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Peter Gerard Scully was convicted of one count of human trafficking and five counts of rape by

sexual assault of underage girls as young as twelve-months old before the Regional Trial Court Cagayan
de Oro by Judge Escobido. In footage which he sold to the child porn internet ring entitled “Daisy’s
Destruction”, the eighteen-month old girl was tied upside down, and was subjected to assault and torture
by masked and naked women. In another video obtained by the prosecution, two girls were forced to dig
their own graves as they were continually being raped. As Scully left the Cagayan de Oro court just after
his conviction, he was seen on camera smirking.

This brings into mind forensic psychology. In “The Clinical Assessment in the Legal Field: An
Empirical Study of Bias and Limitations in Forensic Expertise”, the role of a forensic psychologist is of vital
importance in deconstructing criminal and/or deviant behavior, such as in providing data for criminal
profiling and “reformulating psychological findings into the legal language of the courtroom and providing
information to legal personnel in a form that can be understood”. Forensic psychology is thus necessarily
interdisciplinary as the conclusions realized through scientific means is transported into the premises of
law. In Scully’s case, the findings of a forensic psychologist may be utilized to aid the prosecution and the
judge in formulating the questions to be propounded to the defendant. The judge would have an easier
understanding the person he is asking the question to and extracting from him the details of the crime,
which he may suppress. Previously, Scully had expressed his remorse for the traumatic ordeal he inflicted
against his victims. However, this seemed to be in extreme contrast to his carefree façade after his
conviction. This behavior as well as the disposition of other criminal deviants may be arguably used in
investigation and prosecution of heinous crimes. An example is murderer Ed Kemper who beheaded his
mother and proceeded to have sex with her head waived his parole multiple times as he was content in
prison. Scully exhibited this type of behavior when he was in prison where he appeared to be untroubled
to find himself finally incarcerated. Understanding criminal behavior may be used to aid in determining
the perpetrators of a crime by identifying certain patterns that a person of deviant disposition might
display, or even to prevent the commission of crimes. Other studies would suggest that inflicting torture
or death on animals may be a prelude to a person committing the same to other people. Studying Scully’s
behavioral pattern may provide further insight on how a pedophile who films girls and babies while raping
and torturing them may conduct his crimes.

Scully’s crimes prompted the discussion on the re-imposition of death penalty in the Philippines.
His heinous acts against girls and babies whom he lured from impoverished families provoked public
perception that to suffer lifetime imprisonment is simple not enough. Several politicians introduced a bill
that would make effective the death penalty, but nevertheless, excluded the crime rape from its
provisions. Scully, hence, escaped from the prospect of death penalty being imposed on him. However, it
may be said that acts of such bestial nature against children should be taken into consideration in passing
the bill into law.

Source:

Rumgay, Judith. The British Journal of Criminology, Volume 45, Issue 6, 1 November 2005, Pages 996–997

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