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Teen’s report leads to child molestation arrest

June 30, 2016
Matthew Roland Betts

Matthew Roland Betts

A 13-year-old’s report that she was molested by a family friend three years ago led police to arrest a 44-year-old San Luis Obispo man on Wednesday.

After the girl’s family learned about the alleged molestation, they contacted law enforcement. During the investigation, the teen said Matthew Roland Betts committed the crimes against her while he was staying in her family’s home.

In March, a friend caught Betts allegedly committing a lewd act against an 8-year-old girl. At that time, police arrested Betts on a charge of lewd acts against a child.

On Wednesday, officers arrested Betts and booked him into the San Luis Obispo County Jail on charges of lewd acts upon a child and forcible acts of sexual penetration. His bail was set at $250,000.

 


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I know personally that it happens a lot more than we think. Perpetrators do not descriminate by zip code or socioeconomic class. I had great parents, hard working and responsible. My dad kept his eyes peeled knowing that they lurk everywhere, but even that didn’t protect me from three different men by the age of 7. Where were my parents? They didn’t know about two of them until 35 years later. The third one, got caught because I was with a friend when it happened outside of the convenience store and she told her parents. Kids don’t speak up about this stuff, it’s shameful and they don’t have the words or the emotional maturity to deal with it. Trust me, I know it’s under reported. There are a few things that I claim to know for sure in my life in and this is one. Keep your heads high above the holes in the sand on this one!


2

Ladies & Gentlemen,


Innocent until proven guilty, then, get the rope.


Just saying,


The Truth


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@Indy thinker – don’t forget to mention the shirt slpayed open with sashquatch type chest hair. Also an extra rung or two up the creep meter!


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Innocent until proven guilty… sure, I get that but….. WOW…. that is the best pose he can give us for his mugshot? The way that head is tilted down, his mouth slightly open and the eyes gazing right through you, I’m not saying guilty but creepy looking… No?


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Sex against minors is outrageous and woe to those who do it and are found out by the fathers.

Chop his hands off…


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Brave kid. Good on her for speaking up.


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Pedophiles deserve to be roasted over a hot fire.


2

Pedophilia is a horrible crime that leaves many psychological scars. Pedophiles (as one can see from the local news in a small community) is rampant, but it is also is largely undetectable. So, what makes these guys tick? And, why do we find ourselves frequently shocked-as sports coaches, scout leaders, swimming instructors, teachers and (worst of all) relatives are discovered to be hidden “child molestors”? In this case–it was trusted family friend.


I have studied pedophilia inside and outside of my profession for a number of years. They operate from a standpoint that often exceeds the smoothly executed moves of a skilled sociopath. They also strike fast and have a 6th sense for children who will not “tell”. (One of my own children was violated by the wedding photographer at a wedding I attended and it surfaced in therapy years later). My son is terribly tormented to this day-and very mistrustful of men.


The answer is: there is no way to detect them. Ever. Anytime you leave your child alone with a pediatrician, teacher, relative, friend, etc., you are running a risk. You may think this is paranoid thinking–but I cannot tell you how many times I wish I would have not excused myself to use the restroom briefly while my son was being “photographed”. I will forever wish I had been more “paranoid”, and I am certain he does also.


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I’m glad too know the DA set a reasonable bail for this individual. We as a community need to realize the problem….


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So sorry that your son had to be introduced to the pain which pedophiles cause, and I hope you sued that criminal’s a$$ off. Not that it helps resolve the pain; probably increases it.


I’m wondering about this offender’s childhood, and if he was molested, setting a lifelong and unavoidable pattern….which means it should be a Death Penalty offense!


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There is actually a difference between child molesters and pedophiles.


http://www.childmolestationprevention.org/pages/focus_on_the_cause.html


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Interesting reading but it leaves me with a question. It seems to say that pedophilia is largely a treatable disease. If this is so, why are there so many repeat offenders post-treatment? Do we just not hear about the successfully treated ones or is the author’s viewpoint not applicable to reality?


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indigo1955 I am sorry to hear about your son’s experience. It does happen and it has severe consequences when it does. I do question whether it happens as frequently as you seem to think though. In a world with 24-7 news coverage from multiple sources, people tend to perceive more dangers in their localities than there are because they hear so many stories from a much more populous world.


The reason I bring this up is that I see a tendency in people to over-react and try to protect their kids from all imaginable dangers. This in itself has negative consequences in that kids become distrusting of ALL strangers and don’t learn to judge people accurately.The hyper-protectiveness also discourages men who are not pedophiles from interacting with kids to avoid the slightest possibility of suspicion. This is not good for kids development into stable adults either.


I wish I knew of a solution to this dilemma but finding the line between adequate protection of children and over-protection is not easy. I suspect that over-protection has become the trend in part because the consequences of leaving (mostly male) decent adults out of a child’s life is not as obvious or traumatic as the consequences of an encounter with the sick ones.


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