Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart
Now, I am not saying that there aren't paedophiles. There are. I am saying that the Media (and in particular the Press) have made us as a society think there are more paedophiles than there are.
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is it not possibly the case that their numbers are either the same, or have increased due to more varied ways that they can distribute and/or be found out? the internet has completely revolutionised the way in which we communicate and the amount of information we leave as a shadow of our exploits. people can now find out pretty much anything they want about you given the skills and tools without even getting out of their seat these days.
perhaps there seems more of them because they are easier to track and find. maybe there are more of them because the information is easier to come by than it was 15 years ago. either way, we have a duty to protect children, regardless of whether the perpetrator is alive or dead. as was mentioned before, 'just viewing' an image is not 'just viewing' - a child was abused to gain that image. someone abused that child. others know about that person and the ring expands with other people possibly abusing other children. child abuse is child abuse, be it taking a photo, making a video or doing it behind closed doors with no recording or the event at all.
no one on this forum can know without any reasonable doubt one way of the other if Savile did or didn't abuse any children unless they were in the room when the alleged events took place. the point is, there is no harm in pursuing allegations to find evidence either way. it's better to spend time looking into this to find no one was abused, rather than ignore it and be ignorant to those who suffered. to ignore it would only send a message to abusers that could harden their belief that they can get away with it. to believe we know how many paedophiles are out there is silly - if we knew that, we would have to have caught them all.