NYT Op-Ed: Pedophilia A Disorder, Not a Crime

[LuvNewcastle]

1. If half of all child-molesters aren't sexually attracted to their victims,

why do they have sex with children? I know that other forms of rape are more about asserting dominance than sexual attraction, but I don't buy that in the case of child molestation. Virtually anyone can dominate a child, so what it the point of having sex with children if not sexual gratification?

I agree that pedophiles who do not molest should be able to easily obtain treatment for their disease, but how many people are we talking about here? What percentage of pedophiles don't molest and don't intend on doing so? I'd bet that the number is very small.

From what I've read on the subject, it seems that pedophiles are pre-occupied with having sex with children and they don't stop until they're forced to stop. If they're released from prison, they have to be strictly monitored or they start looking at child porn and molesting again.

Should molesters be put in prison and/or mental hospitals for life? I'm not sure, but I certainly don't think they should go do their time and then get released to begin the cycle anew.

If non-molesting pedophiles seek treatment, that's great, but I do believe they should be put on watch lists. I think they're more dangerous than most of the people we have on terrorist watch lists today. Just because we don't punish people for thought crime doesn't mean law enforcement shouldn't be aware of pedophiles in the community. The fact is, they're dangerous people, and we can't just ignore people who have those proclivities.