UK - Inside the mind of the paedophile - and the wife standing by him

[Taximom]

I'll share a story too. I live in County Wexford, Ireland & about twenty years ago there was a priest here named Father Sean Fortune who was a known paedophile who liked to prey on young boys. The nasty truth is that the church was aware of his 'activities' but considered them a moral problem more so than anything else. It took years for the full horror of what had gone on to finally emerge in the report of the Fern's Enquiry. Sean Fortune wasn't the only active paedophile priest named in the enquiry, in fact one that has always piqued my interest is a guy called Michael Ledwith. He was a priest in Wexford, Ireland from 1967 to 2005. He resigned and agreed a financial settlement - without liability -with a man who alleged Ledwith had abused him as a minor. Michael Ledwith is now a teacher at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment in a small rural Washington town. I certainly hope he's learned to keep his hands to himself but why the US government allowed him into the States is beyond me.

I wish there was some way of letting that school he works for know about your suspicions. I doubt he's learned to keep his hands to himself.....

 

[Taximom]

Gosh, I wish you both the best. (((White Rain))) and (((southcitymom))) :blowkiss:

 

[blaize]

I wish there was some way of letting that school he works for know about your suspicions. I doubt he's learned to keep his hands to himself.....

I think they already know Taximom, because this was highly publicised and as you can see by the links Michael Ledwith even has a wikipedia page dedicated to him.

 

[blaize]

I was molested at the age of 4 by a maternal cousin...I never told a soul...fast forward approx. 10 yrs it happened to two more kids...so not only do I have to bear the guilt of what happened to me, but also two more small kids as well. :sick:

Truly that guilt doesn't belong on your shoulders. A four year old has no responsibility for the actions of a paedophile any more than a fourteen year old does. The guilt for the pain and suffering caused belongs squarely on the shoulders of the paedophile not you.

 

[blaize]

Gosh, I wish you both the best. (((White Rain))) and (((southcitymom))) :blowkiss:

I second that. it takes strength, courage & hope to face addiction. More power to both of you.

 

[Taximom]

I think they already know Taximom, because this was highly publicised and as you can see by the links Michael Ledwith even has a wikipedia page dedicated to him.

That's a relief to know. I'm aware of two men that have questionable backgrounds (never charged) similar to this instance, working at schools. Sadly, there's not much places of business will do if there's nothing legally there.

 

[Details]

A great article. I think he has some chance of making it - he seems to be facing up to all of it - but just as he says, you need long term monitoring. As he says, it can just build up slowly, getting worse slowly. I'd give him a great deal of respect for coming forward - he knows what it could cost him (among other things, his life), but I'm sure he also knows it'll make it that much harder for him not to be caught if he slips up anywhere. He's just gotten himself a few thousand more bodyguards to tell on him if he slips at all.

 

[southcitymom]

Gosh, I wish you both the best. (((White Rain))) and (((southcitymom))) :blowkiss:

Thanks Taxi! :blowkiss:

 

[southcitymom]

I second that. it takes strength, courage & hope to face addiction. More power to both of you.

Thanks, blaize! :blowkiss:

 

[southcitymom]

.......Henkel believes tough legislation should be passed to force the Internet Service Providers to clamp down on illegal activity online.

He says: "We've been hearing for years that it's too big a job, but it's not true. The ISPs simply have to monitor the smaller servers, and if they discover that much of their content is illegal - be it child or access to illegal drugs or dangerous chemicals - they should shut them down.

"It wouldn't catch everything, but that measure, combined with stiff penalties for those providing or promoting illegal material, would make a huge difference."

I too found this part about the ISPs very interesting, seeing as how this man is also a computer expert. I wonder if there's any sort of pending legislation push to get the ISPs to do something like this. I wonder how technically difficult it would be to do.

I hate censorship, in general, but child is illegal (as it should be) so I wouldn't have a problem with anything that stopped the overwhelming flow of it that the Internet Age has assisted in ushering in.

 

[SewingDeb]

I'm not sure if there is a legal push but I have read many times where our legislatures keep saying it's too hard to do anything about it. (Going after the ISP's) I hope the big raids continue but it would be nice if the ISP's were also held responsible. They might start policing on their own and shutting down sites.

 

[CrimeSolver]

I can't understand some of the intolerant people here. "Slimeball", ""? This guy finds his compulsion deeply disturbing, so much so that he can hardly live with himself. If he were denying it, downplaying it, or actually molesting kids without remorse, I could understand the venom, but he has a tragic sickness. Just try to imagine being an otherwise decent person, yet having this aberrant, irresistible erotic attraction to children.

Let's not forget, in many cases it's the action that is monstrous, not the fallible human being behind it.

 

[southcitymom]

I can't understand some of the intolerant people here. "Slimeball", ""? This guy finds his compulsion deeply disturbing, so much so that he can hardly live with himself. If he were denying it, downplaying it, or actually molesting kids without remorse, I could understand the venom, but he has a tragic sickness. Just try to imagine being an otherwise decent person, yet having this aberrant, irresistible erotic attraction to children.

Let's not forget, in many cases it's the action that is monstrous, not the fallible human being behind it.

I think most of the posts on this thread have been relatively dispassionate given some other threads I've been on when pedophiles were a topic of conversation.

This is an issue which definitely polarizes a lot of people - we are terrified of the behavior so we respond by hating the person who does the behavior. My mind doesn't operate that way, but I understand the strength of language behind other people's posts when treading on these grounds.

I too think that pedophelia is a "tragic sickness." I would like to understand more about it and, in doing so, have a better idea of how to protect our children and how to help pedophiles.

 

[blaize]

I can't understand some of the intolerant people here. "Slimeball", ""? This guy finds his compulsion deeply disturbing, so much so that he can hardly live with himself. If he were denying it, downplaying it, or actually molesting kids without remorse, I could understand the venom, but he has a tragic sickness. Just try to imagine being an otherwise decent person, yet having this aberrant, irresistible erotic attraction to children.

Let's not forget, in many cases it's the action that is monstrous, not the fallible human being behind it.

Hey CrimeSolver, Bill Henkel seems to really feel remorseful but at the same time he acknowledges that there is a real chance that he could have gone on to hurt a child. The very thought of that sickens many people.

Actually he's quite a brave man who was once a child victim too & it's this that highlights how complex the issues are. Would his orientation be any different if he hadn't been abused? I know he links it back to something else but I feel his early abuse is a factor.

The derogatory names that are being hurled in his direction are about fear, consternation & are in some cases coming from people who have first hand experience of being victimized by someone like Mr Henkel. In the latter case '' & 'slimeball' are mild compared to what could be said.

The truth is if we seriously want to tackle child abuse & paedophilia we need to understand the pathology and get potential abusers the therapy necessary to lessen the likelihood of their offending. It's way too late after the fact because someone's live has been destroyed and the offender is already firmly set on the path to future abuse.

We also need to educate our children so that they know to talk about these things and not suffer in silence.

 

[blaize]

I'm not sure if there is a legal push but I have read many times where our legislatures keep saying it's too hard to do anything about it. (Going after the ISP's) I hope the big raids continue but it would be nice if the ISP's were also held responsible. They might start policing on their own and shutting down sites.

I could be wrong here but I think you'll find that only a small % of child is swapped through web sites. Most of the real 'action' seems to take place over p2p (peer to peer) networks which are next to impossible for isp's to police.

This article from the British Guardian newspaper outlines the problematic issues involved very well in my opinion.

Surfing with a safety net June 29 2006
The government is leaning on ISPs to install web filters for home broadband, at huge cost. But, asks Sean Hargrave, is that the best way to stop paedophiles' online activities?

 

[southcitymom]

......
The truth is if we seriously want to tackle child abuse & paedophilia we need to understand the pathology and get potential abusers the therapy necessary to lessen the likelihood of their offending. .....

Thanks for saying what I feel with such clarity and brevity.

 

[SewingDeb]

I could be wrong here but I think you'll find that only a small % of child is swapped through web sites. Most of the real 'action' seems to take place over p2p (peer to peer) networks which are next to impossible for isp's to police.

This article from the British Guardian newspaper outlines the problematic issues involved very well in my opinion.

Surfing with a safety net June 29 2006
The government is leaning on ISPs to install web filters for home broadband, at huge cost. But, asks Sean Hargrave, is that the best way to stop paedophiles' online activities?

Is there no way to make it where they can be policed? I haven't read the article yet, because I just woke up and need coffee, but I wll.

 

[SewingDeb]

Hey CrimeSolver, Bill Henkel seems to really feel remorseful but at the same time he acknowledges that there is a real chance that he could have gone on to hurt a child. The very thought of that sickens many people.

Actually he's quite a brave man who was once a child victim too & it's this that highlights how complex the issues are. Would his orientation be any different if he hadn't been abused? I know he links it back to something else but I feel his early abuse is a factor.

The derogatory names that are being hurled in his direction are about fear, consternation & are in some cases coming from people who have first hand experience of being victimized by someone like Mr Henkel. In the latter case '' & 'slimeball' are mild compared to what could be said.

The truth is if we seriously want to tackle child abuse & paedophilia we need to understand the pathology and get potential abusers the therapy necessary to lessen the likelihood of their offending. It's way too late after the fact because someone's live has been destroyed and the offender is already firmly set on the path to future abuse.




We also need to educate our children so that they know to talk about these things and not suffer in silence.

I'm all for understanding them in an effort to curb their future abuse...but it should be behind bars. None of this monitoring nonsense. We should never have to deal with them on the outside again once they have raped a child. Same with the child addicts. JMO as a mother, future grandmother and former victim of a male babysitter.

 

[SewingDeb]

I could be wrong here but I think you'll find that only a small % of child is swapped through web sites. Most of the real 'action' seems to take place over p2p (peer to peer) networks which are next to impossible for isp's to police.

This article from the British Guardian newspaper outlines the problematic issues involved very well in my opinion.

Surfing with a safety net June 29 2006
The government is leaning on ISPs to install web filters for home broadband, at huge cost. But, asks Sean Hargrave, is that the best way to stop paedophiles' online activities?

Still haven't read the article but is it possible for every photo or video shared via the internet to be copied and sent (at the same time) to the ISP in question so they can track the sender?

 

[blaize]

Is there no way to make it where they can be policed? I haven't read the article yet, because I just woke up and need coffee, but I wll.

It's a tough proposition because all isps all over the world would have to come on board and there doesn't seem to be a way to ensure that. Add to that the isps major quibbles over cost & manpower, they say it would take millions to put in place the necessary filters and train the people to maintain them.