BBC Have your Say - paedophiles

[Burdock]

35 poking 19

GIT!

[WotNxt]

Whenever I see a witch-hunt, I want to take the side of the witch.

How about taking the side of the paedophiles' victims? Or do you think they should be grateful for the "physical acts of love" forced upon them?

I think paedophilia is analogous to homosexuality, in that it's a minority preference that is just the way some people are wired. I feel sorry for those who are wired that way, because unlike homosexuals they can't hope that changing social customs will make their sexuality acceptable. Children will never be considered capable of giving consent.

Paedophiles cannot be cured in the same way that homosexual people cannot be "cured".

Imagine (if you are male) what it would be like if even fantasising about adult women made you such a dangerous freak that you couldn't admit your fantasies to you best friend, and that if you actually ever shagged someone you were risking years in jail each time. Imagine living your whole life where your only realistic legal option for sex was playing with yourself (and even then it was a crime to access relevant fantasy material.)

Yeah, and imagine you were a would-be serial killer. Should we feel sorry for you then? What if you were a necrophiliac?

The line has to be drawn somewhere and it should be firmly drawn in favour of the victims who, by and large, are completely innocent children.

[WotNxt]

The fact that they are still alive shows the state of the country...

Alive AND set loose to re-offend. I agree that this country needs to get a grip on these issues and introduce some tougher new sentencing at the very least.

Don't underestimate the amount of paedophiles that get away with their crimes though. It is quite uncommon to get a conviction since most of the time it is simply the word of the child against that of their attacker. They may get convicted eventually but often only after many years of abuse of many different victims.

[wendigo100]

How about taking the side of the paedophiles' victims? Or do you think they should be grateful for the "physical acts of love" forced upon them?

Paedophiles cannot be cured in the same way that homosexual people cannot be "cured".

Yeah, and imagine you were a would-be serial killer. Should we feel sorry for you then? What if you were a necrophiliac?

The line has to be drawn somewhere and it should be firmly drawn in favour of the victims who, by and large, are completely innocent children.

I think his point was - someone like that cannot help what they are.

Answer me this - if someone realises that they like to shop in awkward places, what do you want them to do?

[WotNxt]

I wonder how long a sentence he will get for ruining this boy's life?

http://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/ne...icleid=2921417

[wendigo100]

I wonder how long a sentence he will get for ruining this boy's life?

http://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/ne...icleid=2921417

You didn't answer my question. I'm interested to know what you think.

[WotNxt]

I think his point was - someone like that cannot help what they are.

Answer me this - if someone realises that they like to shop in awkward places, what do you want them to do?

And my point is that I have as much sympathy for a serial killer as I do for a paedophile, rapist, etc. i.e. NONE!

I don't care whether their tendencies are their own fault or not since if they act on them that is DEFINITELY through their own choice.

[Ardesco]

It's a hard one really. I must agree that if people have these wierd feelings but don't act on them they aren't really criminal. It is when they act upon them that they become criminal and we all have the potential to become criminals in one way or the other.

The other problem is branding people as paedophiles when they are not. It is possible that somebody may have accidently clicked on a site that brought up a disgusting image, and they have gone EWW and shut the browser. Should this person be branded as a paedophile and locked up?

Obviously if they are paying to access a site with these images it is wrong and they should be punioshed, but as with everything in life there is a grey line, and we can't ignore that. If we do we face labelling perfectly normal people as paedophiles which would not be a good thing.

[WotNxt]

You didn't answer my question. I'm interested to know what you think.

Sorry, don't understand the point or relevance of the question. Does the word "awkward" have a hidden meaning of "illegal" or "causes massive harm to others"?

I would suggest that you are just trying to wind me up. Get a life.

[WotNxt]

The other problem is branding people as paedophiles when they are not. It is possible that somebody may have accidently clicked on a site that brought up a disgusting image, and they have gone EWW and shut the browser. Should this person be branded as a paedophile and locked up?

Clearly, they should not. If the law is framed in such a way at present then it should be amended. Any amendment would need to be made VERY carefully so as not to provide a loophole for the real scumbags.