The most resourceful, destructive, and elusive of all deviant offenders is the ritualistic sexual sadist:

The sexual sadist is a meticulous planner, spending inordinate amounts of time inside his own head.

He may devote months or even years imagining his intended crime, turning it over in his mind, playing with it, as one might examine a prism in a sunbeam, studying all the different ways it refracts the light.

This talent for planning is an important reason why police agencies try to learn whether a sexual sadist is responsible for any crime under investigation.

Sexual sadists are sexually voracious, indiscriminate, capable in many instances of coupling with humans of either sex or any age, as well as animals and inanimate objects as the opportunity presents itself.

The vast majority of sexual sadists in our study - twenty-nine out of thirty - were whites of European descent.

The key to (one sexual sadists) success was patient and obsessive planning. In some cases he invested up to two years in preparation before carrying out an assault. These offenders also tended to come from middle-class or higher families.

The fact that some of the most heinous offenders operating in North America had no arrest history is a strong testament to their planning and intelligence.

Jon Barry Simonis was a former star high school athlete with a full-scale IQ of 128 (the average is 90-110). By his own count,

Simonis raped and battered as many as seventy-five women across at least twelve states.

The sexual sadist Gerald John Schaeref is believed to have killed more than twenty women -- and he was a deputy sheriff. Thirteen (of the study group) were married and fifteen were fathers.

Nine of them committed incest with their children. One of the men in the survey, Gerald Gallego, is believed responsible for ten murders. In addition to his crimes against strangers, Gallego reportedly forced himself on his daughter from her childhood well into her teens. On one occasion he allegedly assaulted her anally as a birthday present! Another time he is said to have sexually assaulted both his daughter and a female friend who was visiting.

(Some of the study group) had a history of voyeurism, obscene phone calls and exhibitionism.

The longer a sexual offender fantasizes prior to committing his crimes, the more specific his desired victim's characteristics will be.

As a result of the great amount of time (the ritualistic criminal) spends in fantasizing, this imaginative offender develops highly specific selection standards for his victims. He may seek out an aberrant, albeit noncriminal, sexual experience even as he is committing rapes and murders.

The sexual offender is never fully inactive. He may not be acting out against a specific victim, but he will be making plans, selecting new targets, acting out against other victims, or gathering materials. He is never dormant.

The development of a ritualistic offender's fantasy is similar to the production of a stage play. The central figure is the playwright-director, the offender. In his fantasies, he scripts the action, chooses the settings, and selects the props. Of course, he casts himself (who else?) as the star, but he also requires a co-star - his victim. Once he has fully developed the criteria for her, he's ready to begin his search for someone to play that role. When the play is ready to open, the crime is about to occur.

Sexually sadistic offenders habitually plan their crimes in much greater detail than do other criminals. (the victim) was not a random victim of violence. She was chosen well in advance of the abduction, and the area to which (the killer) took her was carefully preselected.

Sexual sadists almost invariably are psychopaths. (The killer) exhaustively considered the subject of body disposal. Once the victim was captured, the ultimate disposal site should be no more than an hour's drive away, he said, and the grave should be predug.

Experienced sexual crimes investigators know that when an offender commits his crimes in a ritualistic manner, they should contact local prostitutes. He likely has attempted to enact with them the same fantasies he plays out with his victims.

Some ritualistic offenders (most commonly sexual sadists) act out fantasies with compliant victims, usually wives or girlfriends. Other times, they were rehearsal partners, stand-ins for future victims.

Personality disorders are common among sexual offenders. Narcissism is the most common personality disorder among sexual offenders. He displayed a strong presumption of entitlement

These are the classic characteristics of a narcissist.

The narcissist demands constant admiration.

The narcissist offender expresses himself most revealingly in the ways he preserves a record of his crimes for later use.

He may keep "diaries," write manuscripts, logs or journals. "Calendars" help him plan and remember dates. He may draw maps, invent codes, take photographs, or record audiotapes and videotapes.

Many law enforcement officers have learned the hard way that it is a mistake to uncritically accept what an offender tells you.

Extreme narcissism leads the criminal to the belief that he is superior to everyone in general, and to law enforcement in particular.

Law enforcement should be deeply grateful for the narcissistic personality disorder; it is the serial sexual offender's Achilles' heel.

You can almost take for granted that after a while the bulletproof syndrome will set in, and he will begin to take unnecessary risks.

Boredom will push him in search of the bigger jolt he gets from pushing the envelope, risking more.

Psychopaths