What Punishment Should a Pedophile Receive for Sexually Abusing a Child?

[PrimeSuspect]

Shouldn't the punishment be the same for women? http://crime.about.com/od/sex/ig/female_pedophiles/

Of course, women should be treated the same. Unfortunately, on another site I'm a member of which is an anxiety based site, whenever a news story is posted about a female teacher molesting a male child, the male members think it's fantastic and wish it happened to them when they were at school!! This is the sentiment when the female teacher is 'hot', lol. The story is actually posted for this reason.
I haven't found an 'outraged' male so far who's given much thought about the victim.

 

[marthamcfly]

Of course, women should be treated the same. Unfortunately, on another site I'm a member of which is an anxiety based site, whenever a news story is posted about a female teacher molesting a male child, the male members think it's fantastic and wish it happened to them when they were at school!! This is the sentiment when the female teacher is 'hot', lol. The story is actually posted for this reason.
I haven't found an 'outraged' male so far who's given much thought about the victim.

Teenage boys don't feel like victims usually because they are being driven by hormones. To the hormones, it's an awesome situation. They are generally willing participants.

I think that a situation where both participants are willing should not receive the same punishment as a situation where someone is definitely not willing.

 

[lifeisgood4]

death for sure.

 

[lillybell]

I voted death by any means.
No second chances. It's not worth the risk!

 

[katydid23]

I don't think it should be DEATH becAuse then the sick perps would KILL their victims, imo. Why leave a child alive if you would face the Death Penalty?

So as much as I'd like to see them all die a horrible death, I don't think we should make it the legal penalty. :furious:

 

[zapped]

Im actually surprised to see so many votes for medical castration here.

A famous study was done in New York some time ago where convicted pedophiles were chemically castrated and then released from prison.

The result?

It made them more violent and FAR more likely to kill. Scientists found it wasnt about sex so much as a need to dominate and control their victims.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Im actually surprised to see so many votes for medical castration here.

A famous study was done in New York some time ago where convicted pedophiles were chemically castrated and then released from prison.

The result?

It made them more violent and FAR more likely to kill. Scientists found it wasnt about sex so much as a need to dominate and control their victims.

Could you please provide a link, I can't find anything that you're stating here, just sounds like an opinion to me. JMO

 

[zapped]

Could you please provide a link, I can't find anything that you're stating here, just sounds like an opinion to me. JMO

I couldnt find the actual study without a ton of digging. As I said, it was done a number of years ago and Im not a young man.

The following links all discuss this subject in one form or another.

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1778

https://ccoso.org/sites/default/files/import/Impact-on-recidivism.pdf

http://sapac.umich.edu/article/52

https://www.enmu.edu/services/police/prevention/sexual-assault.shtml

If you have any further questions feel free to continue researching this subject on your own and please take a look at my signature below.

 

[emeraldine]

IMO, it must be life without parole - no matter what other "preventative measures" are taken before release, violence is still possible as long as the offenders still have working limbs and cognitive abilities.

I agree that the main issue isn't sex itself...just as with any rapist, the driving force behind the crime is the desire to control and physically/psychologically damage the victim. If such a desire to hurt a child(or anyone, for that matter) exists in a person, not even castration will remove it.

To me, it isn't even about punishment, or about how much the offenders should suffer for their behavior. It's about keeping the rest of the world safe in the aftermath of what they did to their victims.

 

[skyshell7]

1st offense- Castration
2nd- Death

 

[JSinUK]

I think that LWOP is the most suitable sentence for most paedophiles. And if they are never to be released anyway I see no point in wasting time and money on chemical castration.

I fully understand that emotionally some crimes can be so terrible that the perpetrator truly is just a waste of good oxygen who deserves to be done away with. Problem with that is that no human justice system is ever going to be infallible. Sometimes innocent people will be convicted even of terrible crimes. When the truth emerges, such people can be released and compensated. But you cannot release and compensate a corpse. Therefore, we should be keeping even the very worst offenders alive in jail to avoid ever putting an innocent person to death.

But a sexual attraction towards children is not something that can be cured, or something we can remove from a paedophile's psyche. Once they have crossed a line into committing an offense they are always likely to be tempted to do so again, and represent a permanent threat to our children if ever they are allowed to walk free.

LWOP is the only real answer to these people, I think.

 

[Jessnh]

Let me start my saying that this question poses somewhat of a conundrum for me. I have two, very different, thoughts on this subject, both of which I will try my best explain, in detail.

When talking about sexual acts that involve children we need to first take a look back in time. Look at the different cultural influences in particular. It was common around the world and all cultures for young women to become sexually active at a young age. This was common practice for thousands of years. It wasn't until the 1900's that we became aware that children should be children for as long as they can. We know the key attractions that we seek when looking for a mate and those things are almost engraved in our DNA, animalistic. I dont think that desire can just be turned off because of some written law. I also sympathize, to a very small extent, with the human nature of this. Are we expecting something that's unfair?

Taking that into account I also believe in natural selection. Even though i think its natural for a person to be attracted to a specific "model" of characteristics, I think that we should be smart enough to maintain ourselves to a standard that's appropriate for our current culture. A sexual predator is someone that doesn't understand or respect the constraints needed to contribute positively to society. Predators usually have some sort of mental wiring that allows them to justify the abuse of their prey, to them its a game. When children are involded, the predator is taking away that child's ability to grow to his or her full potential and that can never be fixed n will have life altering effects. "Normal" people do not want to victimize others, especially children. Given these factors, I think anyone preying on children, should be given the death penalty. I'm sure it would clear up our gene pool. Consequently, it would be a proactive approach to eliminating or greatly deturing the commonality of such crimes.

We should behave in a way that compliments the laws of nature. Crimes against children, or the taking of a life, should be punishable by death. I don't mean sitting on death row for years wasting our resources either.

Well never reach our own potential as a species if we're not allowed to shape our future.

 

[Montjoy]

Whenever I check into this thread, I'm astonished at how so many people think that Josh Duggar should face no punishment or receive no therapy for what he has done. I don't know if people excuse him because he was young, or because his family presents themselves as in-your-face religious, but I have to wonder why there is such a disconnect, even with some members here.

 

[crabstick]

I had an ex federal police officer teaching me once. He said he would like a dollar for every time, two 15 year olds have a relationship. The boy turns 16 and the girls parents press charges for under age sex.

There would be man bags lined up across the land, and a few dead parents

Maybe those lining up to execute, should be the decision makers, but if you execute an innocent man, you should have "I killed an innocent man tattooed across you forehead" and provide for their family for the rest of their lives? Can you afford that mistake?

It seems fair, you get a tattoo on your forehead, an innocent man gets the death sentence.

 

[crabstick]

I guess the same could apply.

If you make a bad decision, you have tattooed on your forehead " I castrated an innocent man". It makes people think harder.

Im not talking size 4 wing dings in the hair line either. We are talking size 32 Helvetica just above the eyebrows.

 

[pinklilies]

It's a very simple answer for me.
Open Alcatraz back up and send them there. Until they die. If, before they die, their sexual frustrations, or control/power urges take over and gets the better of them, then they can release it it on each other any time they wish (I'm sure that's better for them than nothing) and the little innocent people of this world will be safe from their revolting behaviours.

 

[crabstick]

Prison in many places is not free of violence or being raped.
There was a documentary on rape in Australian prisons.
Many want to kill themselves, some succeed.
In some prisons, when the lights go out...

It's a very simple answer for me.
Open Alcatraz back up and send them there. Until they die. If, before they die, their sexual frustrations, or control/power urges take over and gets the better of them, then they can release it it on each other any time they wish (I'm sure that's better for them than nothing) and the little innocent people of this world will be safe from their revolting behaviours.

 

[pinklilies]

Prison in many places is not free of violence or being raped.
There was a documentary on rape in Australian prisons.
Many want to kill themselves, some succeed.
In some prisons, when the lights go out...

Oh too true and I have every sympathy for some prisoners who have that done to them, for example, those there for robbery or drug offences etc.

But the prison I'm talking about would only house paedophiles. Could just be left to fester with each other, each amongst their own type. No real chance of escape in the middle of the sea so no threat to innocent children.

 

[Peng]

Interesting... I thought of the perp first and was going to go with castration and life, but then I thought of the perp doing this to my ten year old little girl and I changed my mind to burn him in a cabin.

 

[kaen]

I am not pro-death penalty in any case. I voted on life without parole as I don't believe rehabilitation can be done nor do I think that castration works. When thinking about castration, what do we do about women who sexually abuse if we are looking at medical options? I believe the best answer remains life without parole.

I think a conversation has to be had in the LWOP scenario of what happens when it is a statutory rape case where one partner is too young to consent but does have sex that is then prosecuted. I am not talking about 30 y.o. and 15 y.o. as needing discussions but 16/17 y.o. and 15 y.o. situations.