Serial killer Aileen Wuornos, Source https://pubapps.fdc.myflorida.com/offenderSearch/detail.aspx?Page=Detail&DCNumber=150924&TypeSearch=IR, Author Florida Dept. of Corrections (PD as work created by a govt. unit).
WARNING: Graphic Images
Christa Pike was convicted in 1996 for the murder of 19 y.o. Colleen Slemmer at a Job Corps training camp for troubled youth in Tennessee [1][2][3].
Pike, her boyfriend Tardyl Shipp, and friend Shadolla Peterson had lured Slemmer into the woods where they taunted her, slashed her with a box cutter, and beat her to death with asphalt. A pentagram was carved into Slemmer’s flesh. Pike saved a piece of Slemmer’s skull which she showed around afterwards.
Pike’s defense team failed to mention at trial that she was physically and sexually abused by her grandfather; raped at 11 y.o. by a neighbor and again at 17 y.o. by a stranger. Pike was diagnosed with PTSD and bipolar disorder during her incarceration. Multiple appeals were, however, unsuccessful.
A Link to Violent Behavior
There seems to be at least a tentative link between childhood sexual abuse and later violent behavior, including murder [4][5][6].
Researchers from the University of Michigan found that 58% of individuals who committed rape as adults had experienced childhood sexual abuse [7].
Aileen Wuornos, one of the few female serial killers, claimed to have been physically and sexually assaulted by her grandfather as a child [8]. Abuse of all kinds has, in fact, been found at significantly higher rates in the serial killer population.
Mechanism
It is unclear why sexual abuse may cross over into violence. Abuse can certainly generate rage on the part of victims. In women, this rage is often turned inward, becoming depression. It is theorized that violence is a socially acceptable way for men to mask their shame and humiliation at sexual victimization as children.
Intergenerational cycles of violence may, also, play a role.
Killing the Abuser
When sexual abuse victims kill their abusers (rather than third parties), the law grapples to arrive at a just outcome [9][10].
The courts have considerable discretion in such cases. Much depends on whether these abuse victims were or reasonably felt they were under imminent threat of deadly force at the time of the killing. A significant number of women incarcerated in American prisons for homicide were though subjected to domestic violence.
Precious in God’s Sight
Because we are sexual human beings, childhood sexual abuse can have a profound impact. It is far from the trivial “non-event” or — worse yet — “loving act” predators convince themselves it is. Despite that, the vast majority of sexual abuse victims never commit violence, let alone murder.
The Bible condemns abuse of any kind, at any age. But it especially condemns the abuse of children (Matt. 18: 6 and 10; Col. 3: 21). Children are precious in God’s sight (Ps. 127: 3). They remain so even after sexual abuse.
—
[1] Wikipedia, “Christa Pike”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa_Pike.
[2] Death Penalty Information Center, “Christa Pike Requests Clemency Ahead of September 30 Execution Date” by Hayley Bedard, 9/14/26, updated 10/1/26, https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/christa-pike-requests-clemency-ahead-of-september-30-execution-date-experts-amicus-brief-points-to-substantial-risk-of-re-traumatization.
[3] Cornell Law School, “Christa Pike, Child Rape Victim, Faces Execution for Crime She Committed as a Teenager”, https://dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu/advocacy/christa-pike/.
[4] Psychology Today, “The Serial Killer and Sexuality” by Richard Lettieri, 1/5/22, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/decoding-madness/202201/the-serial-killer-and-sexuality.
[5] ScienceDirect, “The impact of childhood sexual abuse on interpersonal violence in men: A systematic review” by Aika Hui, et al, September-October 2024, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178924000181.
[6] Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, “The Incidence of Child Abuse in Serial Killers” by Heather Mitchell and Michael Aamodt, 2005, https://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Research%20-%20Forensic/2005%2020-1-Mitchell-40-47.pdf.
[7] Worldmetrics, “Abused Becomes Abuser Statistics”, 2026, https://worldmetrics.org/abused-becomes-abuser-statistics/.
[8] Wikipedia, “Aileen Wuornos”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aileen_Wuornos.
[9] A&E TV, “When Abuse Victims Strike Back — With Murder” by Adam Janos, 5/6/24, https://www.aetv.com/articles/when-abuse-victims-strike-back-with-murder.
[10] Cardozo Law Review, “Survival Homicide” by Michal Buchhandler-Raphael, https://www.cardozolawreview.com/survival-homicide/.
FOR MORE OF MY ARTICLES ON POVERTY, POLITICS, AND MATTERS OF CONSCIENCE CHECK OUT MY BLOG A LAWYER’S PRAYERS AT: https://alawyersprayers.com
