To think this petition is not ok

[NotInMyBackYard1]

Just that really - a man convicted of possessing indecent images of children has returned from prison and gone back to live at his parent's house. The locals have got hold of this information and have now set up a petition to get him 'rehomed' somewhere with no children. Outer Hebrides?
My view is he's done his time, he wants a fresh start, as long as he keeps himself to himself then just let him be? This petition doesn't sit well with me at all.

A therapist or other health professional presented with someone who feels a compulsion to view such an image may well consider they are minimising, and perhaps already have viewed it. So would be obliged to report to the police and lo and behold, we have a raid on someone who hasn't yet committed any crime. And a much longer wait for treatment? - Probably worse than a longer wait for treatment, I doubt they would ever seek treatment again.

anaiis I can see your point if I squint but can you understand that they will have to take steps to determine whether there are children at imminent risk of harm? A "raid" isn't a knee jerk reaction. There would be little point in taking a self reported paedophile by suprise after all.

JAPAB i agree! justice system is more about assessing the risk to society not punishment. We dont have endless money to punish people forever nevermind that that doesnt actually achieve any benefit for anyone anyway.
It will be looked at in the respects of what the person actually did in terms of harm, why they did it, and what they are likely to do in future. Not the respects of, how morally repugnant do the local community find their actions and how can we vent their anger and horror?

YANBU

I can see your point if I squint but can you understand that they will have to take steps to determine whether there are children at imminent risk of harm? - Say a man or woman goes to see a therapist/GP stating they have a sexual attraction to children and that they would like to seek therapy or some kind of treatment for this, why should they automatically be deemed a risk? My brother is attracted to women, this doesn't mean he is a risk to them, it doesn't mean he should be locked up because his attraction doesn't equate to him wanting to harm/rape them? so why is that assumption made about paedophiles? that they will act on their attractions?

Well jap whether you inflict the harm yourself or watch it for enjoyment the harm has occurred and you are party to it. It's illegal either way. Being sexually assaulted is horrific, having others view it for their enjoyment is horrific.

The bottom of the sea. No children there. Job done.

Well said! If only.

If a health professional thinks someone might have viewed an indecent image(s) they will report to the police.

That report can be enough for the police to perform a raid.

So again, how does someone get treatment? Even before they have committed an offence?

Basically they can't.

Because once they've been raided by the police, (even if no offence has actually been committed) while you're on bail you generally can't get treatment until you're charged, or not.

And if you are charged, you can't get treatment until court action is resolved.

Helping yourself is easier said than done.

Semi are you shitting me?
Your brother doesn't need to tell the doctor whether he fancies men women or both unless he has something else going on there is no risk.
If he is sexually attracted to children and is rightly concerned that he could act on those urges either by having sexually contact with a child or viewing/encouraging others to do so, they he poses an inherent risk. Can you really not see the difference?

Yabu. I don't think he should be free at all, he will always pose a danger to children. Why assume he can be rehabilitated? You think he can have his sexual urges changed?

sweets101 yes but one is passive and one is active. I watch horror films. They often look very real. I enjoy them. I 100% would not enjoy actually witnessing someone being murdered or murdering someone myself. Watching something on a screen can feel very different and disconnected from reality. The enjoyment is different.
Of course i know that the murder is not real however it looks and so i allow myself to enjoy it. Id never be able to watch and enjoy something i knew was real like an ISIS video or something. But its only a step down from that.
Id be more able to watch an ISIS video than i would to actually murder obviously. Those things are both horrific but one is passive and therefore much easier to do. You would not be certain to enjoy actually murdering someone just because you enjoyed an ISIS video. I mean theres something wrong with you certainly but its not the same as being a murderer.

Semi are you shitting me? - No I'm not. Both are sexual attractions, I want to know why one persons attraction makes them automatically, in your eyes, a sexual predator and the other doesn't?

Well...I've worked with sex offenders before, I'm also a mum. Personally I wouldn't sign this petition. Mainly because I agree that every offender does not present the same risk, and also even with the higher risk ones, I'd rather know who they are, where they live, that the local agencies have their eyes on them, that they are not having to hop around from borough to borough because of local petitions, keep linking up with new agencies, spending time in the house, online...risking getting back to old habits via the internet.
Also I've heard horrifying statistics that say it's 90% more likely for a child to experience sex offences from a family member or trusted adult in a role such as youth leader etc...the really sophisticated types who get past a parents defences and get 1-1 access to my child are the ones that scare me. My little one is only a baby but with the stories in the papers etc I am fearful for her, I just pray for her and for myself for guidance that I might see a threat if it presents itself.
Honestly the known sex offender down the road is less of a worry for me than the possible unknown one getting contact through the internet or by being someone I would never have suspected.
Still I think this is a scary topic for anyone who is a mum.

seminormal there might be some argument in saying that sexual attraction to someone very vulnerable is based on being aroused by your power over their vulnerability and therefore much more likely to result in the elder party being a sexual predator. Someone with that sexual attraction is also likely to be a damaged person who is more likely to have poor impulse control, anger issues, an altered perception of reality, be alienated from mainstream society.... all making it more likely that they will act in a predatory manner.

Well jap whether you inflict the harm yourself or watch it for enjoyment the harm has occurred and you are party to it.

Not sure I would agree that simply watching a crime makes someone "party" to it. I'm thinking of those CCTV shows or other shows that feature real-life footage of store hold-ups and other crimes. I am not sure what meaning it has to say that anyone who later watches it is "party" to it just from the act of watching.

Also do not forget that the laws make illegal a variety of material, not all of which involves harm. If someone finds a phone with an underage couples' consensual sexual activity recorded on it, and they keep the videos, that is illegal. Even animated and CGI depictions of minors is illegal, but involves no real person being harmed. So it makes even less sense to talk about being "party" to someone's harm.

You might feel that this is all irrelevent, it all get filed under "paedophilia" and treated equally with those who commit harm who also go in that file, but I do think it matters when assessing someone's danger levels.

Because an adult can pursue sexual relations with another adult, they can act on that sexual attraction perfectly safely usually
A paedophile can not. Ever.

pineapple watching pretend murder is fine. Watching real murder is a problem. Watching Lolita is fine, watching porn involving children who can not consent is not.

Semi you're being fucking ridiculous. Someone being attracted to children DOES make them a sexual predator. If you don't konw the answer to that ludicrous question, which of course you do, I'd say you are a danger yourself. Or just a GF.

*know

watching real murder is a problem. Not as much of a problem as actually murdering though! and not even a crime in actual fact for some reason. So clearly someone somewhere has decided that watching murder is nothing like committing it.

seminormal there might be some argument in saying that sexual attraction to someone very vulnerable is based on being aroused by your power over their vulnerability and therefore much more likely to result in the elder party being a sexual predator. Someone with that sexual attraction is also likely to be a damaged person who is more likely to have poor impulse control, anger issues, an altered perception of reality, be alienated from mainstream society.... all making it more likely that they will act in a predatory manner. - I appreciate that but many paedophiles have primary and secondary attractions, therefore they may be getting sexual gratification from a spouse/partner and have no desire at all to act on their attraction. Many do not want to act on on their attraction at all because they feel they 'care' about the children they are attracted to. Also we don't know, and are unlikely to ever know, how many peadophiles there are out there who have never and will never offend - I suspect the number to actually be very high. There have been incidents where paedophiles have killed themselves before because they feel they are doomed to offend, not because they want to but because that is the general consensus in the media and general population - that they will.
I think this is why more and more non-offending paedophiles are now speaking out, because they want to show teenagers who may be struggling to deal with this kind of thing that it's not inevitable that they will offend. That they can lead a relatively 'normal' life.
Also I think what you're describing, in terms of the power over a vulnerable person, describes child molesters generally rather than paedophiles - as some child molesters are not paedophiles but enjoy that 'power'.

Someone being attracted to children DOES make them a sexual predator. - Really? I'd like to know where you're getting your definition of a sexual predator?

Pineapple it isn't a race to the bottom.
Watching torture porn, death porn, bestiality and Paedophilia is a crime. If you don't think it's fair you could start a petition?

I am applauding user, Shark, daffodil et al.

The local residents are enititled to sign petitions of course, if they find it helpful, but it's completely pointless. And supposing he was forced to move on? So then he'd be living alone rather than with his parents, and then a whole different community of people would have no idea there was an abuser in the neighbourhood. So these residents are happy to put other communities' children at risk, rather than manage the risk of living near to a known offender themselves.

No-one likes the thought of living near someone like this, but there are plenty of them around, and I'd rather know where they are than not. A couple of years ago, a builder worked in our house for several months. We later found out he was a child sex offender and is now in prison. We felt pretty disgusted that we had trusted this man and that he'd been so close to our children. It felt like a horribly 'close call' when we looked back on it. Far more risky than KNOWING that there's an abuser living at a specific local address with his mum and dad.

semi it is so simple, if you act on an attraction to an adult you are not a predator if you act on an attraction to a child you are, do you understand that? So an adult with an attraction to adults is not a threat (barring other indicators), an adult with an attraction to children is. I don't really understand what it is that you don't understand tbh.

No-one likes the thought of living near someone like this, but there are plenty of them around, and I'd rather know where they are than not.
You don't know though, usually. Just like in the example of your builder.