dailymail.co.uk — An alleged paedophile's victim beat up his abuser 20 years later after being spurred on by Oprah Winfrey's chatshow, a court heard. Calum MacPharlain, 48, was flattened by his victim who took revenge for being molested as an eight-year-old in the early Seventies, it is claimed.
Jan 9, 2007 View in Crawl 4
bunnywabbitJan 10, 2007
@ boostjunki3 I do not sympathize with the offender for being a paedophile, I just understand them. I am just as sickened by the sexual abuse as any of you. However, many offenders had traumatic or corrupted childhoods (including sometimes being abused themselves), and I do have sympathy for them in that aspect.@theblooms 25 years is in my opinion a little harsh for most offences. Considering that this is a mental illness and the person in all other aspects may actually be a good person (even when the illness results in them doing terrible things). I know that is hard to understand or accept. It's always goingto be fine balance between retribution & treatment. But I think the treatment part is more important since it can potentially prevent more children from being hurt in the future. Unfortunately, treatment is not available in most prisons, and I can only help those on the outside.In most cases, 3-4 years of therapy is required. For some it is less, for others more. It all depends on how many issues have to be addressed.Also bear in mind that the longer they spend in prison, the more withdrawn they become from society and the more likely they are to reoffend. @Yggdrasil I agree with you completely. Most paedophiles lack the social skills of a 'normal' person. It is PART of what makes them what they are. With help they can develop the skills needed to have productive and happy relationships with adults.@ xutopia I am sorry to hear about what happened to you. I wish I could have treated the person(s) who abused you before the assault(s) took place.Finally, regarding the recidivism rate of 16%, we aim for 0%. On a side note, paedophilia could be completely irradicated, but society would have to change quite a bit, and the change needed would be quite shocking to many. But, this is not the place to discuss this.
022aJan 10, 2007
"I am sick and tired of people saying that these people need "help." They are f**ked in the head. They don't need help. They need to be removed from society."Exactly.These people are broken.
thecountJan 10, 2007
Aww, I thought It was going to be a story about someone getting beat up on the Oprah show with Oprah chanting, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
atb12688Jan 10, 2007
Beating up a rapist is the same as beating up anyone else legally. Its illegal to harass them or assault them and he will probably be charged.
gomez1856Jan 10, 2007
"surprise, surprise, religion isn't to fault. I don't blame Oprah, but people need to realize anything, absolutely anything can be blamed for crime. However, only certain things will be the actual cause of the crime."I hope this wasn't directed as a reply to my post. At no time did I blame religion for anything (other than the organization methodically covering it up and harboring its perpetrators). The perpetrator was responsible for the crime, not the religion.
stevethegreatJan 11, 2007
Sorry but the Greek is paido, from the Greek word paidi (?????), which means child, I know cause I use it every day (it's the same as guy(s) in Greek).
bunnywabbitJan 12, 2007
@ 022A If I beat you up will it stop you from being heterosexual (or homosexual/bisexual)? Violence won't change a paedophile either. For many of them it is an compulsion that is extremely difficult to control. This sounds strange, but it can be likened to other compulsive disorders. However, every case is different and there are many factors. Compulsion is just another sympton, it is not the cause, and you can't simply beat it out of them!@theblooms I never said that 3-4 years in prison was the right amount of punishment. I simply stated that most required 3-4 years of therapy. Most offences actually do not include rape (penetration). 25 years is too long for most offences. Consider a person who has no criminal record. He/she is sexually attracted to boys or girls, but has gone 30-40 years without acting on these feelings. Then a situation occurs where he/she is alone with a child and for a moment, the person gives in to those feelings and touches the child's genitals. They stop almost instantly, realising the awefulness of what they have just done. They turn themselves over to the police and make a full confession. They then seek therapy to help overcome these feelings that have plagued them for their entire teenage/adult life. The above is a description of what happened to one of my past clients. He received a 9 month suspended sentence. Do you think he should have received 25 years in prison? For what it's worth, in my opinion he is at a very low risk of reoffending.I know that retribution for the victim is important...a sense that justice has been served. But it must be fair & balanced. And that is hard to do when faced with a sexual assault on a child. All of our instincts tell us to 'kill the b@st@rd". I help victims of abuse as well, so I know better than most, the trauma they face. I think I've said enough on this topic. I'll leave it at that.