The second important event to occur that winter involved

additional discoveries that were related to the behavioral symptoms

of a childhood disorder.



While working on the written case outline that was completed

in October 2006, I became aware of a childhood behavioral

disorder that revolved around the issue of sexually aggressive

children. I learned about clinical research that had been conducted

on the topic of children with a behavioral disorder commonly

referred to as “Sexual Behavior Problems”, or “SBP.”



I had obtained a copy of the book, Sexually Aggressive Children,

Coming to Understand Them,70 and other research materials on that

topic late that fall and began to review them in my spare time.

Araji’s book, in particular, provided a comprehensive overview of

national research that had studied sexual abuse perpetrated by

children 12 years of age and younger.



Approximately two months had passed since the mailing of

my letter to the D.A.’s office, and I had finished my study of the

SBP text book. It was incredibly enlightening, and the case studies

only served to strengthen my belief that developed from my

analysis of the case that indicated some form of family cover-up.



This information is not all-inclusive but provides an overview

of the behavioral symptoms seen with this childhood disorder:



• Research into sexually aggressive children was described as

being in its “infancy” in the mid1990s. (It appears that the

earliest studies on this topic only dated to 1980.)



• The average onset of preadolescent sexual behavior problems

(SBP) are between the ages of 6-9 years.



• Although the term “sexual” is used, the children’s intentions

and motivations for these behaviors may be unrelated to

sexual gratification.



• Children act out for many varied reasons. Some may have

been the prior victims of sexual abuse. Some may act out

due to other behavioral problems related to PTSD, anger,

fear, or emotional detachment. Sexual acting out has been

linked to anger, rage, loneliness, and fear.



• FBI UCR reports in 1979 revealed 249 rape arrests for

children less than 12 years of age. Sixty-six of those children

were under the age of 10.



• Early research conducted in the 1980s provided evidence

that preadolescent children’s behaviors can be as aggressive

and violent as those of adolescents and adults.



• FBI UCR discontinued reporting the age of offenders in

1980, but the National Center for Juvenile Justice reported

a forcible rape rate of .02 per 1000 for 10 and 11 year olds

in 1988.



• 1990 FBI and media reports in this time period indicate that

among adults convicted of sex crimes, approximately 30%

said they began offending before they were 9 years old.



• A 1991 study revealed that some children engaged in

behaviors that involved fire-setting, bed-wetting, animal

mutilation, and scatological behaviors- (disturbed bodily

functions related to urination and elimination).



• A 1993 nationwide survey of SBP therapists identified

preadolescent behaviors in 222 children that ranged from

voyeurism to coercion: The more serious offenses involved

digital penetration, penile intercourse, anal intercourse,

bestiality, and ritualistic or sadistic sexual abuse.



• Another 1993 survey conducted in the Northwest revealed

that some offenders used physical coercion that included

tying up their victims.



• Offenders lack compassion, empathy, and exhibit inadequate

social skills.



• A victim may be the object of revenge or anger and could be

viewed as the parent’s “favored child” by the perpetrator.



• Families frequently attempt to portray themselves to the

world as the “perfect” family.



• Co-morbidity: SBP patients have a higher incidence of

psychiatric disorders that include, but are not limited to,

attachment disorder and separation anxiety.



Revelation of these clinical case studies and the emerging

national recognition of this childhood behavioral disorder was in

its infancy at the time of JonBenÃ©t’s death, but confirmed what

I had occasionally witnessed in the District Attorneys’ weekly

SART meetings: Children of Burke’s age had been proven capable

of sexually abusing their siblings and others.



Moreover, these studies confirmed that children of his age

were capable of committing horrendous acts of physical violence

typically thought to have been reserved to adults.



It had been stated repeatedly that there had been no prior

recorded history / incidents of abuse that would have suggested

parental involvement in JonBenÃ©t’s death. As I pointed out in the

case analysis report and Power Point outline completed in the

fall of 2006, Burke had already exhibited one prior incident of

violence against JonBenÃ©t.



The incident that involved a blow to the head with a golf club

that took place in Michigan was claimed to be an “accident” by the

Ramsey family, but it is interesting to note that this incident took

place within a day or two of JonBenÃ©t’s birthday in August 1994.



One can only wonder whether sibling jealousy or envy may

have played any part in that instance, and whether these feelings

spilled over into the events of the Christmas holidays in 1996.



I had also found it interesting that the Paugh’s had reportedly

purchased several books on childhood behavior for the Ramsey

family. The titles of the books were intriguing:



• The Hurried Child – Growing Up Too Fast, by David Elkind;

• Children at Risk, Dobson / Bruer;

• Why Johnny Can’t Tell Right From Wrong, Kilpatrick.



When exploring the nature of the content of these three books,

I wondered what might have been taking place in the home that

prompted the grandparents to purchase these types of childhood

behavioral books for the family.



I had reviewed an investigator’s report that documented a 1997

interview with former Ramsey nanny – housekeeper Geraldine

Vodicka, who stated that Burke had smeared feces on the walls of

a bathroom during his mother’s first bout with cancer. She told

investigators that Nedra Paugh, who was visiting the Ramsey

home at the time, had directed her to clean up the mess.



There were other police reports in the files that documented

what I thought could be viewed as related behavior. CSIs had

written about finding a pair of pajama bottoms in JonBenÃ©t’s

bedroom that contained fecal material. They were too big for her

and were thought to belong to Burke.



Additionally, a box of candy located in her bedroom had also

been observed to be smeared with feces. Both of these discoveries

had been made during the processing of the crime scene during

the execution of search warrants following the discovery of

JonBenÃ©t’s body.



I wondered whether fecal material observed in pajamas

thought to belong to Burke, and smeared on the box of candy in

his sister’s bedroom, could have been related to the symptoms of

scatological behavior associated with SBP.



I also contemplated the reasons why a box of JonBenÃ©t’s candy

would have been smeared with human excrement.



As noted previously, Linda Hoffman-Pugh had also mentioned

finding fecal material in JonBenÃ©t’s bed sheets. It raised the

question as to who may have been responsible for the deposit of

that material in her bed – had it been JonBenÃ©t or was it Burke?



I readily admit that I am not a trained psychologist – psychiatrist,

having taken only the most basic of courses during my

college studies. But these observations pointed to indicia of some

type of behavioral issue that had been taking place in the Ramsey

household, and they appeared to have been taking place over

some period of time. Incidents like these would not likely have

become known to those outside the family, but could have been an

underlying reason for the grandparent’s purchase of the childhood

behavioral books discussed previously.

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