Do you think Robert Thompson is truly rehabilitated?

[Cheffymcchef]

As we all know, James Bulger was a two-year-old boy from the UK whose tragic abduction and murder in 1993 shocked the world. Taken from a shopping center by two ten-year-old boys, John Venables and Robert Thompson, his death became one of the most harrowing and widely known cases in modern British history. To this day, nearly everyone who hears his name knows the heartbreaking story and the profound impact it had on public consciousness and the justice system.
both boys were released after serving 8 years, when they turned eighteen. John Venables returned to prison twice for possessing CSAM. He is currently still in prison.
I personally think Venables is sick and can’t be “cured” of his attraction to kids. He will always reoffend imo, even if his devices etc are taken away. He needs to stay in prison. He’s also allegedly revealed his identity and needed several new identities costing the taxpayer even more. I know you get all this “stop it now” therapy- I just don’t think pedophiles can be cured. It’s like trying to do conversion therapy on a straight person.
I don’t know how I feel about Thompson- he committed a heinous murder, but did his time in custody. He’s never reoffended and now allegedly lives with a partner who knows who he is. Can’t remember if he has children. From studying this case, it always seems like he was deemed the ring leader, yet he is the one who has cleaned himself up and stayed out of trouble.
both boys allegedly came from abusive households.
I know poor James' mum will never get over his death. I cant imagine the mixed feelings she must have, she likely thinks it was wrong for either boy to be released so young.
I can’t say I’d be too thrilled about Thompson moving into my area if that’s the case, but truthfully I think if he’s done his time he needs to be left alone now to live his life . But that’s probably a wildly unpopular opinion- because James will never get to live his life.
what do you think?

posted in crime but moved here for traffic

I said I LearnED- past tense, there is no need to be rude. I’ve repeatedly said I’m thirty. I think it’s OK to discuss true crime. I added a trigger warning. The true crime forum here doesn’t have many people on it.

Well she's now posted it. Not sensible at all.

I’m going to go with no, he isn’t fully rehabilitated.
If he were, the trauma of what he did would torment him to the point he wouldn’t be able to function normally.

I can genuinely barely look at photos of the poor soul. I definitely used to be tougher than this but I have a 3 year old now and the idea of this kind of evil lurking in the world makes me recoil.

God, if this was my son, I’d stop at nothing to end the life of the person who done it. Man, woman or child. They’d be gone forever. That’s not bravado or a knee jerk reaction. I’d find a way. There are always ways to get to these people, even in prison. I’d be one of the parents who are consumed by their own grief and rage, I’d die trying to avenge it.

Last research papers on ACEs were published in January 2025 https://www.ccinform.co.uk/practice-guidance/guide-to-adverse-childhood-experiences-aces/

Before that the last paper looking at trauma informed approaches was Manchester Uni September 2024. Its also embedded in policy, Public Health Wales and the report entitled No Child Left Behind, Public Health England (niw defunct but the structure put in place by this organisation is still influencing policy decisions in England today.

I don't think these very reputable organisations would still be referring to ACEs if they had been abandoned. Your assumptions are incorrect around abuse. Many cases of children being abused has resulted in them becoming abusers, not all of them but those with complex trauma can and do.

I guess the fact that he hasn't reoffended means he must be. Or at least I sincerely hope that's the case.

The one thing I struggle to understand is when I look back on myself as a young teen to the times when I was sometimes downright unpleasant I feel horribly guilty, particularly towards my dad who is no longer here. So how on earth as an adult is RT able to function and process it. How does the guilt not constantly overwhelm him.

how do you know that’s even him? I feel like it wouldn’t be so freely available on google images.

I saw. It’s clearly available on Google but I’m not sure reposting it is wise. MN might jump in and pull this soon.

This is hands down the creepiest and most unnerving thread I’ve ever read on here.

I agree too.
I hope as an adult he reflects upon the horror he did and that he lives his life in quiet atonement.
I absolutely know nothing on this earth can heal /make amends to Jamie's family for what he did but i would like to think his actions today as an adult have made him a contributing member of society.
I don't have compassion for him and any adult who commits such abhorrent acts i would want imprisoned for the rest of their life even better euthanased but that was never going to happen to a child in our society ,so for him to have grown into a man the complete opposite to the evil child he once was is possibly the best we could hope for otherwise the thought of him having the same thoughts of violence and destruction today is very troubling indeed.

How do you know he isn’t?

I would probably top myself. I would feel responsible. I wouldn't forgive myself.

Good question!

One of those ones you can never be sure of the answer to, but no I don’t think I’d have that forgiveness in me.

I agree.

You should probably stay away from true crime forums then.

One of the files police found in his possession included detailed instructions on how to ‘safely’ have sex with toddlers. He is beyond redemption.

I do wish there was some way individuals like him could just be shipped to a remote island and left there. They should be treated humanely but just kept away from the rest of society for eternity. But unfortunately he will be released again at some point and he will reoffend. It’s such a travesty.

This is ‘We need to talk about Kevin’ territory. I don’t think it is the job of a criminal’s parents to forgive them. It is their job to parent them ( for better for worse, in sickness and in health… like marriage vows). That doesn’t stop because the child committed a crime. It intensifies.

My understanding is that Venables was the leader in the crime and came from an abusive home. He was a broken human being, but sadly not a fixable one. Thompson was subservient to Venables in the friendship, but was from a more normal home, so had developed the executive functions and emotional responses necessary for remorse and to make the most of the opportunity to rebuild his life after serving his sentence in prison.

After being tipped off, Denise saw one of them in the street, and froze.

Its difficult to predict what you would do when the situation arises, although I know what I'd do, and the time I'd receive would be worth it.

The one thing I struggle to understand is when I look back on myself as a young teen to the times when I was sometimes downright unpleasant I feel horribly guilty, particularly towards my dad who is no longer here. So how on earth as an adult is RT able to function and process it. How does the guilt not constantly overwhelm him.

That's what I wonder about also. I sometimes actually feel waves of shame and sadness remembering arguing with my mum as a teen, or being thoughtless and not sending a thank you card to my grandmother for a gift, or the one time as a ten-year old (so same age as them) that I was unkind to a smaller child and he cried.
I genuinely think if I'd done something like that and felt the full weight of adult remorse I wouldn't be able to go on.

I don’t think forgive Is the right word, I can accept it must be extremely difficult to cut your child out of your life. I would blame myself.
I remember reading an interview years ago with the mum of Ian Watkins, she said she hasn’t stopped loving the son she thought she had but for the sake of his victims she believes he should never leave prison.
If my child did what Robert Thompson did I would also accept that it would be unreasonable to expect society to forgive or accept him ever again.

I meant she as in the surrogate, sorry.

im not sure how the laws work regarding him and this. If a friend agreed to do it I’m not sure what they could do. Presumably he isn’t banned from having children biologically although I’m not sure.

This isn’t a true crime forum.

Huge amounts of therapy, enough MH meds to distort reality a bit.

I’m the same - I made some choice comments as an arsehole teenager to my family. Nothing terrible, just disrespectful and ignorant, and I cringe when I think about it. I often hope they’ve forgotten about it, but I haven’t.

If he is remorseful, then that’s good, I suppose.

Jon Venables had mental health issues and learning disabilities from a very young age.

Robert Thompson was bright but living in incredibly brutal circumstances. How does a 10 yo know that violence against a younger child is wrong when all he's experienced is violence against him from older children?

I think it's sad that Venables has become the person he has become. I don't know if he was born that way or if, by the time he found James, he was already too far gone, or if something could have been done.

I hope that Thompson has been able to move on.

Denise Bulger will never move on and I don't blame her at all, what she's been through is horrific.

But how did she know for sure it was them? Presumably she hadn’t seen them since they were children.