What would your reaction be, to this?

[Lauralaural]

If a friend told you that she had discovered her elderly father had been looking at images of child sex abuse?

Because that is the situation I find myself in. He's been doing it for years. So, my father is a pervert. He is a bad man. I already knew he was a bit fucked up - I had an unpleasant childhood - but now I know it's way worse. I've known for three months.

I've reported him to the police. But they probably won't do anything because elderly.

This is a really heavy burden for me. I haven't told any of my friends because I'm so scared of public shame. But, it's a lot to bear, alone.

Please be honest with me : if a friend confided in you, such a thing, what would your reaction be?

sadly due to my previous line of work i'm not surprised and think it's fairly common.
so yes i would listen and keep your confidence but equally not really be of much emotional help as you process your own feelings and history.

Common? How common? How many men are we talking about here?

Oof, men are fucking disgusting..

I worked in organizing long term care placements for the elderly, I’d say easily 1 in 6 men (at this point very very old) had porn addictions from child to beastiality.
Always came to light when family refused to help and home cleaned out. That along with histories of very violent physical and alcohol abuse.

As above. It's much more common than we like to think. I unfortunately bought a house next to one of them. Everyone knows. No one talks about it. When I have told people, people have said - oh I wouldn't talk about it in case your friends won't come round. Or, I wouldn't talk about it in case you can't sell the house and even, oh they were about 16 so not really children. We can't sell the house anyway. So we will make sure the house is a fortress. And I will talk about it because it's not shameful on me- these men are disgusting and by not talking about it we allow them to get away with it. It's not your shame - not one is going to judge you (and if they do shame on them) and if you need support then do it for you. That could be professional or friends. I think most people's reaction would be concern and care for you, and complete lack of surprise about your father.

It is not your shame to carry, if you were my friend I would support you.
Can you walk away from him ?
Can you confide in other family members ?
Have the police given you support ? There must be some out there in situations like this.