CHRIS LANGHAM FREED AFTER SENTENCE CUT

[donnie]

I just read it on the BBBC website - sorry, no good at links.

What message does this send to people, if possessing child pornography is viewed as so minor an offence?

I am very angry about this.

I believe in compssion for both victim and for the offender but perhaps in different ways?

An offender deserves the chance of compassion after the sentence, and that compassion should be towards them as a person but not their crimes, perhaps this is in the form of understanding, opportunities for rehab- but don't these all require acceptance of the crime convicted?

A victim deserves compassion also, part of this is seeing where possible the person who committed the act against them serving a sentence of decent length (always an imprecise concept), but also of having the crimes given enough significance that penalties serious enough to outweigh the potential benefits are put into place- I'm not sure that happens in cases of internet crime generally, especialy where viewing incidents of child rape are concerned.

Perhaps if the victims were shown enough compassion in the first palce, the risk of becoming a perpetrator themselves could be reduced?

God forbid that I should ever commit a sin or transgress the law to such a extent that it results in a trial by jury where certain mumsnet members are members of the jury.

yes bundle

i would like to hear what his wife has to say

dh was due to interview langham for a programme he was making but everyone was mysterious about where he was - and it turned out the cops had come for him...

I dont think I could show any compassion toward someone who sexually abused my child or say if my husband was caught looking at images of child abuse.compassion wouldnt come into it

why NoName? You have compassion for some people and not others. So do other Mnetters, just for different people. There are no 'string him up by the balls' comments here. Just dissatisfaction with his denials and a desire for heavier sentences in these particular crimes.

the folks who say he has suffered enough need to truly consider if they would feel that way if their daughter had been involved in child pornography

the sympathy they are showing this man may ebb away

he very evidently feels NO remorse whatever - IMO he should not be released until his treatment is complete. A man who sees himself as the victim is very far from being 'treated'

Bless you ruty, you are obviously a nice decent person.

It's not easy to have a reasoned debate on here, especially when the internet connection cuts you off!

Bless you ruty, you are obviously a nice decent person.

It's not easy to have a reasoned debate on here, especially when the internet connection cuts you off!

Especially when it repeats your post!

how these people sleep at night i will never know
how their friends/family condone the horror that is their minds eludes me

I agree with most of what Songbird and Nonametoday say - the man served his time for downloading the images. Whether or not the sentence was sufficient is another argument. I think he should have thought about the abusers and paedophiles who made the porn in the first place and realised that he was fuelling their 'industry' by his actions even if he had no sexual interest in children himself. Whether he did have an sexual interest we don't know but we can't assume that he is an abuser himself unless we have evidence of that.

With regard to the most civilised response to this case I think that condemnation is the primary response but the measure and correct response to come from that is to say, how do we stop the chain of abuse, how do we stop another generation of children being abused and then go on to be abusers themselves, and that is to use treatment and rehabilitation. You could put somebody in prsion for 20 years but if you don't treatment they will be a threat the minute they walk out of the prison gate.

I know that Langham doesn't admit that he did anything wrong but the first step of the treatment is to explain what he did wrong and make him understand and then take it from there. His denial shouldn't stop the treatment process.

if you don't give them treatment that should say...

A very measured response Niecie, thank you.

I too hope that Langham will appreciate that the downloading of pornography is unacceptable and that any further transgression will be treated appropriately.

but now he is out of prison - surely if he does not seek treatment himself he wil get none

if he is denying any wrongdoing then this is highly unlikely

Blimey NoName - I'm still trying to work out if that was really a compliment.
Obviously you are too, and though i feel Langham's sentence should have been harsher, even as if a demonstration to others, i do agree with Niecie that he should have been given treatment as part of his sentence even if he was in denial.

and that locking someone up without any therapy at all does no one any favours...

Oh it was definitely a compliment ruty, please accet it with thr garce it was given, it was genuinely meant.

True CharlesandEddy but I think that it is a failure of the sentencing process. If you are put on the Sex Offenders register perhaps it should be compulsory to attend regular counselling sessions. Maybe that is the case for some, I don't know, to be honest. I don't know what being on the sex offenders register means in practice.

What on earth has happened to my typing? I blame it all on BT and my request for a speedier broadband connection with which to justify my arguments.

Shame BT don't offer keyboard speed and accuracy skills in with the package.

Sorry ruty, just read the thread about Jimmy Saville being mugged, and I sort of quoted to you the words he said to me many years ago reagarding accepting a compliment.

A digression from the seriousness of this thread.

no probs NoName.

Elizabeth, yes I understand all that but I am still interested in what the single morally correct view is.
as I have said before I don't believe (from experience) that these matters are black and white.
CL claims he was a victim of crime.
many abusers were once abused themselves.
I think it is rather unfortunate to use the word "odd" and "supporter" to describe those who can find compassion in difficult circumstances, and those people who try and break the cycle.
simply because one tries to find compassion doesn't make one a supporter. just a person with different experiences
I think Peachy's points are interesting, though, about the messages sent to victims from sentencing.

those figures about % abuse victims who go on to offend are pure conjecture

there is a link - some do
the vast majority dont

abuse victims find these '37%' or "12%' figures distressing

so, obviously i've changed my name for this post...
i don't really think this has anything to do with anything but for those of you who seem to listen more when someone who has survived child abuse speaks out here goes. i was raped and abused repeatedly between the ages of 4-8. the thought of looking at images of anyone; boy, girl man, woman or dog being abused makes me so upset i can't describe it. perhaps it has helped chris langham. but to keep the images in files on your computer!!!???
once you have seen that stuff you need NEVER EVER EVER look at it again.
and believe me, once you have lived that stuff you never need see any such thing happen to anyone else. you know what it is because it happened to you so young it is a part of your very existence. it is part of your character.
i don't want to judge the man, but i cannot for the life of me accept that he has 'no sexual interest in children'.