[devonin]

Of course I don't condone abuse. My dad and step-mother both worked their careers with the Children's Aid Society, my mother was a social worker who now works for Red Cross. I know how bad abuse can get better than almost anybody who wasn't abused themselves. (And of course, can't understand it AT ALL compared to people who've been abused themselves)

I also think that as a society, we really ought to start making a distinction between pedophilia and ephebophilia, and treat the one as much more serious than the other. I think we ought to look at methods of treatment and coping strategies over criminalizing.

I think that there can be pedophiles who never, at any point in their life, threaten the safety of an actual child, and while the risk that they -might- is serious and something that society should be concerned about. This is a world where even most religions that oppose homosexuality say it's totally morally fine to be homosexual as long as you don't actually -do- anything homosexual, but pedophiles are essentially not even presumed -going to be guilty- but are presumed -guilty already-

It's a tough question, because the safety of kids is really something you shouldn't take lightly in any way, but if someone hasn't actually done anything to harm anybody yet, the fact that they -might- seems like a pretty uncomfortable reason to prosecute them.