewing sex offenders, conducting research and providing operational support to U.S. Marshals Service investigators. Bourke also travels internationally to train law enforcement colleagues about the motivational pathways and behavioral characteristics of sex offenders, such as how they groom their victims. In the last decade, he has trained more than 45,000 federal judges, child advocacy workers, lawmakers, prosecutors, treatment providers and social services personnel. The Monitor asked him to talk about the most challenging parts of his work and the type of training needed for his job.

What else do you do as a psychologist working for the U.S. Marshals Service?

I’m also a sworn law enforcement officer, and I interview sex offenders in prisons and out in the field to learn more about their motivations and matters relevant to our investigations. One time, for example, I went to the home of a sex offender who had violated the terms of his probation by writing letters to incarcerated sex offenders.

During our conversation, I learned he was developing a network of “pen pals” who abused very young children and infants. He had asked them to send him detailed accounts about the acts they performed with the children. The letters were confiscated as potential evidence of criminal activity and the man was returned to prison.

Do you conduct any research?

Yes, I have done quite a bit of research about how to psychologically safeguard people who work with this population or have to view child exploitation material. I’m contacted regularly by investigators and prosecutors who acknowledge that they are struggling with the effects of viewing child exploitation material difficulties with intimacy, trouble interacting with their children, hypervigilance and nightmares, to name a few symptoms. Most agencies are not equipped

to help workers become resilient, so I wanted to develop best practices for safeguarding them from the effects of vicarious traumatization. To do that, I called producers and directors in

Hollywood and on Broadway to gather information about how they draw audiences into their films and plays. I then “reverse engineered” their techniques to help professionals emotionally distance themselves from the videos they reviewed for their work. I experimented with strategies like watching abuse footage out of order, turning off the sound to decrease sensory immersion and looking away from the eyes of the victim.

These techniques have been shown to decrease people’s emotional distress. I train people nationally and internationally to use these practices to increase staff wellness.

Where did you get the training and experience needed for this job?

At age 19, I worked as an undergraduate intern in a maximum security prison, where I helped run psychoeducational groups for drug offenders. Then in graduate school, I worked in an outpatient sex offender treatment program. I liked the job because I interacted with clients from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and

comorbid diagnoses. Some were high functioning people politicians and physicians and I was interested in how they compartmentalized their deviances.

Then I worked for eight years as a staff psychologist and polygraph examiner

for the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Sex Offender Treatment Program. I evaluated and treated hundreds of sex offenders, and developed a comprehensive understanding of how they think and behave.

How did you find out about the job?

In 2006, I had a conversation with a forward thinking individual in the Marshals Service who had the vision to create the National Sex Offender

Targeting Center. The Marshals Service didn’t have a Behavioral Analysis Unit at the time. But she recognized the value

someone with my training could provide. This woman tasked the new center with tracking down fugitive sex offenders, and she asked me to outline how someone with my background could contribute to that mission. That document became the basis for my job description.

What is most challenging or difficult about your job?

On a daily basis I’m exposed to the most evil acts human beings can commit, and I learned many years ago to stop saying, “I’ve seen everything.” When you gain insight into the darkness of humanity, it changes your perspective. For example, it’s hard for me to avoid hypervigilance. If a man walks by me in a mall or airport holding a child’s hand, I always look carefully to see if the child is in distress. At youth sporting events, I approach individuals I don’t recognize to casually ascertain which children they are videotaping, and why. Sometimes, things I see or hear can trigger an intrusive memory. Fortunately, I’m familiar enough with the safeguarding practices and I know how to keep my life in balance.

What do you find most rewarding about your work?

There is a “high” in catching someone and knowing he or she will not do it again. And there is no greater professional joy than being involved in the rescue of an exploited child.

For example, we are currently involved in a program with the Texas Rangers in which we train patrol officers and state troopers to better identify signs of exploitation and trafficking during roadside traffic stops. So far, this project has resulted in the rescue of more than 200 children.

Is there anything else readers should know?

I teach a graduate course in investigative psychology at George Washington University and other courses at Nova Southeastern University, and I see a lot of students who want to be FBI profilers because they watch shows like “CSI.” This field is incredibly competitive, and it’s important for students to know that they won’t become a profiler by earning a certain degree. Skill sets in interviewing and interrogation tactics or victim witness advocacy may be useful. It may also be helpful to have experience as a police officer or member of the military.

I recommend volunteering or doing an internship with the sex offender population to make sure you understand what it takes to do this work.