You’re 16. You’re a Pedophile. You Don’t Want to Hurt Anyone. What Do You Do Now?

[LiberalArkie]

https://medium.com/matter/youre-16-youre-a-pedophile-you-dont-want-to-hurt-anyone-what-do-you-do-now-e11ce4b88bdb

There’s no helpline for pedophiles who want treatment before they act. So a teen with a terrible secret had to find his own way to save himself and others like him.

Adam was at his desk in the second-story bedroom of his family’s suburban home when he came across it. He had recently switched file-sharing programs to one that offered more content and faster browsing, and his downloading habit had increased in kind. There was now a constant stream of files whose names included acronyms such as PTHC, or pre-teen hardcore.

The boy in this video was fair-haired and looked to be about one and a half, his small, naked body tied up to restrict movement. A man’s torso entered the frame and the child began to scream. As he watched the scene unfold, Adam was transfixed, and then quickly revolted; he reached over and stopped the video. It wasn’t like anything he’d witnessed in the two years he’d been viewing child pornography. Until now everything he’d seen seemed to suggest that the kids liked it, but this toddler was clearly in pain.

<snip>

https://medium.com/matter/youre-16-youre-a-pedophile-you-dont-want-to-hurt-anyone-what-do-you-do-now-e11ce4b88bdb

[PowerToThePeople]

1. This is my main holdout to eliminating the death penalty

Child rapists should be executed, imho.

I could not click the link, the summary snip was too upsetting by itself.

[rug]

2. This is exactly why laws, and not mobs, exist to deal with these issues.

[PowerToThePeople]

3. I know

false conviction, innocent persons murdered by the state. I understand. I understand that on this issue my emotions would be too strong for rational thought. I would need to remove myself from the issue.

[rustydog]

8. It is hard to do though, remove ones self from the i. There is thi 17 year old in Washington State

charged with the rape and murder of a 6-year old girl. for the first few days there was hope she wandered off and would be found. Then you learn her body has been found. THEN you learn she was raped.

I do no know what I would do if someone harmed my grandchildren. I know I'd exact revenge. I know I would succeed.
These people are sick. They need help. some can't be helped. What do you do?

[LiberalArkie]

6. It does have a good ending though.

[kiva]

5. I rarely have a problem reading articles,

but this one...I may finish it later, but one of the most disturbing things I've read.

[LiberalArkie]

7. I had a problem getting started, but it was a good read and I gained a lot insight

on things that happen to good people.

[kiva]

12. I'll go back to it then,

thanks for the info about the rest of the article

[joshcryer]

9. Looks like a more dramatized version of the This American Life story.

Link here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/522/tarred-and-feathered

An impossible topic to broach, but interesting that some are doing it.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

10. Last three paragraphs ... sounds like not much insight has been gained =

There is currently no mechanism for treating someone who has pedophilic urges and hasn’t acted on them. A major roadblock is the existence of mandatory reporting laws, which dictate that people in certain professions must report suspicion of child abuse and neglect to Child Protective Services. (The individuals required to make a report varies from state to state; it can include all citizens but is usually restricted to those whose work puts them in regular contact with children, such as teachers, police, and psychologists.)

Mandated reporting revolutionized the way child abuse is handled in the U.S. and has brought many incidents to light, but it can be problematic for young men like Adam who haven’t abused children. The civil and criminal liabilities facing those who fail to report someone who goes on to molest a kid, combined with the fact that it need only be based on suspicion and not probable cause, means a report could be triggered when well-intentioned individuals reach out for help. The overwhelming number of minor-attracted men I spoke with said this was too much of a deterrent. Which also makes it harder to learn more about them.

There is a lot we still don’t know about pedophilia—one researcher described our scientific understanding of it as a series of “pretty big black holes.” We don’t know, for example, how someone comes by an attraction for prepubescent children in the first place. The research we do have, and this is derived from very small sample sizes, suggests that those attracted to kids tend to be shorter, left-handed, and have a lower IQ than the broader population. Another study found that being knocked unconscious before the age of 13 might be a factor. This may sound like quackery, but it points toward biological causation. In other words, it’s likely that pedophiles are born this way.

[Sunlei]

11. a very good article. The constant easy access to online porn, imo damages people, especially young.

Destroy the hard drives, cancel any subscriptions, stop watching. A good start for anyone.