Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: APRIL 2016 25 One of the major challeng- es in terms of investigating, arresting and prosecuting sexual predators is the fact that they’re so often not at all what people imagine. Public service “stranger- danger” ads and TV shows generally portray rapists and child molesters as re- ally creepy single, white males with trench coats and candy. Most of the time the fic- tional predators have a van and a really bad mustache. But if the vast majority of sexual predators were that easy to spot we’d see a lot more arrests and prosecu- tions. In real life the criminals are frequently respected members of their communi- ties. That leads to a situation where almost everyone knows about the rapes, but no one wants to be the one to come forward. According to news reports, a southern Ohio pastor was indicted on more than a dozen felony sex assault charges against two girls and a woman. Dennis Wright was arrest- ed on seven counts of rape, two counts of sexual bat- tery, two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, three counts of gross sexual imposition, and one count of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance. According to the Gallipo- lis Daily Tribune, detectives said that two of the victims were parishioners at the Old Emory Church in Jackson County, where Wright was pastor. What’s shocking is that it took this long to come to light. Wright’s own son says the pastor was a really bad guy that frequently behaved “inappropriately around children.” Neighbors said the same thing. “Everybody in the neigh- borhood knew what was going on,” Elliott Perry, who lives next door to the small church outside Oak Hill told reporters with WSAZ-TV. Wright is accused of sexu- ally assaulting a girl multiple times between 2012 and 2015. He sexually assaulted the woman multiple times in 2009 and 2010. Investigators say the woman’s ability to resist or consent was substantially impaired, but they did not provide details. That raises the possibility of one of the victims being developmentally disabled. It’s unclear if Wright was a “fire and brimstone” kind of pastor. But odds are he’d prefer eternal hell-fire over what is in store for him in gen-pop. It’s easy to understand why people would prefer the image of the sexual predator as a disconnected drifter. For some folks the idea that the worst of the worst might be the very people we see day in and day out and could be a teacher or a pastor is just too much to bear. Now I’m sure you’ve all heard about our new inmate Mr. Wright. We’ll be watching closely. Everybody knew... www.UnitedByLight.org National PoliceWeek 2016 Your purchases help support the work of the Memorial Fund. May13,2016 Candlelight Vigil Every year, thousands of people are United By Light during the annual Candlelight Vigil, in Washington, DC. Together, we can spread the light into communities throughout the country, in honor of our law enforcement heroes. Join today at: UNITED BY LIGHT National Police Week and Candlelight Vigil T-Shirts Deluxe Boxed Set with Badge, Lapel Pin and Coin www.ShopLawMemorial.org | 1-866-569-4928 2016 National Police Week Hat National Peace Officers Memorial Day Badge