The direct victim in this case is the son Sean. He is tied to a bed; duct tape is placed over his eyes so he is unable to identify anyone and no water with only junk food to eat for substance. Tom's son was a hand-picked target and not a random case. Shaker knew of his under the table dirty work and used this fact against him. Sean was just a pawn in the plan to extort money from Tom. If he would pay-off once he would definitely do it again for the life of his son. The indirect victims are Sean's parents. They are subject to the loss of their son and the possible chance he would not be returned alive. Sean's friends and extended family would also be affected by the tragedy and possible loss of Sean. Agent Lonnie Hawkins was the FBI agent directly involved with the investigation and he can be seen as an indirect victim as well, because he questions the safety of his own children and if Sean does not return alive this can result in future feelings of guilt and failure on his part. He has invested a piece of himself into this investigation.

Branching out from the aspect of victim facilitation, we can also apply the Routine Activities Theory. On that particular day there was a change in the family’s routine activities as Katherine was the judge for the Science fair and Tom and Sean were out there to support her. In this case it is easy to see we have a motivated offender. Shaker knows he can get the money he wants from this family. Sean makes a suitable target because of the family’s high profile life. Tom appeared in nationwide commercials saying his number one priority was families, especially his own. As well, the family often appeared in the news for various events. From this high amount of exposure the kidnapper is able to know of the family’s whereabouts that day and use that to his advantage. The last point that this theory stresses is the absence of guardianship. Katherine is busy judging the contest and Tom becomes distracted when talking to a friend. Both parents are not paying attention to their son’s whereabouts, thus creating the opportunity for victimization. While this is obviously not their intention, by taking their eyes off their son for a moment, they gave the offenders the chance to kidnap their son.

Tom and Katherine took the right steps in starting the search for their son. While they put a call into the missing child division at the FBI, in Canada the most important thing to do is report the kidnapping immediately to the local police department. The first few hours in the case of an abducted child are the most imperative in the successful return of the child. In many cases an “Amber Alert” is issued that alerts the public in the disappearance of a child under the age of eighteen. Information appears on the television, the radio and electronic highway signs. Searches involving friends, family and officials would have been conducted. As well, police may use the help of “our missing children Canada”, an organization that provides assistance to officials and family in any possible manner. Individuals trained in cases of child abduction can also be utilized through this organization.

Some topics in this essay:
Tom Katherine, Hawkins FBI, Central Park, Tom Sean, Ninety Six, FBI Canada, Shaker Tom, Brown Brown, Unfortunately Sean, Information Centre, secondary victimization, central park, tom katherine, abduction sean, science fair, criminal justice system, secondary victimization occurs, pay-off contract, stranger abductions, judging contest, contract negotiations, child abduction, judging contest tom, science fair tom, pay-off contract negotiations,