James Richard Ess, 43, of Jackson, MI and all the sadistic monsters before and after him, who are facilitated when sex crimes against minors are ignored or swept under the rug:
From a reader:
Hi Cathy,
I just read that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that the number of on-line enticement reports to its Cyber Tipline is nearly twice what it was at this time last year–that amounts to a staggering 518,720 reports. As if that is not concerning enough, the number of reports of sadistic on-line enticement has also doubled, from 508 last year to 1,093 this year.
One of those latter reports names James Richard Ess, 43, of Jackson, MI. He had been contacting minor girls via social media in a number of states, allegedly offering them some guidance with personal problems. Once he had sufficiently groomed them, he asked them for sexually explicit photos, and also told at least some of them to cut and or bruise themselves and send photos of those self-inflicted injuries as well. He demanded that some of the girls draw symbols on their bodies with markers to prove that they were now his “owned and marked property.”
Ess is now facing multiple federal charges for sexual exploitation, receipt and possession of child abusive material, and coercion and enticement of minors.
In the late 1970s, Lansing, Meridian Twp., and Grand Ledge, had their own sadistic enticer, but he used the phone. In 1979 a man calling himself ”Dr. Stevenson” was apparently randomly calling telephone numbers. When a young child answered, he identified himself as a “school doctor” and told the child that he or she could not return to school unless he was able to conduct an over-the-phone exam. He would then ask the child to disrobe and describe his or her body. He also encouraged the children to harm themselves—boys were told to cut their penises, girls to inset things into their vaginas. He asked them to describe the self-injury, and the pain.
The calls continued over 1979. The caller was cool, calm, articulate. He seemed to have a slight preference for boys because if a girl answered the phone he would ask if she had any young brothers he could talk to. Six separate incidents were reported to police. The victims ranged in age from 6 to 9. Several of the children engaged in self-injury; a couple of them seriously hurt themselves.
To the best of my knowledge, the caller was never identified, let alone arrested. So, I guess if there’s a moral to the story it’s that the internet did not create these predators, it just made it easier for them to get their desired results.
https://www.wilx.com/2025/04/25/jackson-man-charged-with-sex-related-crimes-against-child
Lansing State Journal, Dec 21, 1979, p. 15.
Lansing State Journal, Feb 16, 1978, pp 1, 2.
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