How Does Gordon Clemente Use Expert Testimony To Validate Criminal Profiling?

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The aftermath of Untied States v. Gordon E. Thomas III (2006) help set the rules on using expert testimony to validate criminal profiling. Mr. Thomas was charged with many offenses relating to child pornography. The prosecution requested that Mr. Thomas’s bail should be denied to protect the community; especially the children. To show the likelihood that Mr. Thomas will re-offend, the prosecution presented the testimony of James Clemente, a supervisory special agent with the FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crimes & Behavioral Analysis Unit. What qualified Clemente to be an expert in the eyes of the prosecution is his impressing background. He had 20 plus years as a law enforcement, hold many advance degrees, completed hundreds of hours training of advanced and specialized courses and conducted many criminal analysis, research and training for law enforcement officers, prosecutors and health care professionals worldwide (Turvey, 2011). …show more content…
Thomas re-offending once released even though he never interviewed Mr. Thomas. He explained to the Court that offenders like Mr. Thomas, a preferential offender, are sexual predators who must periodically search out and groom children of a particular age group to victimized before they grow out of the desired age range. Preferential offenders are compulsive and lack self-controlled, therefore they are more likely to re-offend. Mr. Thomas showed the typical signs of a preferential child sex offender due to this history with other child abuse cases he was involved in. In conclusion, Clemente declared Mr. Thomas unfit to return to society until his trial due to his expert opinion on the subject of preferential

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