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Originally Posted by paisjpq
GR...don't forget it goes the other way too...last year here in VT a judge gave a child molester 2 months in jail because he said that the man was mentally challenged and wouldn't get proper sex offender treatment in prison. After national outcry the sentence was extended to 3 years i think...but that is no punishment IMO for the years of abuse he and another man did to a child under 10.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/ver..._day_sentence/ |
That was a really interesting article-- I'm of two minds of it (but then, I'm a Libra; I'm often of two minds on things.
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Believe it or not, I understand the judge's line of thinking, which was that as long as the guy is in prison itself, he's not going to be receiving any sort of treatment that would make him less likely to repeat the crime once he's back in the real world. And the judge felt the sooner treatment was started, the better a chance he had for successful treatment (the article stated he had the comprehension of a 12-to-14-year-old). What the article was unclear about was whether there was any sort of treatment mandated by the court or whether it was up to this guy to get it. In-patient treatment would keep him off the streets just as effectively as prison, for example, and he'd be getting treated. So I get what the judge's line of thinking was, but the article wasn't clear about what happens to the guy once prison term is served.
I still disagree with it, but for reasons that are my own personal opinions on sex offenders who prey on children, not because it's a law. I don't believe child sex offenders are truly rehabitable, once they've crossed that line from fanstasy to reality. I think we're sexually attracted to who and what we're attracted to and no amount of therapy is going to change that (just ask Ted Haggard!). But just because you're attracted to kids doesn't make it right. I suspect there are probably men (and women) out there who are attracted to kids, but know enough to keep that to themselves. So they marry a childlike-looking spouse, or have a doll obsession or whatever. Which is weird, sure, but not illegal so I have no problem with it. But I don't think any amount of treatment will change what they find attractive, because we don't reason out what we're attracted to. If society changed overnight and suddently homosexuality was considered the majority norm, I wouldn't be able to change my sexual preferences-- it'd still be a cute guy that would make my heart beat faster and my palms sweat. So, I think the only real "treatment" is for someone with an attraction to children to understand that it's not appropriate to act on it, and once a person has acted on it once, I become skeptical that they won't again if the opportunity arises.
Which is depressing, as I do like to think many criminals are rehabilitable, but not so much the ones directly related to sexual attraction. So, while I can understand the judge's wish to see the man rehabilitated, I am skeptical that it's possible.
(Obviously, in my example above about if homosexuality became the social norm, I'm not implying I think there's anything wrong with homosexuality- I think it's perfectly normal. My own personal line in the sand where sex is concerned is "consenting adults." Meet that criteria, and the rest is none of my business.