Guardian: Paedophiles are 'ordinary members of society' who need moral support
By Damian Thompson
Telegraph.co.uk
January 3rd, 2013
Britain's most persecuted minority have found a new advocate. An article this morning in the Guardian by feature writer Jon Henley addresses misconceptions about paedophiles, quoting one "expert" who believes that: "It is the quality of the relationship that matters".
No, this is not not some sick send-up on my part. "If there's no bullying, no coercion, no abuse of power," says Tom O'Carroll, "if the child enters into the relationship voluntarily … the evidence shows there need be no harm."
O'Carroll is a former chairman of the Paedophile Information Exchange with a conviction for distributing indecent photographs. The Guardian acknowledges this, but gives him a respectful hearing and points out that "some academics do not dispute" his views. For example:
A Dutch study published in 1987 found that a sample of boys in paedophilic relationships felt positively about them. And a major if still controversial 1998-2000 meta-study suggests – as J Michael Bailey of Northwestern University, Chicago, says – that such relationships, entered into voluntarily, are "nearly uncorrelated with undesirable outcomes".
Most people find that idea impossible. But writing last year in the peer-reviewed Archives of Sexual Behaviour, Bailey said that while he also found the notion "disturbing", he was forced to recognise that "persuasive evidence for the harmfulness of paedophilic relationships does not yet exist".
Remember "It is the quality of the relationship that matters".
One of Australia's most infamous Paedophiles Dennis Ferguson.
Henley attaches a lot of weight to the views of Sarah Goode, a senior lecturer at the University of Winchester:For Goode, though, broader, societal change is needed. "Adult sexual attraction to children is part of the continuum of human sexuality; it's not something we can eliminate," she says. "If we can talk about this rationally – acknowledge that yes, men do get sexually attracted to children, but no, they don't have to act on it – we can maybe avoid the hysteria. We won't label paedophiles monsters; it won't be taboo to see and name what is happening in front of us."
We can help keep children safe, Goode argues, "by allowing paedophiles to be ordinary members of society, with moral standards like everyone else", and by "respecting and valuing those paedophiles who choose self-restraint". Only then will men tempted to abuse children "be able to be honest about their feelings, and perhaps find people around them who could support them and challenge their behaviour before children get harmed".
I'll leave you to make up your minds about this argument, but here's a point to bear in mind. It was precisely this sort of "enlightened" attitude that persuaded Catholic bishops in the 1980s to adopt a mild, nuanced approach to suspicions of clerical paedophilia.
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Dennis Ferguson's last words: 'This will show them'
CAROLINE MARCUS
January 06, 201312:00AM
PAEDOPHILE Dennis Ferguson chose to end his own life by suddenly stopping his diabetes medication, telling supporters he blamed police for making his life a living hell.
"This will show them," Australia's most notorious sex offender said in the days before he died at his Surry Hills flat, a Department of Housing property on Poplar Ave, a stone's throw from Sydney Grammar and other schools and childcare centres. His body laid undiscovered for several days before being found last Sunday.
Ferguson's biggest advocate, the Justice Action group campaigner Brett Collins, says police continuously "undermined" the 64-year-old's efforts to redeem himself and tipped off media about his whereabouts on at least two occasions.
"He said to people (when he stopped taking insulin), 'That will show them'," Mr Collins said.
"What we're saying is Dennis Ferguson was killed by the police."
Police last week said the circumstances surrounding Ferguson's death were not suspicious.
Friends say Ferguson left no suicide note and was feeling confident about his upcoming court case, after being caught trying to sign up to do volunteer work with children in Bondi Junction in October and November.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal Ferguson had been living in a 10th-floor unit for at least two years, within walking distance of five childcare centres and eight schools, including one for children with special needs, in Bourke St. His public housing was being subsidised by taxpayers, with Housing NSW charging rent of between 25-30 per cent of his disability pension.
Ferguson, who was jailed for kidnapping and sexually assaulting two boys and a girl in 1987 in company with other men, was born legally blind.
He was admitted to St Vincent's Hospital on December 14 for 10 days with a bladder infection but was discharged.
Why did the experts locate this man in amongst so many children,what were they doing?
Jian-Carlo Destefano, a 20-year-old student whose father lives on the same floor where Ferguson resided, said his dad had warned his neighbour to stay away from his two sons.
"We generally stayed away from him whenever we saw him," Mr Destefano said. "He was kind of hermit-ish."
Another neighbour, who did not want to be identified, said while some tenants wanted Ferguson out of the building once they found out he was living there, others pitied him.
"It must have been Christmas Eve and I came home and found some biscuits in front of my door and I knew it was him," the neighbour said. "Some people tried to start some altercations but were put down by others who felt sorry for the man."
Public sentiment towards Ferguson was far from sympathetic. Former neighbour Sean Killgallon - who famously made a coffin for Ferguson when he found out he was living in his Ryde street in 2009 - expressed relief over his death. "I'm just happy that he's not going to prey on young, innocent children anymore," Mr Killgallon said.
Ferguson's latest court case represented the second time he had been caught trying to land charity work that could put him in contact with children, after The Daily Telegraph revealed he was selling biscuits for the RSPCA under a false name. The charity has overhauled its screening policy as a result.
