ABUSER A VICTIM HIMSELF

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 22, 1993                   TAG: 9301220170
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FINCASTLE                                LENGTH: Medium
ABUSER A VICTIM HIMSELF
John Robert LaFlamme, the church camp counselor convicted in November of molesting nine young girls, maintained even after his trial that he only tickled some of the girls and had no sexual intent toward them.
Further, LaFlamme, 22, told a probation officer who prepared a background report that he had not even seen some of the girls before they testified against him during his trial in November.
At that trial, LaFlamme had said he was the victim of vicious rumors.
But Art Hafdelin, a state probation and parole officer, testified at LaFlamme's sentencing Thursday that it was no surprise to social workers and others familiar with LaFlamme that he finally had been arrested on sex charges involving young girls.
Their general attitude, Hafdelin told a Botetourt County judge, was: "This had been an ongoing problem for him. He'd just never been charged before."
Although few details of the background report were revealed in open court, Hafdelin and attorneys in the case said it portrayed LaFlamme as a victim of sexual abuse as a foster child.
He had sought counseling, but like many victims of sexual abuse, he started victimizing others as he reached adulthood.
In August, he fondled nine young girls who ranged in age from 8 to 15 during his first three days as a volunteer camp counselor at a Church of Christ-sponsored camp in Botetourt.
LaFlamme had been a member of the Westside Church of Christ in Salem.
The fondling was brief and the girls were clothed in every incident. LaFlamme mostly touched their breasts or buttocks. He was also spotted by one girl peeking at her through a screen door as she took a shower.
"Mr. LaFlamme has had a tragic childhood and apparently has worked hard to cope with it," said Botetourt County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Hagan. But he contended that LaFlamme still presented a threat to other young girls and should be kept out of society.
LaFlamme, who was convicted on eight counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of assault and battery, faced a maximum sentence of 161 years in prison.
Hagan acknowledged the counseling LaFlamme had undergone and the support of his church. He said LaFlamme was for the most part well-supervised at the summer camp.
"And that did not protect these children."
Hagan asked what would happen under less supervised circumstances.
Circuit Judge George E. Honts III mostly agreed and sentenced LaFlamme to 40 years in prison. "There's been a long history of this conduct and that bothers me," he said.
Honts also said he was bothered that LaFlamme had shown virtually no remorse or understanding about what he had done.
"You must be removed from society for the protection of society," Honts said.
Shortly before Honts delivered his ruling, LaFlamme stood before the judge and apologized in a barely audible voice to the girls at the camp and their families, none of whom was present at Thursday's sentencing.
LaFlamme wore a grey sweatshirt, black pants and blue sneakers. His brown hair was cropped to about a half-inch all over his head. He showed no reaction to Honts' sentence.
His lawyer, Wayne Inge, agreed that LaFlamme deserved to be punished, but he argued that he also needed help and further counseling. He suggested that prison, where LaFlamme would encounter some "big-time sex offenders," was not the best place for either.
Inge said LaFlamme was not a rapist. He said the camp fondlings took place with other people around and LaFlamme never tried to lure the girls into secluded places.
"There was nothing suggestive said to the girls. There was nothing sexual said," Inge said.
He said the girls certainly were traumatized by what happened, but only one of them has sought counseling. And that girl had been sexually abused prior to this incident, he said.
Inge asked Honts to consider sentencing LaFlamme to a short stint in the Botetourt County Jail and then a long probation period combined with an intense counseling program.
He only wished it could have come earlier.
"Perhaps a different strategy on their part two years ago or three years ago or four years ago might have led to something different."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB