Pedophila Experts Talk About Michael Jackson

11/24/2003 6:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
LAUNCH Radio Networks

More experts are speaking out about last week's (November 20) arrest of pop star Michael Jackson on child molestation charges. Michael Borack, a forensic psychiatrist at the University Of Cincinnati Medical School, has evaluated many pedophiles, and says Jackson does not fit the usual profile. Borack told ABC News, "(His eccentric behavior) is not typical of most offenders. Most offenders are 'normal' people who could be your neighbors, not freaky or weird."

Richard Lawlord, a child psychiatrist at the Indiana School Of Medicine, said Jackson may be suffering from some form of arrested development that causes him to focus his attention on young children over other adults. Lawlord said, "They become 'fixated' during development. We don't know why." However. Lawlord says Jackson's childlike behavior would be rare among pedophiles. He said, "I don't think that kind of behavior is very common."

Pedophilia has been linked to a kind of Peter Pan syndrome, in which adults use children to hang onto their youth. However, John Hopkins University psychiatrist Dr. Fred Berlin said that explanation is too hasty. He said, "That's getting into a theory of cause, which I think is difficult." Berlin added there is no, quote, "typical" pedophile. He said, "That's like saying, 'What is the typical heterosexual?'"

Regardless of what may or may not have happened with Jackson, experts agreed that children should not be sleeping in the bed with unrelated adults, as the pop star has admitted he's often done, saying there was nothing sexual about it. Borack said, "It just opens the door for misunderstandings at best."

The psychiatrist added that Jackson's alleged abuse at the hands of his father may explain his odd behavior as an adult. Borack said, "From what I've observed in TV interviews, Jackson had a violent, dictatorial father and an isolated upbringing. He never really had a childhood."

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