“Speak for those who cannot speak; seek justice for all those on the verge of destruction.” Proverbs 31:8

Steven James Sitler is a diagnosed fixated pedophile with multiple victims — including members of his own family. Despite more than a decade of treatment from a local psychologist and counselors specializing in counseling sex offenders, he admitted, thanks to a failed polygraph, that he had had “contact resulting in actual sexual stimulation” with his infant son. He “told his wife about some of these instances” but she chose not to report it to authorities, in violation of her state-chaperone agreement.

The Idaho Department of Correction “ordered Mr. Sitler completely off of his residence property and ordered him to have no contact with his son”; the state has legally prevented Steven Sitler from participating in routine fatherly duties. However, when he violates this order, it is unlikely, other than the evidence of a failed polygraph, that the State will ever know. The Court can never be certain that he will honor the Safety Plan offered by Valley Treatment Center. Further, if accepted and imposed by the Court, that piece of paper provides no real protection for his infant son.

His familial chaperones, including his parents and his wife, have proven to be unreliable in the past. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years have Roxanne and Dave Sitler poured into legal and counseling fees on his behalf? What benefit accrues to them for reporting his lapses? They have no incentive to report their son. They are financially invested in his freedom and they have amply demonstrated by past silence that protecting the predator is of greater importance to them than protecting the prey.

The same should be said of Katie (née Travis) Sitler. She longed for a husband to such a degree that with full knowledge of his previous offenses, she married a man with a life sentence hanging over his head as penalty for his sexual abuse of young children. Katie’s primary allegiance will always be to the head of her household — that is, her husband. From early childhood through her graduation from New St. Andrews College, she was trained to be a submissive wife. She was taught to honor the head of her household above all others. Mrs. Douglas (Nancy) Wilson repeatedly articulates this point. Here is one example:

“When a woman trusts God, she is enabled to submit joyfully to her husband. This submission is another hedge of protection, because it is obedience. The responsibility of the decision rests on the husband; the consequences are his problem, not hers. This resting in God and submission to husband is what makes a woman beautiful: ‘let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God’ (v. 4). God thinks highly of this gentled spirit, and so should we.” (Credenda Agenda)

Katie Sitler’s parents, Betsy and Donald Travis, following the courtship model popular in the CREC, gave their permission for the courtship and marriage of their daughter. Katie Travis and Steven Sitler became engaged after two meetings (and many email exchanges). What value did Mr. and Mrs. Travis place on Katie’s future happiness and the possibility of a stable home life? How did they imagine marriage to a fixated pedophile would turn out? What loving, responsible parents give permission for their daughter to marry a convicted pedophile knowing that they intended to have children?

Speculating on the reasons for the ill-considered decisions made by both sets of parents is pointless. There is blame and shame to go around many times over. However, we can assume that despite the stupidity of all complicit parties, no one wanted this marriage and faux parenthood to hit such a dismal, yet absolutely predictable, impasse.

Regardless of the thinking errors Katie Sitler made in agreeing to marry Steven Sitler — compounded by the decision to deliver a child into a home that will never be safe for him, I believe sympathy for her unhappy situation should be minimal. She was and is a willing, indeed eager, participant in constructing and living in the nasty mess she now finds herself in. She enables the man who has wicked intentions for her son. The only innocent party in this ghastly situation is a 1 ½-year-old child, who must be protected from a predatory father who will forever be a high risk to him and from a maternally negligent mother who has demonstrated time and again that she values her husband over her child’s safety.

Tomorrow morning the Honorable Judge Stegner will decide the fate of this infant. Will the baby be required to live in a home with the ever-present danger of sexual abuse, or will he be granted a childhood home free of the continual threat of a serial pedophile acting upon his fixation? I sincerely hope that Judge Stegner will deny the defense’s motion because no child will ever be safe around Steven Sitler.

Rosemary Huskey