Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction by Patrick J Carnes

Author:Patrick J Carnes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hazelden Publishing
Published: 2009-06-20T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 4

The Family and the Addict’s World

James Cermak’s attorney, Fred Bruno, argued that sentencing Cermak for each sex offense would be like sentencing an alcoholic for each drink he takes.

—Minneapolis Tribune, January 20, 1982

News of the Cermak brothers grabbed the public’s attention for almost a year. Few tales were as grim as the unfolding story of their sexual abuse of a large number of children from their rural Minnesota town. The children included all of their own children plus others from the community. Most were elementary- or junior-high-age youngsters, the youngest being the three-year-old son of James Cermak. Both brothers, James and John, were sentenced to forty years in prison, neither being eligible for parole for at least twenty-six years.

Central to the Cermaks’ activities was playing something they called “the game.” Done in their homes or hotel rooms, “the game” started with the children sitting on a bed in a circle with no clothes on. They were then asked to perform sexual acts with one another. The game concluded with the Cermaks being sexual with the children, including oral intercourse. Children were told they were “naughty” if they did not play and were threatened with physical violence if they resisted.

The number of children involved, the sexual violation and the emotional vulnerability of the children, and the cruelty of the Cermak brothers generated public outrage. The brothers’ parents, Stanley and Alice, protested that the children had been “programmed” by the prosecuting attorney and denied the allegations. Yet more than 130 pieces of evidence were introduced, including about 70 instant photographs of the children in obscene poses or performing sexual acts. Even the Cermak brothers acknowledged the depth of the tragedy. John Cermak was so remorseful that suicidal feelings were a problem. James Cermak told the judge, “I’m sorry for the things I have done and I’m only twenty-six years old and I definitely need help.”1

Hardly had public outrage started to subside when shocking new revelations appeared in the media. Beverly and Jillayne Cermak, the wives of James and John, were also being charged with child rape. They had both played “the game.” Beverly was accused of having sex with seven children and forcing them to perform sex acts with other children over a two-and-a-half-year period. Jillayne was charged with eighteen counts of sexual abuse of children, nine of which were counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Both Jillayne and Beverly were accused of aiding and abetting their husbands.

The Cermak story is classic if extreme: the denial of the grandparents in their efforts to protect the family secrets, the seemingly unending series of disclosures that gave testimony to how sexual obsession prevailed in the lifestyle of the family, the profound feelings of remorse, regret, and helplessness of the offenders, the loyalty of children who did not wish to testify against their parents, spouses who collaborated, and a public who chose to see the tragic series of events as isolated, bizarre, and unique.

Sexual compulsiveness, like all addictions, rests in a complex web of family relationships.

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