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Miami Police Seek Serial Rapist Suspect

Aired June 13, 2003 - 15:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities in Miami remain on alert for a suspected serial rapist linked to four assaults against women and girls, including two young girls who were at home unattended. The situation that puts parents in a quandary now.
First, there's the need for closer supervision. And even tougher, the search for the proper words to explain the potential danger. Joining us now to talk about all this, psychiatrist Carol Lieberman. She is in Los Angeles this afternoon.

Carol, thank you for being with us.

CAROL LIEBERMAN, PSYCHIATRIST: My pleasure.

COLLINS: I guess we should start with the basics here. Talk to us about when it might be appropriate for children to be left alone.

LIEBERMAN: Well, you know, I think that the minimum age nowadays, in a really dangerous world, would be 14. I know that that probably sounds really old to people, and earlier, you know, in years passed, it might have been younger. But between rapists and all kinds of other things that are going on in the world, I would say 14.

Besides that, you have to understand that children really need the attention of their parents during that time. So it's not just a matter of how safe they'll be from the possibility of a rapist, but it's what are they doing with that time. And most likely, that's eating junk food and watching television.

COLLINS: And obviously, I would imagine it would be different with every child. I mean, this is just a guideline to be considering, probably, as you say, older than many of us thought. But I also wonder, what about some of the factors that play into this?

Watching too much television. Of course, that issue came up prior to, I'm sure, but certainly with September 11th.

LIEBERMAN: Right. And of course, children sitting at home, you know, you don't have any control over what they're watching. And they can be watching all kinds of violence, they can be watching all kinds of frightening news stories that they don't really understand.

And if their parents aren't going to be spending time with them to explain these things -- first of all, many of them at a young age shouldn't be watching it to begin with. And then when do they have the chance to ask their parents? The parents have to make the time to talk to their children about these things.

COLLINS: So how do you talk to the children about this? Something has happened in your community, you just can't keep it away from the child because everyone is talking about it. It's on the TV, it's in the newspapers. How do you sit down with your child and say, this is what we need to do?

LIEBERMAN: Well, first of all, the real way of preparing your child for these kinds of dangers begins when they're a baby, in a sense, when they're toddlers. And what you're doing there is preparing them by giving them more self-esteem and a sense of being able to handle situations. It really goes far back.

But given that perhaps parents haven't done that as well as they might have wished and now they have this problem, you can give your child, first of all, practical tips, like not opening the door for anybody no matter how they're dressed or what they say, but to call you, to give you a number that they can reach you at. To call 911 if they can't reach you, to never take the chain off or open the windows. To have a neighbor nearby that they can call right away in an emergency.

These kinds of practical things, maybe have a room in the house that has a lock on it, where they can lock themselves in. All of these things are practical issues. But at the same time, what you need to be doing is telling your children, teaching your children to have more self-confidence, and a lot of that is through parental attention.

You can also teach them to feel better about their own strength, their own physical strength. And, you know, by that, for that you have to do things like all kinds of sports and joining them in this, getting them involved in school things, after-school things, and giving them a sense that they -- not the false vibrato that a lot of kids have, where they think, you don't need to tell me what to do, I know.

And you should tell those kids anyway, because really they don't necessarily -- they won't think of all these things to do. And you can do it in a way that says, perhaps you do know, but it will make me feel a lot better if I know that I've told you.

COLLINS: Exactly. Certainly a delicate balance between all of those things for parents to be thinking about each and every day. Carol Lieberman, thanks so much for your expertise this afternoon on this topic that a lot of parents are certainly thinking about.

LIEBERMAN: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 13, 2003 - 15:39   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities in Miami remain on alert for a suspected serial rapist linked to four assaults against women and girls, including two young girls who were at home unattended. The situation that puts parents in a quandary now.
First, there's the need for closer supervision. And even tougher, the search for the proper words to explain the potential danger. Joining us now to talk about all this, psychiatrist Carol Lieberman. She is in Los Angeles this afternoon.

Carol, thank you for being with us.

CAROL LIEBERMAN, PSYCHIATRIST: My pleasure.

COLLINS: I guess we should start with the basics here. Talk to us about when it might be appropriate for children to be left alone.

LIEBERMAN: Well, you know, I think that the minimum age nowadays, in a really dangerous world, would be 14. I know that that probably sounds really old to people, and earlier, you know, in years passed, it might have been younger. But between rapists and all kinds of other things that are going on in the world, I would say 14.

Besides that, you have to understand that children really need the attention of their parents during that time. So it's not just a matter of how safe they'll be from the possibility of a rapist, but it's what are they doing with that time. And most likely, that's eating junk food and watching television.

COLLINS: And obviously, I would imagine it would be different with every child. I mean, this is just a guideline to be considering, probably, as you say, older than many of us thought. But I also wonder, what about some of the factors that play into this?

Watching too much television. Of course, that issue came up prior to, I'm sure, but certainly with September 11th.

LIEBERMAN: Right. And of course, children sitting at home, you know, you don't have any control over what they're watching. And they can be watching all kinds of violence, they can be watching all kinds of frightening news stories that they don't really understand.

And if their parents aren't going to be spending time with them to explain these things -- first of all, many of them at a young age shouldn't be watching it to begin with. And then when do they have the chance to ask their parents? The parents have to make the time to talk to their children about these things.

COLLINS: So how do you talk to the children about this? Something has happened in your community, you just can't keep it away from the child because everyone is talking about it. It's on the TV, it's in the newspapers. How do you sit down with your child and say, this is what we need to do?

LIEBERMAN: Well, first of all, the real way of preparing your child for these kinds of dangers begins when they're a baby, in a sense, when they're toddlers. And what you're doing there is preparing them by giving them more self-esteem and a sense of being able to handle situations. It really goes far back.

But given that perhaps parents haven't done that as well as they might have wished and now they have this problem, you can give your child, first of all, practical tips, like not opening the door for anybody no matter how they're dressed or what they say, but to call you, to give you a number that they can reach you at. To call 911 if they can't reach you, to never take the chain off or open the windows. To have a neighbor nearby that they can call right away in an emergency.

These kinds of practical things, maybe have a room in the house that has a lock on it, where they can lock themselves in. All of these things are practical issues. But at the same time, what you need to be doing is telling your children, teaching your children to have more self-confidence, and a lot of that is through parental attention.

You can also teach them to feel better about their own strength, their own physical strength. And, you know, by that, for that you have to do things like all kinds of sports and joining them in this, getting them involved in school things, after-school things, and giving them a sense that they -- not the false vibrato that a lot of kids have, where they think, you don't need to tell me what to do, I know.

And you should tell those kids anyway, because really they don't necessarily -- they won't think of all these things to do. And you can do it in a way that says, perhaps you do know, but it will make me feel a lot better if I know that I've told you.

COLLINS: Exactly. Certainly a delicate balance between all of those things for parents to be thinking about each and every day. Carol Lieberman, thanks so much for your expertise this afternoon on this topic that a lot of parents are certainly thinking about.

LIEBERMAN: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com