Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Eric W. Hickey

Abstract

Although there has been much media focusing on child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, in many cases Protestant church leaders who committed child sexual abuse were held to no level of accountability. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the modus operandi of child sexual predators and their target selection criteria in Protestant churches. Hickey’s relational paraphilic attachment theory provided the framework for the study. Fifteen cases from the United States were analyzed using inductive coding to identify six themes: (a) Leaders from Protestant churches who were convicted of sexually abusing minors possessed gross psychological immaturity, (b) they possessed narcissistic tendencies, (c) they used authoritarian leadership styles to leverage and manipulate their victims, (d) they used religious status as a celebrity cover to disguise their true intentions, (e) they selected their targets opportunistically, and (f) they developed and utilized personal safe operation zones to abuse their victims and prevent discovery. Law enforcement agencies and child protective services may benefit from findings in this study in their efforts to protect society’s most vulnerable people. Findings may also be used for positive social change to change the life course for victims as they gain the courage to tell their stories.

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