BBC Have your Say - paedophiles

[Troll]

If its a 16yr old lad who boff's his 15yr old girlfriend then no. Like most things there are shades of grey

I find it difficult to understand why people confuse paedophilia with underage sex.

If the child has passed puberty then it cannot be called paedophillia
& a 16 year old bonking a 15 year old has been happening forever... all that stops it (ha!) is the age of consent (which varies by country)

I think also that paedos are not attracted to children once past puberty

[wendigo100]

I find it difficult to understand why people confuse paedophilia with underage sex.

If the child has passed puberty then it cannot be called paedophillia
& a 16 year old bonking a 15 year old has been happening forever... all that stops it (ha!) is the age of consent (which varies by country)

I think also that paedos are not attracted to children once past puberty

I'd go along with that. We are mixing up paedophilia with the age of consent.

The way I see it, a paedo is unnaturally attracted to pre-pubescent kids. Being attracted to a buxom 14 or fifteen year-old seems to be more natural, especially for other teenagers, and AIUI it's legal to have sex at that age in many countries, even as near to home as Holland and Spain.

[The Lone Gunman]

If we are going to treat Kiddie fiddling as a crime then we have to use the current criminal justice system.

If that means that some get away with it then that is the price we must pay.

It is (and always has been) my belief that these people are mentally ill and should be treated as such under the mental health act.
This may mean that they avoid "punishment" but they could be treated properly.

Neither the criminal justice system not the mental health act is robust enough in this day and age.

[IR35 Avoider]

It is (and always has been) my belief that these people are mentally ill and should be treated as such under the mental health act.

Homosexuality used to be regarded as a mental illness, there are probably still some people who think of it like that. When Alan Turing was convicted in a British court in the early 1950's after admitting to his homosexual encounters, he was sentenced to hormone treatments (chemical castration?) which caused him to develop breasts. This is the sort of treatment some are now advocating for paedophiles. (In the USA they are sometimes given it, not sure if it is used here.)

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

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.

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.)

Before I get any predictable responses from the hard-of-thinking, I'd just like to draw their attention to the distinction that a paedophile is someone who would like to fiddle with children, not necessarily someone who actually does.

Someone pointed out on Radio 4 this morning that not everyone who is guilty of a paedophile crime is a paedophile; someone who clicks to view an image labelled "three virgins" and gets a picture of some younger-than-expected girls has committed a crime, even if the picture is of no interest to him. This was given as an example of a "paedophile" who might be a prime candidate for receiving a caution as opposed to execution/chemical castration/a life sentence etc.

[VectraMan]

Before I get any predictable responses from the hard-of-thinking, I'd just like to draw their attention to the distinction that a paedophile is someone who would like to fiddle with children, not necessarily someone who actually does.

Agreed. Just because I'm heterosexual and attracted to women doesn't make me a rapist, because I have self control. There seems to be this assumption that anybody who ever looks at child pornography is actively stalking children for sex as well. The argument for making child porn illegal is based on supply and demand, but there's another argument that says that porn is a harmless way of indulging your fantasy and the alternative might be more actual abuse.

[OwlHoot]

If the child has passed puberty then it cannot be called paedophillia [..] I think also that paedos are not attracted to children once past puberty

People attracted to kids past puberty used to be called pederasts, although you don't see that word used so often these days. See Wikipedia discussion

[pisces]

I'm 30 and currently poking a 20 year old bird.

YES!!!!

35 poking 19

[Troll]

Today's Have Your Say is entitled:

Should some paedophiles avoid jail?


I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen 'castration' and 'execution' -just on the first page!


http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thre...20070601134153

Another problem is what to do with them once released

The probation service in Kent is trying to calm public fears after the whereabouts of a convicted paedophile were published in a national newspaper.

Robert Oliver, 52, is being housed in Maidstone after police had to escort him from a home in Somerset in December when a protest sprang up outside.
Two mothers in the town have started a petition, and written to their MP demanding Mr Oliver be re-housed.
Kent Probation Area said it was keen to discuss the women's concerns.
Mr Oliver was part of an east London paedophile gang responsible for killing 14-year-old Jason Swift in 1985. He was released from prison in 1997 after serving two-thirds of a 15-year sentence.

Jason was gang raped by Mr Oliver and his 'like-minded' friends and then killed, not sure these people can ever be cured, rehabilitated or considered safe

[angusglover]

Isn't that the good thing about 29 year olds??? ...Well, there are 20 of them.....

[angusglover]

Another problem is what to do with them once released

Jason was gang raped by Mr Oliver and his 'like-minded' friends and then killed, not sure these people can ever be cured, rehabilitated or considered safe

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