In the wake of Whittemore-Prescott teacher Kevin Schutte’s sex offense confession and suicide, people are left wondering how to prevent more offenses from happening in the future. Some psychologists say therapy for those with intrusive thoughts can be a great step towards prevention.
After the suicide of a Whittemore-Prescott teacher following his confession of 15 sexual assaults, people are left wondering how to avoid another tragedy. For many psychologists, the answer is early intervention.
Dave Berghuis is a psychologist who works with sex offenders. He said although therapy can help people with intrusive thoughts can get the treatment they need, not many people step forward voluntarily.
“There are some people that may come forward and they’re not in any legal trouble, but that’s pretty rare,” he said, “Most people are going to be seeking that help because they’re required to do that as part of the legal process.”
Despite this fact, Berghuis said therapy is a great tool to keep recidivism rates among sex offenders low.
“Contrary to popular belief, recidivism rates for people who have committed sex offenses are actually fairly low, as compared to other types of offenses, and treatment helps,” he said, “There is a 30 percent reduction in recidivism if a person is able to successfully complete a treatment program.”
Berghuis said these figures can apply to preventative treatment as well. While there hasn’t been as many studies, he said reaching out to a therapist before committing an assault if you have intrusive thoughts decreases the odds that the offense will ever happen at all. He urges anyone with dangerous thoughts to reach out to a therapist to prevent more tragedies from happening in the future.