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Having just read Blackhound's post about threats and Jay Jay's post about telling relatives, this all to me comes back to the problem that there is no public discussion of this issue, how many people are being arrested, charged and convicted of these offences and no discussion of how many of those convicted have deliberately rather than inadvertently offended, and what proportion of them present any more threat to children than the average person on the street. I'm starting to feel really annoyed that the whole subject of these crimes is kept under cover, to the point that most of the public (including police officers and social workers) are ill informed about
(a) what online activities carry a risk of them committing a sexual offence involving children
(b) what wide and varied offences can result in people being placed on the sex offenders register
(c) what proportion of people committing online offences go on to commit contact offences or present a risk to children
The result is that most people are ignorant about the numbers of people who are being convicted of these crimes, they have no idea how to protect themselves from inadvertently breaking the law because they don't know what the law is in the first place, the law is written in such a way that its almost impossible for anyone to put up a reasonable defence, and even if they do they will be judged by a jury of ignorant people, whose main source of information and education on these crimes will have been the media who seek to sensationalise every offence they report on with Liberal sprinkling of the p-words and terms like "sick" and "depraved". After conviction they will be threatened by strangers, and shunned by friends and relatives, due to that same ignorance.
Don't get me wrong, sexual abuse of children is a terrible, terrible thing and work must continue to stamp it out, and I get that people who actually seek out images of this abuse are creating demand for it. But many people are hooked into this unwittingly; I would call them "secondary offenders" not the "primary offenders" who are doing the actual abusing and distributing of this material. I dont' know how hard the police and other agencies are trying to arrest these "primary offenders" but I don't recall many reports in the media of these types of offenders being convicted.
It would be good to get more information publicly aired in a reasonable rather than hysterical manner, and for law enforcers to operate in a way that is designed to ensure children are protected from the people who present a real threat, and not the demonisation of people (and their partners) who are merely *perceived* to be a threat due to the silence and secrecy around how their offending is handled and their portrayal in the media.
(a) what online activities carry a risk of them committing a sexual offence involving children
(b) what wide and varied offences can result in people being placed on the sex offenders register
(c) what proportion of people committing online offences go on to commit contact offences or present a risk to children
The result is that most people are ignorant about the numbers of people who are being convicted of these crimes, they have no idea how to protect themselves from inadvertently breaking the law because they don't know what the law is in the first place, the law is written in such a way that its almost impossible for anyone to put up a reasonable defence, and even if they do they will be judged by a jury of ignorant people, whose main source of information and education on these crimes will have been the media who seek to sensationalise every offence they report on with Liberal sprinkling of the p-words and terms like "sick" and "depraved". After conviction they will be threatened by strangers, and shunned by friends and relatives, due to that same ignorance.
Don't get me wrong, sexual abuse of children is a terrible, terrible thing and work must continue to stamp it out, and I get that people who actually seek out images of this abuse are creating demand for it. But many people are hooked into this unwittingly; I would call them "secondary offenders" not the "primary offenders" who are doing the actual abusing and distributing of this material. I dont' know how hard the police and other agencies are trying to arrest these "primary offenders" but I don't recall many reports in the media of these types of offenders being convicted.
It would be good to get more information publicly aired in a reasonable rather than hysterical manner, and for law enforcers to operate in a way that is designed to ensure children are protected from the people who present a real threat, and not the demonisation of people (and their partners) who are merely *perceived* to be a threat due to the silence and secrecy around how their offending is handled and their portrayal in the media.
Bitterbean,
I couldn't agree more. It is so easy to offend that numbers will only carry on increasing.
I hope that one day society will realise the disproportionate effect of current legislation but I doubt I'll be around to see it.
Don't get me wrong, the offences are terrible but surely there should be more effort to block the availability of images and extreme porn and target the original producers?
It might help a small amount if the 'making' charge was redefined to make it clearer to joe public that it mainly reflects downloading, and not actually producing original images!
I couldn't agree more. It is so easy to offend that numbers will only carry on increasing.
I hope that one day society will realise the disproportionate effect of current legislation but I doubt I'll be around to see it.
Don't get me wrong, the offences are terrible but surely there should be more effort to block the availability of images and extreme porn and target the original producers?
It might help a small amount if the 'making' charge was redefined to make it clearer to joe public that it mainly reflects downloading, and not actually producing original images!
And meanwhile the prisons fill up and no one discusses why this is happening...... ridiculous!
Most people who commit these crimes end up losing family and friends, jobs and any support network they had which might end up in reoffending or definitely having more mental health problems, instead of branding them all over as a P why don't they work with them to try and get help so that they can fit back into society with support. Lots of love to you all xxx
Dear Forum users,
We thought it might be helpful to contribute to this thread, in response to the valid points
made by Bitterbean. The statistics and risks of men who have committed online sexual
offences who then go on and commit a contact offence is low, as is the likelihood of
reoffending for this type of offence, which is positive news. As Bitterbean mentions, this
is not commonly understood or well known in wider society. Another great point is how
catastrophic and damaging child sexual abuse can be on the victims/survivors and more
needs to be done to help eliminate a preventable problem, hence some of the work
conducted here at LFF. For the year of 2019/2020 the police recorded over 10,000
arrests for online child sex crimes so it is most definitely a significant problem in society
across the UK and globally.
From our experience with working with thousands of men arrested for online sexual offences
over the years, most of these individuals recognise that their behaviour was problematic and
illegal at the time but nevertheless struggled to find a responsible way out. Likewise, we like
to acknowledge the great harm that is caused through this type of offending and it still plays
a significant role in the harm caused to victims and survivors. As widely recognised by forum
users, it creates a demand and revictimises the individual every time their image or film is
viewed, shared or downloaded. Furthermore, investigating these crimes requires a huge
amount of resources and also can takes a toll on the professionals involved, not least on their
mental wellbeing.
As users of this forum know all too well, the consequent investigations also have a huge
impact on family members, friends and children, and we do our best to ensure the men
who use our services are aware of all of these points.
Finally, we are always thankful and impressed by our users’ contributions on the Family
and Friends Forum and hope you all recognise the part you are playing in helping others
and making this global problem more well recognised. Please do reach out to the Stop It
Now! helpline for further support and continue to be a great support for one another.
Best Wishes
Lucy
We thought it might be helpful to contribute to this thread, in response to the valid points
made by Bitterbean. The statistics and risks of men who have committed online sexual
offences who then go on and commit a contact offence is low, as is the likelihood of
reoffending for this type of offence, which is positive news. As Bitterbean mentions, this
is not commonly understood or well known in wider society. Another great point is how
catastrophic and damaging child sexual abuse can be on the victims/survivors and more
needs to be done to help eliminate a preventable problem, hence some of the work
conducted here at LFF. For the year of 2019/2020 the police recorded over 10,000
arrests for online child sex crimes so it is most definitely a significant problem in society
across the UK and globally.
From our experience with working with thousands of men arrested for online sexual offences
over the years, most of these individuals recognise that their behaviour was problematic and
illegal at the time but nevertheless struggled to find a responsible way out. Likewise, we like
to acknowledge the great harm that is caused through this type of offending and it still plays
a significant role in the harm caused to victims and survivors. As widely recognised by forum
users, it creates a demand and revictimises the individual every time their image or film is
viewed, shared or downloaded. Furthermore, investigating these crimes requires a huge
amount of resources and also can takes a toll on the professionals involved, not least on their
mental wellbeing.
As users of this forum know all too well, the consequent investigations also have a huge
impact on family members, friends and children, and we do our best to ensure the men
who use our services are aware of all of these points.
Finally, we are always thankful and impressed by our users’ contributions on the Family
and Friends Forum and hope you all recognise the part you are playing in helping others
and making this global problem more well recognised. Please do reach out to the Stop It
Now! helpline for further support and continue to be a great support for one another.
Best Wishes
Lucy