Did you guys ever determine whether it was odd that sex crimes were brought in early? Seems kinda telling with this latest info.
I think it struck people as odd, but it's not uncommon especially since they
were considering the possibility of an abduction early on, even though first thought was him having wandered off.
The fact it was never hidden (the involvement of Sex Crimes), ie wasn't something they were trying to keep quiet, suggests it's not unusual in the case of a child's disappearance.
Maybe it's a clue that they were aware of these types of people operating in the area. Police would obviously know all about that even if the public don't, and as difficult as it may seem to accept, there's good reason for that - these kinds of offenders tend to commit their crimes when under various kinds of strain, be they financial, emotional etc, and so often the Sex Crimes units will be working towards ways of keeping these people 'valuable' members of society who feel welcomed by those around them, as that's when they're least likely to offend. Lynch mobs around every corner don't really help that.
(someone posted it here before but it's a fascinating if difficult read -
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/lif...ld-sex-offenders/story-e6frg8h6-1227078787836 )
That's not to say they can be rehabilitated, most can't, and then you have those people who are aware of their urges but actively choose not to pursue them, like that group in the media recently (I can't remember the name they called themselves, 'benevolent paedophiles' or something like that) who have online forums to support each other and keep each other from going down the path they know is wrong and actively choose not to act upon (as their spokesman said, anyone committing these crimes, excepting those extremely mentally ill of course, can still make the distinction between right and wrong and so can choose not to act upon those urges, and that the offenders who say they couldn't help themselves are full of it, etc).
(this isn't the article I mean but it discusses similar individuals, includng a young non-offender trying to fight his urges and seeking whatever help he can, but it also working with researchers to really make a difference with early intervention programs to identify people with such urges before they offend, and hopefully stop them from ever doing so -
https://medium.com/matter/youre-16-...e-what-do-you-do-now-e11ce4b88bdb??c=upworthy WARNING - there are some extremely graphic descriptions in this early on, so beware)
I'm glad to see much of this personal info coming to light now, that we'd all discovered a long time ago, but that had been kept from the media (though obviously some of the specifics are still being kept under wraps).