The Hendon Times reports that a paedophile who groomed and assaulted a girl over a five year period received a 14 year sentence -
http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/8215643.Paedophile_jailed_for_5_year_grooming_daughter_of_friends/?ref=mr -
As I understand it, prisoners who behave serve approx 1/3rd of their sentence. That means this waste of oxygen will be out in under five years. The young girl in question was abused for the same period. How long will the damage last? What price the loss of childhood? What about the difficulty to form relationships and trust. This monster will be out aged 54. What are the chances of reoffending? Given he's a devious creep, judging by the details.
In my opinion, people like this monster should be locked up until they are physically incapable of reoffending. I suspect that as the damage caused will take a lifetime to get over, then a lifetime of repentence and contemplation courtsey of her majesty is the least we should expect. I truly believe that if this bloke was truly sorry, he'd ask for the maximum possible sentence and not appeal for parole. Fat chance of that happening.
Oh dear, another taboo subject, which is difficult to discuss.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, the sentence. People usually become eligible for parole after serving half their sentence, not a third. They are only given parole if the parole board is satisfied that the person has been rehabilitated and no longer poses a risk.
Secondly, the evidence is that life sentences, with no hope of parole, do not encourage rehabilitation and that prisoners with nothing to lose, because they will never get out, cause massive problems within the prison service.
Thirdly, with the exception of murder, this country has always tended to protect property with higher sentences than crimes of violence, particularly sexual violence, which I have always thought wrong.
The problem is that the sexual abuse of minors is, and always has been, very common. When I was 13, 3 out of my close group of 6 school friends had had some degree of inappropriate sexual contact with an adult. There may be young people with eating disorders who have not been sexually abused, but I have yet to meet one. Obviously, what I am talking about here is not years of rape, mainly it was inappropriate touching.
However, with a problem which is that pervasive "lock them up and throw away the key" is not a workable answer.
I don't have all the answers, but here is my view.
I think that the we need to be more open about the existence of childhood sexuality. Just as Snow White flirted with the Seven Dwarves, playing house and enjoying their adoration, children will play with these roles. Adult (men) need to be taught that this is not an invitation. Their job, even if it does not coincide with their view of themselves as sexual beings, is to provide a safe place for the expression of that phase of development.
Secondly, children need to be taught that they have complete control and sovereignty over their own bodies. That comes from school, with proper early sex education, and from home, where children need to be given the choice whether or not they kiss great aunt Hilda (as long as they are polite) and taught to say no and to disclose if there is an issue.
Thirdly, we need to patrol internet communities, where people can find pornography or websites where they may find others who make them feel that their desires or actions are in anyway acceptable, because finding others who feel the same way has a norming approach.
Fourthly, we need to be aware that grooming, including isolating the victim, is something which sexual predators use not just with children, but also with elderly people and vulnerable adults, so we need to take care of our neighbours and not allow them to be cut off from us.
Finally, we need to listen to, and work with sex offenders, to understand why this happens and not drive it underground.
Jaybird,
ReplyDeleteYour comments are absolutely typical of the type of attitude I am talking about. You worry about the problems for the prison service. You worry that the prisoner won't be rehaibilitated.
What you need to consider is the victim (past and future). I'm friends with a former governor of Britains toughest prison. His view is that this type of offender cannot be rehabilitated, they just stop offending when they are no longer capable of offending.
I must say I find your view that because snow white flirted with the seven dwarfs, it may in some way be the victims fault. As to "men need to be taught" - men know damn well it's wrong, which is why they are so devious in their behaviour, as demonstrated here.
I happen to believe that extremely long sentences and a high expectation of getting caught is the best deterrent for this. It is also a fact that many abusers were abused as youngsters, so I guess the more of them you lock up, the less of the next generation of paedophiles we'll have.
Oh and one final point. I personally think that a criminal such as this should be treated more harshly than a criminal who murders another criminal. This monster affected and changed far more lives.
Mind you, I guess you'll be happy that my view clearly isn't one that anyone who is ever likely to have the power to change anything is going to listen to.
Jaybird is right. We need to get men like the one in the Hendon Times to stop offending not just to sweep it under the carpet and say it is for the Prison Service to sort out. Surely protecting all other kids out there is the priority not some medieval view of punishment ( though if we have Sharia law perhaps they can cut his bits off !! )
ReplyDeleteThe laws now say that kids who get sexual with each other are breaking the law - and in the next 30 years we will see the result of this in our courts as they realise that £30,000 compensation can be achieved with minimal evidence and even no criminal trial.....we are as a society making a rod for our own backs.
Sad to say my Partner's daughter was abused from the age of 8. When we found out we threw up (Literally) and became angry. The man who did had friends in the Police and Social Services because he was a School Governor and the stress of giving evidence was too much for our daughter. In the end we just want her to be happy and get over what happened. Raking it up time and again has made her worse not better. The whole legal experience brought it all back and no amount of sentence or anything can undo what has happened - that is too personal and too hurtful to deal with that way.
Our society needs to deal with its problems head on - and not just give knee jerk tabloid style solutions. There is good research from many other countries where they dont have this problem - it needs to be considered.
The surest way to stop paedophiles to stop abusing children is extremely long term prison sentences where they have no access or opportunity. Every time we have a case where one of these guys murders children, there is a long string of previous offences. Most of these guys molest dozens, if not hundreds of children. There is also a large industry churning out paedo porn. There is a sex tourism industry to the far east which also fuels the problem and makes them think it's OK (and that we've got it all wrong), which is driven by extreme poverty.
ReplyDeleteAs to the difficulties of putting youngsters through court etc. I have adult friends who suffered from this experience and they are still scarred. I have one friend who had her father jailed. Sure it was hard for her but she has no regrets whatsoever and was pleased she did it. She just wishes the sentence had been longer.
I stand by my view that in cases such as this, preventing future abuse is the top priority. This is far more important than rehabilitation or the convenience of the prison service.
Rog I agree that sentences should be very long for paedophiles ( pre pubescent children ) who you rightly point out think they are normal and their desires are normal.
ReplyDeleteBut do you think that for instance those young kids who are now "sex offenders" should get tarred with the same brush or say an 18 year old who sleeps with his 15 year old girlfriend.....
The abuse of a daughter actually carries a very low sentence compared to other sexual offences. I find that wrong - a child trusts their parents 100% - more than any other relationship - so the "abuse" is greater in my view.
As I understand the law (and it may have changed) an 18 year old can deploy something called the young mans defence if they have a 15 year old girlfriend. I certainly don't think they should be on a register.
ReplyDeleteAs for children who abuse other children, I think anyone under 14 should be dealt with through a different system than adults. I would suggest that children generally should not be placed on a register, unless they are deemed extremely likely to commit abuse.
Of course there are always cases where the law seems harsh/unjust/not fit for purpose. It's just that cases like the ones in the Times are clearcut and I cannot believe justice has been done. Most cases are like this, not like the recent one of the 11 year olds.