A paedophile is an individual with intense, recurrent sexually arousing fantasies and urges involving prepubescent children. Such feelings are beyond “sick.” To act on such feelings, to make them reality, is evil.
The predatory paedophile is a danger to all children. He/she abuses quietly, and his/her presence becomes known only by the horrendous damage he/she leaves. He/she may be a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, a judge, a scout leader, a police officer, clergyman, old or young, rich or poor, educated or uneducated and of any race. They are protected not only by our ignorance of their presence, but also by our unwillingness to confront the truth.
Predatory paedophiles are clever, calculating criminals. They manipulate and exploit their victims with great care, working themselves into positions of trust. They study children as carefully as any psychologist, and their camouflage is our unwillingness to see the predator stalking a prey.
The consequences of their depravity can be found in our psychiatric wards, our prisons and our graveyards: The runaway who turns to child prostitution, the violent juvenile criminal, the teenage suicide…all too many members of this army of victims can be traced to a predatory paedophile’s original attack.
The ultimate protection of such criminals, the near-immunity they enjoy, is the perception that any individual who sexually molests a child must be “sick.” That trump card is only played when they are caught and prosecuted. That rarely happens. And the “rehabilitation” of predatory paedophiles is fast becoming a growth industry. Paedophiles will not simply stop offending !
What can be done ? The answer is simple: raise the stakes.
The essence of criminal rehabilitation is remorse. Even if it is true that predatory paedophiles are “sick,” that does not mean they can be treated.
Sexual molestation of children is a volitional act. It is a matter of choice.
Viewing indecent or abusive images of children is not a victimless issue. Every picture or video involves a “real child” being abused or sexually exploited
Incest is not “family dysfunction.” It is rape-by-extortion.
Most child molesters are not strangers to their victims. We are far more endangered by those who have our trust than by the relatively rare kidnapper. Most paedophiles will groom the parents
Paedophiles do not regret their actions, they glory in them. They regret only the possibility of consequences to themselves, not the certainty of damage to their victims.
Paedophiles are not “homosexuals.” We would not call a man who molested a five-year-old girl a “heterosexual.” Whatever the sex of the adult and the child, the proper description is simple: the adult is the perpetrator, the child is the victim.
The new paedophile defence is “addiction.” They cannot help themselves. If true, such individuals will remain dangerous, and must be treated accordingly.
We debate “solutions” to the drugs problem. The solutions come down to two: interdict or legalize. Neither is possible with predatory paedophiles. Therefore, if we cannot eliminate evil, we must increase its consequences to perpetrators.
This is how we raise the stakes:
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Every paedophile convicted should receive a complete internet ban
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All paedophiles should be GPS tagged when released from prison, thus ensuring they stay away from parks/schools or areas where areas where children play
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“Significant incarceration” for offenders. Child molesters are among the least likely criminals to be prosecuted and, when prosecuted, are first in line to receive “alternative” sentencing options such as probation with psychiatric treatment. We have no problem with treatment programs for addicts. But we also have no problem with criminal sentences for those addicts who commit crimes to “support” their addiction. Nor with life sentences for those who traffic in drugs. Is child sexual abuse a lesser threat to the youth of this country?
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The crime of “incest” should be eliminated, and replaced with a flat law against sexual intercourse with minors, regardless of the biological relationship between perpetrator and victim. An offender should not enjoy a lesser exposure to prison simply because he grew his own victim.
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Enhanced penalties for child sexual offences involving more than one offence against any victim. Second offences must result in mandatory life sentences.
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Increased penalties for “networking” of any kind, including: child sex rings, trafficking in children, distribution of child abuse images (and the use of telephone and computer lines to promote or distribute the same).
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Intensive probation supervision for released paedophiles, with specialists assigned to each. More focus on the offenders after a prison term. Over 70% of all convicted paedophiles re-offend
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Training of specialized police units, both investigative and prosecutorial. Increased support for those already in existence. Most forces in the UK only have between 2 and 5 qualified and dedicated officers who are actively seeking paedophiles who are actively grooming online. It is time to really start hitting online groomers and abusers hard.
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Let all “rehabilitative” experiments with predatory paedophiles continue. But let them continue behind bars.
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A public online database of all paedophiles for the UK, mirrored on Americas Megan law. America has proved that although hundreds of thousands of sex offenders names, addresses and crimes are made public, vigilante behaviour or attacks are almost non existent.
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