December 2008 Predator of the Month: Robert Darden

Robert Darden
Maryland, USA
Known Online Nickname: rdardenea

We want to start this month's expose with a caveat. We are in NO WAY judging anyone's religious or spiritual beliefs. We do not espouse any type of belief for healing from Cyberpaths other than the "higher power" belief also used in 12-Step Groups. We don't criticize anyone for their beliefs either.

That said, we stopped counting around 50... the sheer NUMBERS of people we hear from all the time who either:

1. met their Cyberpath on a Christian/ Jewish/ other.... Dating Site
2. their Cyberpath professed to be religious, observant or so on. (examples: Dan Jacoby, gridney/ YidwithLid, Mike Campbell)

(For a quick reality check, go to our friends at Fight Bigamy and just do a search on how many bigamists are preachers or pretend to be!)

Think about it, a predator would love going on a religious-slanted dating site or professing their "religiousness." Why? Because the site's or their affiliation with religion would make a naive person think they were honest & trustworthy. Many, like this month's, go to great lengths to study & learn scripture. It's part of their lure.

Online dating -- or meeting someone online -- no matter WHAT KIND OF SITE YOU ARE ON -- is bad news 99% of the time. Those are NOT GOOD ODDS!

The predators we've exposed in the last 4 years have been from:

• Online Dating (secular & religious)
• Friendship & Chat Sites
• Reunion Sites
• Recovery Sites
• Parenting Sites

in short -- they come from anywhere on the web that will give them the "air" of trust-ability.

Here's another cautionary tale. And NOT AN ISOLATED ONE!

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One of his victims tells her story:

(EOPC's comments are in Dark Blue & italics)

I met what I thought was my 'soul mate' on a Christian dating site. This man knew the Word of God inside out. He gave me the impression he was sent by God.

About on in twenty-five individuals are sociopathic, meaning, essentially, that they do not have a conscience. It is not that this group fails to grasp the difference between good and bad; it is that the distinction fails to limit their behavior.

. . . many people know nothing about this disorder, or if they do, they think only in terms of violent psychopathy- murderers, serial killers, mass murderers . . . [but not] the larger number of nonviolent sociopaths among us, people who often are not blatant lawbreakers, and against whom our formal legal system provides little defense. Most of us would not imagine any correspondence between conceiving an ethnic genocide and, say, guiltlessly lying to one’s boss about a coworker. But the psychological correspondence is not only there; it is chilling.

The writer, a Rev'd C. J. Connor, then finishes the first installment in the series:

As Dr. Stout (in her book THE SOCIOPATH NEXT DOOR) points out, however, more often than not the evil that they create in the world is not something that you can go to jail for- and in the Church nowadays, the characteristics of the Christian Sociopath have become rather idealized and admired.

SOURCE

He contacted me after I responded to prayers for a woman who had been raped by someone she met on the site. He said he could "see I was a strong woman."

After a short absence from the site, we contacted each other again and he told me that he "often thought of me." (Here we go with the LOVE BOMBING)

The way to lure them out of their shell and set up your seduction is to enter their spirit. Play by their rules, enjoy what they enjoy... In doing so you will ... lower their defenses. Hypnotized by the mirror image you present, they will open up, becoming vulnerable to your subtle influence.

SOURCE

To know someone was thinking of me. What a nice feeling. We had so much in common. We hit it off right away. After talking for a while online we exchanged phone numbers. The first time we talked, when we were saying goodbye I thought I heard him say ‘I love you.’ (first red flag) I wasn’t sure so I didn’t say anything.

Narcissists, in accordance with their Machiavellian mind frame, will often appear religious, especially if they are leaders. But they may also ascribe to a religion in an effort to understand their special status, which they believe they enjoy.

SOURCE

Several times we talked through the night even though I had to get up in the morning to go to work. I couldn't pull myself away and even though he would express regret for keeping me up at night it would keep happening. I was tired a lot which is probably what he intended.

Along with the personality disorder, psychopaths have other issues in common, including a decreased need for sleep. Many of the women [victims -- are] in bodily exhaustion from the lack of sleep. The ability to dominate her when she is exhausted is an obvious benefit to the psychopath for keeping her awake... (This technique is often used in hostage-taking and war crimes.).

Sandra Brown, MA -- WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS

He often spoke of how honest I was. How he had never met someone so honest. Probably to appeal to my ego. How he had never reached so deep into anyone’s heart before.

He said had only been with one woman all his life. His wife, who deceived him and hurt him making it difficult for him to ever love again. (sounds like Ed Hicks! Who swore he only had one wife... LOL!) He said he was legally separated and hasn’t proceeded with the divorce because he hasn’t had a reason to. He said almost did once. (sound familiar readers? Like Dan Jacoby?)

...weakness -- tears, bashfulness, paleness-will help create the effect. To further win trust, exchange honesty for virtue: establish your "sincerity" by confessing some sin on your part -- it doesn't have to be real. Sincerity is more important than goodness. Play the victim, then transform your target's sympathy into love.

SOURCE

There were several red flags that went off in my head but I just brushed them off or reasoned them away. There were things I wasn't comfortable with.

Since many psychopaths need much less sleep than normal people, lack of sleep is likely to catch up with her. The psychopath consistently keeps her awake, demanding her company while he watches TV, picks fights, or wants marathon sex. Her diet, exercise, down-time, spiritual practices, and friendships all go by the wayside while her stress levels increase. The fast-paced lifestyle contributes to a total deterioration in her health. Her physical exhaustion can greatly increase her emotional fatigability. She is now unable to hold her ground against the psychopath, and despite the exhaustion, she remains hypnotized, fixated on his extroverted, highly exciting persona.

Sandra Brown, MA -- WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS

I am a victim of sexual abuse and we talked about it and he wanted to help me. (Click here for a great article that speaks to this tactic) Wanted to know all the details so he could "lead me to healing. "

There are always social limits on what one can do. Some of these, the most elemental taboos, go back centuries; others are more superficial, simply defining polite and acceptable behavior. Making your targets feel that you are leading them past either kind of limit is immensely seductive... You do not respect marriage vows or family ties.

Once the desire to transgress draws your targets to you, it will be hard for them to stop. Take them farther than they imagined-the shared feeling of guilt and complicity will create a powerful bond.

SOURCE

At one point he told me his sexual fantasies and wanted me to tell him mine. I didn't and when I said I couldn't he said, "I wonder why this isn't working. I might have to come and see you." That has always stuck in my head because I was wondering what he meant. (Readers, this is easy. It was one of those rare times all Cyberpaths do when they slip up and are actually honest -- but the victim is by then, too hypnotized to see their real agenda! Darden's agenda was the same as many of our Cyberpaths: SEX -- either cybersex, real life sex or both!)

Again I brushed it off, thinking he meant he was trying to help me and it wasn't working.

[L]ure them out of their insecurities by making them focus on something sublime and spiritual: a religious experience, a lofty work of art...

Play up your divine qualities; affect an air of discontent with worldly things; speak of the stars, destiny, the hidden threads that unite you and the object of the seduction.

Lost in a spiritual mist, the target will feel light and uninhibited. Deepen the effect of your seduction by making its sexual culmination seem like the spiritual union of two souls.

SOURCE

Although he professed to be a 'christian' man he started sending me youtube videos of secular songs with sexual lyrics and images. I brushed it off thinking "he loves me and is just expressing his love." (Abuse survivors are often numb to these sort of boundary violations; which is why predators are always on the hunt for them!) The subject line was "Doin’ it in Your Ear Whole." (gross!)

He then declared his "love" for me, how he would "love me for a lifetime." He talked about "commitment and marriage." He told me he "told his ex-wife about us and she was devastated." He said she "never thought he would find someone." He also hinted he’d finalized the divorce. (complete B.S. -- This is a typical Cyberpath ploy of roping the victim in with "shared guilt" -- now she feels complicit with 'breaking up his marriage' and him 'loving her.' It's Blame-Shifting 101!)

During all this I started feeling anxious and fearful. If I didn't hear from him (he pulled the disappearing act for a few days) I was in a panic. I couldn't understand what was happening to me. Even after I spoke with him I always had this strange anxious feeling. (Typical -- keep the victim on edge. Let them know that you will abandon them if they don't COMPLY! Keeps the victims Trauma Bonded to the Cyberpath.)

Then I noticed he was BACK on the dating site. AFTER he "declared his love for" me and how he was "committed to" me. (wonder how many other women he was telling that to) I never mentioned it to him. I was waiting for him to say something. He didn't.

Also, in the beginning, told me he was moving to my country. (sounds like Keith Clive) As it got closer to the time he said he was moving, he began hinting he wasn't coming anymore. He said "his children didn't want to" although he'd told me "they were so excited before." He made me believe his children were preventing him from having his own life and he would have to wait. (More bullpocky! He had no intention of moving from the beginning. Complete liar. Convenient to dump people who live nowhere near you when all you want is online games.)

The psychopath and the stage of his luring are as shallow and phoney as the cut out. With a complete straight face, he can say one thing and do another, do something and say the opposite, or say and do the opposite of what he did last week.

These dichotomies produce serious distress in the women because of the chronic instability in the relationship. As they try to align themselves with his belief system, it shifts. As they try to align with his behaviors or promises, these shift. This constant shifting and moving keeps women off-balance and continuously striving to stabilize the relationship.

Sandra Brown, MA - WOMEN WHO LOVE PSYCHOPATHS.

He played mind games. One example was: we were holding hands over cyberspace, he said could "actually feel his hand in mine." And I actually felt it too. Or... thought I did. Sometimes it felt as if he was right there beside me. (This is part of the Trance & Mind Control used by the pathological Cyberpath. Many of our victims reported this exact same experience with their Cyberpath!)

The unrepentant excuse themselves, and motivated by an unconscious desire to be excused by others (not forgiven, which implies confession and contrition), he will readily excuse the faults and failings of others, obliging them to do likewise. Hence, the current widespread approbation of tolerance as the perfection of justice.

But tolerance is not necessarily a virtue, for there is a great deal that love refuses to tolerate. Again, such confusion only establishes the conditions that the character disordered depend upon in order to keep themselves from being exposed. We can undermine such conditions by praying that we might be given a horror of sin and by cultivating a hatred of injustice.

SOURCE