Are we being scaremongered by the news or is this reality

[FlatWhite2]

I tend not to watch the news but have seen an article this morning about Huw Edwards and his lenient sentence. The article went on the highlight other lenient sentences handed to pedophiles who committed horrendous crimes. As a mother, and just a normal person I’m horrified by this. Is the media manipulating us into believing these crimes are more common and prevalent than they are & that they’re not as ‘frowned upon’ as they should be, or is this reality? Asking to put my own mind at ease! Thanks

paedophiles are much more common than you think. Trust nobody and be very careful who has access to your kids

I am extremely careful with my children and have always been but I do feel like I’m becoming very anxious about the news reports, and trying to rationalise that these people can’t be everywhere otherwise what a world to live in?!

They're even more common. Like one on every street common. I see this all the time in my job. There is no denying it I'm afraid. Yes it's quite depressing but I don't feel anxious about it on a personal level.

Try not to focus on the news, whether news tellers are intending to scaremonger or not people always end up scared. Eg. When the riots were happening a few weeks back some were fairly local and after watching news stories etc I was really afraid but my DH said switch of the news and just focus on your life which I did and the fear went away.

As for the pedophiles unfortunately it does seem there are far too many about and that’s only the ones you know of and who get caught!

Are we being scaremongered by the news?

Yes.

The business model for news and social media organisations is such that they need content that drives anxiety, anger and disageeement. They make more money that way.

Active paedophiles? On every street? I'm not sure that's the case, it's a very specific category of sexual deviance. I don't think Huw Edwards is a paedophile, at least not in the clinical sense, and would probably have been no threat to pre-pubescent children.

Adults that are a threat to children & young people though is another matter.

I tend to avoid the news too but if I ever look at my local news site there are constant reports of men in court for accessing child abuse images or attempting to meet under children.

Under age

They really are everywhere.
You'd be horrified if you knew how prevalent paedophilia is.

I’m thinking about the lady in France (Dominique) and how so many raped her. A shocking number. You’d think it would be hard to find that many men who would rape an unconscious woman, but it was hundreds. So I think pedos are also much more common than we think as well.

Not a pedofile? Wasn't he literally watching videos of 7 year olds being abused?

Not that I know of. As far as I know, and to be fair I've not really followed it, he was sent a cache of stuff, some of which was of children. I've no idea what he viewed of it or what he got aroused by though.

Somebody else presumably has viewed it though, to verify what it was. That doesn't make them a paedophile does it?

@Hatfullofwillow Why are you downplaying this?

This. A relative worked for the police. It's far far more common than anyone realises. I trust very few people with my children now.

It's very common and underreported if anything. I heard a woman from a charity (might have been childline) say on the radio that they can only estimate numbers of men who abuse children from their reports, something along those lines, and it was about 1.5 million in the UK currently. Factor in the number of men who view child abuse content. You have to be extremely careful who you allow access to your children sadly.

If you’ve not really followed it, you don’t know what you’re talking about. He’s a paedophile.

I'm not. I'm making a distinction between actual paedophiles and what my understanding of Huw Edward's crimes are. Like a rational person.

Also in a position with work where I see how common child sexual abuse is.

Big increase in online CSA of 3-6 year olds , read updates from the CEOP and IWF. Increase in younger male sex offenders so 18-30 bracket.

Because of what I've seen, I'm fully against young children being online unless they are supervised 100%, and I am incredibly careful about who has physical and online access to my children.

Its more common than people think, like VAWG

He's clearly a deviant having written “yes xxx” when he was asked by Williams if he wanted sexual images of a person whose “age could be discerned as being between 14 and 16”.

But despite your conviction, that doesn't make him a clinically diagnosed paedophile.

Pedophiles are attracted to prepubescent children.
Hebephiles to teenagers.
Huw appears to have been the second.

I also draw a distinction between people who view images of sexual abuse and those who conspire and groom and attack children.

I think is important to assess and manage risk rather than just bellowing ‘string ‘em all up, the filthy beggars’.

If a man on my street is an active predatory pedophile I need to behave differently than if he’s viewing sexual images of teenagers.

Huw Edward’s groomed a teenager to send sexual material. I view that as a worse offence than the images he viewed.

Are you trying to make a distinction between the type of paedophile who makes the images and is directly physically involved and the type who 'only' pays to watch / doesn't report obvious abuse / drives the market for people make and share that kind of video? Because they are both paedophiles! It's disgusting (but sadly not surprising) how lenient his sentence was, some of the images were of children younger than teenagers.

Why are so many defending him on this thread? He also viewed a child between the ages of 7-9 being abused not just teenagers. Not that the victims being 13 instead of 8 somehow make it ok.

If it wasn't for people like him driving the demand in those videos then they wouldn't be produced. Do you not understand children are abused for those films to be produced?

Try not to let it make you anxious OP, rather take it more as a warning to always be vigilant and be careful who has access/influence over your DC. There are often posts on MN where e.g. someone will say they're worried their neighbour or their neighbour's DC seems to have an interest in their small DC and many posters will caution the poster to be very vigilant and ensure their DC is kept safe around that person, while there will always be a small number of posters saying 'You lot are so suspicious, what if that old man/dad/teenage boy is just being friendly?'. Yup, entirely possible they are, but do you want to take the risk that actually they're grooming your DC? Be suspicious, be careful, keep your DC safe.

I've been saying that there is an ongoing campaign to 'normalise' it for years as a sexual preference. It's not the stranger danger but kind old uncle bob that parents need to worry about. Judges, senior police, and cps are all complicit. Many should be banged up as abusers or accessories to commit abuse.

I feel like this thread is crazy.

If asking for sexualised images of children - some aged as young as 7 - does not make someone a paedophile then I think the world has gone mad.