[Caveat: Innocent until proven guilty, blah, blah, blah…]
Anytime someone is accused of a serious crime or egregious misbehavior that spans a number of years, even decades, the question is always the same: How could they possibly have gotten away with it? How could anyone not see it? And not report it? Followed, in far too many cases, with some variation of “blame the victim.”
I don’t know all the details of the two prominent cases currently dominating the headlines, so I’ll stick with what I do know. How Robert Hansen got away with murder for more than a decade.
- Have friends in high places: Hansen was “good” friends with several prominent community members. He was “one of them;” they were always there to vouch for him; their mere presence was sometimes “enough.” Friends like this will tend to look the other way. They certainly know they wouldn’t do anything like this. Why would one of their friends?
- Have a spouse (preferably church going) and kids: Hansen’s family helped make him look like a normal member of the community and, thus, avoid suspicion to a greater degree than might otherwise be possible.
- Pick victims whose status is lower than yours: In Hansen’s case, having victims who were prostitutes or dancers set up the perfect contrast — upstanding family man versus sketchy dancers and hookers. You can substitute children or employees here, if you like.
- Be a business person: Hansen ran his own business, so that made him an entrepreneur. American’s tend to accord more status to a person who runs a business as opposed to someone who merely works for someone else. This helps maximize the inequalities, and thus the believability ratio, between perpetrator and victim. You can substitute someone with a winning record here, if you like. American’s love a winner almost as much as we hate a loser.
- Be a male: It’s easier to achieve the first four conditions if you are.
So there you have it. Four simple rules and one accident of biology. If you follow them to the letter, you stand a good chance of getting away with egregious or criminal behavior for a decade or more.