Beoz

What strikes me about this whole topic is how common this whole problem is. Too many well known people. Just think about the numbers of unknown people. Surely this is an epidemic. An illness. An addiction. Should their be help centres, councilling available, etc for those with desires? Just punishing offenders with prison sentences hardly halts future problems.

Sally Redux

Yes it does seem to be very widespread, and not new - think of all the Roman Emperors. Apparently Claudius was about the only one who preferred women to young boys.

scrubbedexpat098

This is how they thought they could cure gayness wasn't it? Before anyone gets all pissed at me for comparing the two, the only parallel I'm drawing is that sexual desire isn't a choice, acting on it IS a choice. If your sexual desire is towards children, then do the world a favour and top yourself

scrubbedexpat098

Does that somehow give these people some sort of justification? You're seriously not saying that are you?

ozzieeagle

I think what's happened is 6000's years or more depending when proper civilisation is first thought to have started, worth of unspoken problem is being turned around in less than 35 years.

I think sociologists say dramatic inherited systemic behavioural change takes 3 generations or 90 years to modify..

Take the Pitcairn Island people for instance, that seemingly illustrates what happens when mankind is left to its own devices away from the outside world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcairn_sexual_assault_trial_of_2004

Kapri

They may accept it because it's the cultural norm, but I doubt the majority like it.
13 year olds are not ready to be wives and mothers no matter where they are from.

Kapri

This is exactly right Steve.

I've always said that. Nobody can help it if something makes them feel sexually aroused, but they can choose whether or not to act on it.

Personally, I don't give a toss what two consenting adults choose to do in private, even if it's something I personally find revolting.

But leave kids out of it and let them grow up to develop their own preferences rather than have others preferences forced on them from a young age.

Molly Coddle

Yeah It's more common than people realise, an ex CID neighbour of mine once informed me. He said they are rife and that's just the ones they have tags on, and like you said, just imagine how many there are that we don't know about it.

Personally I don't for one minute believe paedophilier is an illness, an addiction maybe but illness is not the right word to use I don't think. To me that's giving them an excuse for doing what they do. However there are people who would like to believe it was an illness, maybe to try and justify their actions, I don't know.

I think paedophiles are produced through circumstances. I think there are lots of different parts that play in their lives that eventually makes them the way they are. Owing to the fact the different circumstances they each occur, different types of paedophiles are produced.

Admittedly there are some out there who you can just see are totally mentally retarded but most that make it to the major news all appear to be smart and incredibly calculating.



A good point you make there about halting the problem - scientists have been working on the brains of paedophiles to try and understand how they work, in order to prevent them abusing and apparently their IQ's are supposed to be between 10 and 15 points lower than an average man but I don't buy that. I'm a big fan of science but I just don't believe some of these latest findings.
Just because someone has written a paper on this doesn't necessarily mean it's true does it?


What I do know though is they are a huge danger to children. Right now. Today. Tonight. And lenient sentences aren't exactly going to deter any paedophiles in the making. They need to be made an example of.


Anyway, I find the whole thing extremely frustrating and I have signed many a petition in my time about it, but nothing ever gets done. It's sickening.

Beoz

Why do you try and manipulate what people say?

Beoz

Yeah that ain't going to happen, so in order to protect the victims, after all they are the most important ones here, prevention is better than throwing a weak jail sentence as punishment.

scrubbedexpat098

So how are we going to prevent someone getting a specific sexual urge? Be opening up a huge can of worms if they were able to 'cure' paedophiles, afterall it is simply a sexual preference. A bullet to the head or a keyless jail cell are the only cures.

Sally Redux

No.

But I think these cases highlight the numbers involved.

Sally Redux

Thanks.

scrubbedexpat098

I didn't manipulate it at all, she made a statement, I asked if she meant what I thought she meant. That's called getting clarification, not manipulation. In any case these forums thrive on manipulating what people say to ones own ends isn't that right Sally?

The fact of the matter is, that it's obviously rife, and there needs to be a sweeping change to the way these sick ****s are dealt with. It doesnt require new age thinking, and it doesn't require any tolerance. I know what childhood abuse does to someone in adult life, and if there were one unforgiveable sin, this would be it.

I don't care what culture you're from, what's wrong is wrong (if i'm an animal for thinking like this then so be it, who cares), and for those who think it should be perfectly acceptable for a 60 y/o man (although the age is lrrelevant) to engage in sex acts with a 14 year old girl, I would ask if your mind would be changed if that 14 year old girl was your own daughter?

14 year old girls may act up, and be precocious little mares who think they're 21, but in the privacy of their own room, most are more likely to be caught playing with dolls than anything else, and THAT is when you can truly gauge someones 'maturity'.

What it requires, is the utmost harshness, death penalty in my view, life in an institution for those that come forward before any abuse happens. For alot of these victims, they have been robbed of the chance to a normal life, the act itself is just the beginning, and to be honest I find some of the arguments on here extremely distasteful.

Pollyana

A psychological condition maybe?
Many people have addiction, dependencies, conditions, which lie dormant and which they can usually control. If under stress, extra pressure, etc that addiction - that need - surfaces and they find that they just don't have the mental syrength to control it. That need can in some cases be a need to find comfort in some kind of sex act, not necessarily a legal one.

I'm not saying this is or is not the case with Harris or Hall or any of the others, but it is a recognised psychological issue, and shows how complex the problem can be. Some men may act coldly and callously towards their young victims, and really do deserve punishment. Others are pschologically damaged for whatever reason and are more in need of help to control their urges, encouragement to stay away from places where they may fall prey to those urges.

Far more complex than just 'hang them from the rafters'