[james130]

Originally Posted by Jack_

No, you are right. Paedophiles need some kind of rehabilitation, but the problem is I don't really believe you can cure someone of being sexually attracted to children. That's akin to saying you can cure people of being gay, which we all know isn't true. The thing I think is perhaps possible to change is people's likelihood of actually acting on their urges and sexually attacking someone. And that goes for all sex offenders, not just those who abuse children.

You've got to have some mental disorder to actually rape someone IMO, and that worsens if it's a child. I also think the same largely for murder too but that's a different debate.

The problem we have is that people see the word 'paedophile' and start screaming and wailing assuming it's about someone that has actually abused a child, when that's not the case at all. There are plenty of paedophiles that I'm sure wish they could be attracted to adults much like the majority of the population, and would never dream of acting on any of their urges. It's these people I actually feel sorry for, because having to live a life of abstinence because your attraction is perverse must be incredibly difficult to deal with, both physically and emotionally. I think if we had a more open approach to this and encouraged those who felt they had perverse and potentially dangerous attractions to speak out and seek help, we could possibly prevent some actual sex offences on minors from happening, but raising this issue and wanting to discuss it makes you look like a bit of a weirdo and so it's unlikely to ever happen.

I agree with all of this completely. Like you said, it's similar to homosexuality in the fact that a lot of people can't help their feelings and would much rather be heterosexual. Many lesbians and gay men never act on their emotions for fear of persecution. So it is similar in that sense.

His acts seem incredibly depraved, yet in some countries, this would be considered 'common-place'. Obviously not to such an extent but take for instance the 8 year old who got married to the 61 year old in South Africa. Similarly homosexuality is punishable by death in such countries.

I am not and will never condone what he has done in any sense but it is clear that he has been born with a chemical in-balance in his brain and can we blame him for that?
I'm not sure. I just find the whole debate quite interesting.

What we can blame him for is acting upon that urge. Yet I feel the mothers as facilitators to this are much more to blame.