CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CASE PROMPTS DEBATE OVER CHEMICAL CASTRATION
Gayane Abrahamyan
EurasiaNet.org
Nov 28 2011
NY
The sentencing of an Armenian-American businessman to 15 years in
prison for the sexual abuse of minors has broken a long-standing
taboo in Armenia on public discussions of pedophilia.
Seventy-year-old Serop Der-Boghossian, the co-owner of a successful
mining company, Metal Prince Ltd. Corporation, in the northern region
of Lori, had enjoyed a reputation as a generous philanthropist and an
influential businessman with ties to Armenia’s political elite. He
formerly served as an economics adviser to Prime Minister Tigran
Sarkisian and as a member of the national police advisory council.
When Der-Boghossian, a former traffic and transportation administrator
for Pasadena, California, was detained this February on charges of
forcing young boys into sexual acts, many residents in Akhtala,
where Metal Prince is based, suspected that the case shielded a
government attempt to take over the mining company he had run for the
past decade. Der-Boghossian, however, admitted in court to having
had sexual relations with 10 underage boys, ranging in age from 10
to 16 years old; an admission apparently prompted by video footage
found in his house. The prosecution argued that Der-Boghossian’s
alleged payment of $120,000 to the boys, all from poor families,
had motivated their participation.
In its November 18 ruling, the Lori regional court imposed on the
elderly businessman the maximum sentence for sexual abuse of minors
via coercion, arguing that the 10 boys are “future soldiers” whose
lives have been ruined since “society is intolerant toward victims of
such coercion.” Der-Boghossian claims that he never forced the boys,
to have sex with him, and is considering an appeal; an affirmative
ruling could mean up to three years of prison rather than 15.
The case — and that of boarding school teacher Levon Avagyan in 2010
— has marked a turning point for the general public, many of whom had
argued that such crimes are impossible in a family-centric country like
Armenia that places heavy cultural emphasis on the value of children.
Sixty-eight-year-old Petros Movsisian, a resident of Akhtala, who
earlier had doubted the charges against Der-Bothossian, described
himself as floored by the trial’s outcome. “No such thing would ever
have occurred to anybody,” Movsisian asserted. “But if he admits his
guilt, nothing’s left to say other than that this is a disgrace for
our nation.”
One psychologist who works with sexual child abuse cases argues that
the outcry over Der-Boghossian signals that the taboo of silence
on the topic has been broken finally. “Similar cases happened
before, too, however, everything was kept within the family,”
commented psychologist Ruben Poghosian from Yerevan’s Ayg Center
for Psychological Services. Poghosian claims that psychologists are
seeing more such cases, including sexual abuse by family members; he
attributes such abuse to “the influence of TV programs, soap operas,
violent movies.”
Police data shows only a slight increase in the number of such cases –
from 63 to 80 — reported between 2008 and 2010.
Independent MP Victor Dallakian argues that the data “is, of course,
only the visible tip of the iceberg.” Enraged by the Der-Boghossian
case, Dallakian has drafted amendments to Article 142 of the criminal
code that would stipulate either chemical castration or up to 10 years
in prison as a punishment for convictions on sexual abuse of minors.
Currently, the law specifies a maximum of three years in prison and
a 7-million-dram ($18,000) fine as punishment. Parliament is expected
to discuss the amendments in a few weeks’ time.
“Many parents are simply keeping silent,” continued Dallakian. “The
reality is much more appalling and the law is imperfect.”
Dallakian showed EurasiaNet.org police statistics, indicating that
only 10-percent of the 100 individuals convicted of sexual abuse
of minors from 2000-2010 were put behind bars. In other cases, the
culprit had to pay the fine, but was let go.
Dallakian argues that dropping the fine, and adding chemical castration
will serve as a more potent deterrent. “Chemical castration is applied
in a number of European countries, such as Germany and the Czech
Republic. It is justified because, from a medical point of view,
paedophilia is a disease that cannot be treated by one or two years
of imprisonment.”
Some Armenian human rights activists oppose the idea because “there
is always the possibility that [chemical castration] might be used
against innocent people.”
“We shouldn’t forget how many innocent people have been ill-served by
the faulty court system. Such a law is premature. We are not ready,
we do not have an independent court system, and this can be used as
a tool for persecution” of government opponents, commented Michael
Danielian, chairperson of the Helsinki Association of Armenia.
Psychologist Poghosian believes the looming debate over the amendments
marks a significant step forward for addressing the issue of sexual
abuse of children. “Most importantly, there is a willingness to
break the taboo,” he said. “These discussions are vital in order for
the wrongdoers, who are still unpunished because of [the victims’
families’] shame and silence, to be identified and punished.”
Editor’s note: Gayane Abrahamyan is a reporter for ArmeniaNow.com
in Yerevan.