This is a tough question, at least to me

[Whitacre_Girl]

I can understand both sides of this issue. It is “common knowledge” (whether or not it is true) that pedophiles cannot be rehabilitated. And parents become very angry and defensive when they believe their children are in danger.

I can’t access your addy because of computer problems. I assume he is not Catholic. If he were Catholic he could at least receive Holy Communion at home, away from children.

I get this picture in my mind of church doors being slammed in the face of this man who has a disease that we don’t know how to cure yet. It is a sad picture.

I wonder how I would feel if I knew this man was a pedophile and I had a small child and attended Mass (or a service in another church.) Would I be afraid? There are things that can be done to keep him away from the children. But I went to a Catholic school affiliated with a Church that had a priest who was molesting two boys in my class. Are the children in this man’s church really safe from him? REALLY SAFE? Pedophiles can be very intelligent and I bet he could find himself alone with a child pretty darn fast, whether at church or at a school or in his car, home, etc.

I’m sure his situation is not unique. The laws that require a pedophile to register as a Sex Offender and to stay away from children have been upheld over and over. And I can understand the need for those laws. Did he really find God in prison? Many prisoners say they do and they are lying. But who are we to say he didn’t find God? The fact that he was attending a church is evidence that when he said he found God he was telling the truth.

It must appear that I’m flip-flopping around here like a fish out of water. I’m going to back up and read the posts as they appear and I hope I (and the rest of us) learn something.

Thanks for bringing this up. It is a complicated situation.

caramel
wife of James Andrew (in heaven)
mother of Ryan Christopher
and Elysia Catherine (in heaven)

“On a scale of 1 to 10, when I have sex with a woman it’s a 1, when I have sex with a young boy it’s 100.” - anonymous pedophile

Guys, with laws regarding registering sex offender, in the state of NC those who were not convited as violent predators only have to register for 10 years. After those 10 years they have no restrictions at all. If they are required to register for life as a violent offender, then after time, if they can show they are not a threat to society, they can petition to have the registration mandate removed.

These laws exist to keep violent offenders under control, but also serve to allow those who can be rehabilitated to be rehabilitated. In very rare cases is an offender required to register for life. The people who do are those who violently rape multiple women, or have a history of violently raping and abducting children.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=387677

 

[Caramel]

This is one feature of the US that makes any decent human being want to vomit - can’t people see they are being taken for fools, when a criminal (of a particularly vile kind, at that) plays on his enemies’ weaknesses, by dragging God into the equation ? It’s enough to make anyone despair: it is so obvious, people must be blind not to see that he’s a lying piece of scum who is playing them for fools, purely so that he can get more victims. People like that are ***extremely ***manipulative - & how better to manipulate people, than by telling them a load of lying - and culturally acceptable - rubbish about “finding Geezus” ?​

What else would such a person say, for crying out loud: “I’m a paedophile, and I have every intention of grooming & corrupting any child I can get my hands on” ? There should be a law against stupidity, especially religious stupidity: it is extremely dangerous. There is a tragedy, several tragedies, in the offing, if that paedophile is let out. The sooner he is imprisoned and the key thrown away, the better. Paedophiles are rattlesnakes, and who but a fool would try to “rehabilitate” a rattler ? Aren’t the paedophilia scandals in the CC warning enough that paedophiles are incorrigible, endlessly deceitful, manipulative, & extremely dangerous ? :banghead:

Most unfair, indeed. In a** just** country, such a man would have been executed. Despite all that rubbish in the CCC about how nasty it is to inflict the death penalty; rubbish which merely plays into the hands of scum such as this paedophile. (The Pope has a bodyguard, just like the average parent, and no children to worry about, just like the average parent; which is why he so well-fitted to tell the rest of us, who have to live in the real world, the world of liars, scumbags, rapists, murderers, paedophiles, and similar filth, what to do. ) Not to punish criminals is very wicked, and a terrible miscarriage of justice. ​

Wow, when I read your post I felt the love of Christ just flow into my heart. Such a good Christian attitude you are showing here -NOT. Are we not taught by Christ to LOVE? Are we not taught that to judge another person is wrong? Are we not taught that he who is without fault should throw the first stone?

Not all prisoners who say they have found God in prison are lying. I think most of them are, but certainly not ALL of them. And I do not believe that a pedophile should be executed. Castrate him at his request, but we do not have the right to kill people. A rattlesnake without his venom can’t poison anyone. Keep him away from children? Absolutely!! Is he a criminal? Maybe. He has paid his price to society. Will he try to molest other children? Most likely he will. He has a disease which we can’t cure.

But to froth at the mouth like a rabid dog and rant and rave about how horrible he is and how gullible and stupid we are is not appropriate. He is still a child of God and he is loved by God. Just like me. Just like you.

Your attitude scares me.

caramel
wife of James Andrew (in heaven)
mother of Ryan Christopher
and Elysia Catherine (in heaven)

“On a scale of 1 to 10, when I have sex with a woman it’s a 1, when I have sex with a young boy it’s 100.” - anonymous pedophile

 

[Whitacre_Girl]

Castrate him at his request, but we do not have the right to kill people. A rattlesnake without his venom can’t poison anyone. Keep him away from children? Absolutely!! Is he a criminal? Maybe. He has paid his price to society. Will he try to molest other children? Most likely he will. He has a disease which we can’t cure.

Just something I’d like to point out. While I agree we shouldn’t kill pedophiles, castration “and all is well” isn’t a good idea either. It doesn’t remove the venom. Most experts agree that pedophiles and rapists do their dirty task for the sexual thrill to “get off.” It’s to feel the power and wgo boost of making another human submit to your will, and having total power over them. A castrated sex offender can still molest a woman or child, even if he can’t have intercourse with them. Removing the venom would be making a sex offender totally useless by way of drugging severely. Something I also do not support.

They need to be kept away from vulnerable persons. Parents and women need to know about it so they can keep themselves safe. Again, the law is set up in such a way that if an offender, even of violent crimes, can prove he is no longer a threat to society, then he does NOT have to register anymore, and can go about a normal life.

 

[Prodigal_Son]

He was kicked out of the church because everyone thought he was a dangerous violent criminal and wouldn’t let him come back.

We feast like vultures on the remains of men who become ensnared. I do not defend them against their sin, which is terrible indeed. For this they deserve death (though who shall cast the first stone?)

But I do wish to defend them against those who would read their stories with prurient interest, and then burn them in effigy. It takes two to make a scandal: one to act sinfully, and another to react sinfully. Let us, like Jesus, choose to do neither.

 

[Caramel]

It makes me incandescent with fury​

What are you, a light bulb?

Rejoice, for there is: it’s a called the death penalty, and has had a 100% success rate wherever & whenever & however inflicted, for thousands of years; the dead never re-offend: that is guaranteed, absolutely.​

And many of the dead that were executed never offended in the first place. What did Jesus do to earn his death on the cross? What about the innocent people who have been framed or have bad lawyers or bad judges or bad juries or who didn’t have DNA tests available? Do you honestly call this a 100% success rate? I don’t think any reasonable person could or should.

Open your mind to other possibilities. Think for God’s sake!!

caramel
wife of James Andrew (in heaven)
mother of Ryan Christopher
and Elysia Catherine (in heaven)

“On a scale of 1 to 10, when I have sex with a woman it’s a 1, when I have sex with a young boy it’s 100.” - anonymous pedophile

 

[Corki]

I can understand both sides of this issue. It is “common knowledge” (whether or not it is true) that pedophiles cannot be rehabilitated. And parents become very angry and defensive when they believe their children are in danger.

I get this picture in my mind of church doors being slammed in the face of this man who has a disease that we don’t know how to cure yet. It is a sad picture.

I wonder how I would feel if I knew this man was a pedophile and I had a small child and attended Mass (or a service in another church.) Would I be afraid? There are things that can be done to keep him away from the children. But I went to a Catholic school affiliated with a Church that had a priest who was molesting two boys in my class. Are the children in this man’s church really safe from him? REALLY SAFE? Pedophiles can be very intelligent and I bet he could find himself alone with a child pretty darn fast, whether at church or at a school or in his car, home, etc.

Thanks for bringing this up. It is a complicated situation.

caramel
wife of James Andrew (in heaven)
mother of Ryan Christopher
and Elysia Catherine (in heaven)

“On a scale of 1 to 10, when I have sex with a woman it’s a 1, when I have sex with a young boy it’s 100.” - anonymous pedophile

Does anyone have any stats on this “common knowledge”? I am not saying it isn’t true but when I tried to Google, I get a recitivism rate of between 50 and 60 percent. That’s a horribly high rate but far from an absolute. Are the other 40% just expendable?

I am not defending the guy for what he did; either the original offense or going to a church when he knew he was breaking the law. But what is the Christian response?

 

[Caramel]

Does anyone have any stats on this “common knowledge”? I am not saying it isn’t true but when I tried to Google, I get a recitivism rate of between 50 and 60 percent. That’s a horribly high rate but far from an absolute. Are the other 40% just expendable?

I am not defending the guy for what he did; either the original offense or going to a church when he knew he was breaking the law. But what is the Christian response?

I am having a hard time finding real statistical evidence. It seems that a lot of people have a lot of opinions but few can back them up with hard data.

I read that most pedophiles were sexually abused as children. Then I read that they weren’t. I read that there is no evidence for genetic factors and that most experts believe that it is caused by psychosocial factors. But there were no footnotes and no names of these “experts” provided.

I am getting frustrated.

caramel
wife of James Andrew (in heaven)
mother of Ryan Christopher
and Elysia Catherine (in heaven)

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.” - Dr. Seuss

 

[NewEnglandPriest]

As a priest I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable with a child molestor attending public masses. If I knew about such a case I would strongly recommend to them that they receive at home from one of our eucharistic ministers on Sundays.

 

[Caramel]

As a priest I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable with a child molestor attending public masses. If I knew about such a case I would strongly recommend to them that they receive at home from one of our eucharistic ministers on Sundays.

I wouldn’t feel comfortable, either. However, it is sad that he wouldn’t be able to participate in the Catholic community functions. I can’t make it to Mass very often because of a severe back injury and well, I’m kind of falling apart physically.

I miss Mass!! I want to go to Saturday evening Mass and sing with everyone else and pray with everyone else and receive Holy Communion at church and do everything else that is part of being Catholic. The loneliest person in the world is the person who spends Christmas alone. The second loneliest person in the world is a Catholic who has to resort to watching EWTN on Sunday morning, just to SEE a Mass.

This is the problem. I agree with you!! But it just doesn’t FEEL right to me, in my heart. Although Holy Communion is the most important part of the Mass, it’s not the only part and it hurts to miss out on all that.

I’m not trying to change the subject. I think I can understand a little bit of how the pedophile feels, assuming he is telling the truth about finding God in prison. He has a very heavy cross to carry and I feel for him.

God bless,
caramel

wife of James Andrew (in heaven)
mother of Ryan Christopher
and Elysia Catherine (in heaven)

“Having your dreams come true can be far more therapeutic than having them analyzed…” - anonymous

 

[jmcrae]

Does anyone have any stats on this “common knowledge”? I am not saying it isn’t true but when I tried to Google, I get a recitivism rate of between 50 and 60 percent. That’s a horribly high rate but far from an absolute. Are the other 40% just expendable?

I am not defending the guy for what he did; either the original offense or going to a church when he knew he was breaking the law. But what is the Christian response?

Why does the Christian response always have to be, “Here, I’m a rug. Walk all over me, take advantage of me, and hurt my children.”

Are we somehow hoping that our naive trust will cause the guilty to sense their guilt and be moved to repent of their sinful ways? That they will feel like monsters for violating our trust? That’s a beautiful story for 12 year olds, but it’s not reality.

Our Christian response has to be towards protecting the children, I think.

 

[Whitacre_Girl]

Why does the Christian response always have to be, “Here, I’m a rug. Walk all over me, take advantage of me, and hurt my children.”

Are we somehow hoping that our naive trust will cause the guilty to sense their guilt and be moved to repent of their sinful ways? That they will feel like monsters for violating our trust? That’s a beautiful story for 12 year olds, but it’s not reality.

Our Christian response has to be towards protecting the children, I think.

We as christians are called to forgive those who hurt us. We are to love and pray for them. However, forgiving one does not alleviate concequences (God forgives us, but we still have the concequences of sin that we have to pay for). It also does not mean we adopt a “forgive and forget” policy. I made that mistake with a girk in college that i knew in high school. She backstabbed me in high school, I shose a forgive and forget policy, and let her get close to be again. Lo and behold, she did it again! Only worse this time because she’d gotten better at it over the years. We forgive, but we are not required to trust again.

 

[EvelynEVF]

We have to have the humility to accept the consequences of our sin gracefully. A truly rehabilitated former-pedophile must recognize the enormity of his crime, and then recognize that enormous consequences are absolutely appropriate. I also wonder why he thought it was okay for him to defy the terms of his release and go to church anyway. That isn’t humility, and it doesn’t give me reason to be hopeful in this case. People who think the rules are only for other people cannot be trusted.

I would feel much better if such a person would say, “This is my cross, and I will bear it with patience and dignity and acknowledge that while I feel like the consequences for my sin are unfair, I will submit to civil authority.”