There are pedos who have those urges but have had enough self-restraint to not act on them. If they confess to having those and ask for help, and there are no hints that they have ever acted on them, what would you do with them?
Keeping their mouths shut in fear of being judged harshly for something they presumably can't help - having those desires and urges - even if they have not acted on those desires can presumably expose them to things they find hard to deal with, like maybe friends etc leaving them alone with their children or even trying to get them do something like act as a babysitter, so it would be better if they could confess and then be helped at least to keep their distance from children, the same way you might help an alcoholic to not be exposed to alcohol.
And then there are those who have acted on them. With them I'd probably kept the sentence depending on how badly. One who never talked or confessed and kept on doing it, harsh sentences seem quite appropriate, but milder ones if he confessed, had managed to stop doing anything worse than maybe watching that type of porn, and started looking for help when he could not stop in spite of trying.
Because to some extent giving them nothing but harsh judgement can make them worse as a group and a problem when they feel they dare never talk about it to anybody, which can cause them to hide something they maybe can't really fight alone and they escalate to where they start harming children in real life instead of "just" imagining doing it.
It's worse than alcoholism or other substance abuse problems, but a recovering alcoholic or somebody who has those tendencies but has managed to stay away from even starting can be an otherwise mostly normal and useful member of society, but a habitual drunk is likely to destroy not only his own life but often several lives around him, or potentially even kill people because of his problem, so it makes sense to help those alcoholics who can be helped, and the first step in that IS that they are willing to confess and admit they have that problem.
So I think it would make sense if we allowed enough leeway to pedos that they'd dare do the same thing, at least if they haven't acted on it yet. Help them to live a life in which they do not get constantly tempted to act on it because they could do things like stay away from children without that destroying the rest of their lives.
At least when we are talking about those pedos who actually have those urges. Seems to nowhere near all people who sexually abuse children even are specifically and mainly attracted to children. Many are simply bad people who will sexually use a child if a child is what they can get at, but are equally likely to abuse the elderly, a drunk, well, anything available when they get the chance and the urge to have sex.
Those latter types need no mercy because even if they have a problem with their obsession with sex they should be able to satisfy that need by doing it only with other adults who are willing participants.
There are pedos who have those urges but have had enough self-restraint to not act on them. If they confess to having those and ask for help, and there are no hints that they have ever acted on them, what would you do with them?
Keeping their mouths shut in fear of being judged harshly for something they presumably can't help - having those desires and urges - even if they have not acted on those desires can presumably expose them to things they find hard to deal with, like maybe friends etc leaving them alone with their children or even trying to get them do something like act as a babysitter, so it would be better if they could confess and then be helped at least to keep their distance from children, the same way you might help an alcoholic to not be exposed to alcohol.
And then there are those who have acted on them. With them I'd probably kept the sentence depending on how badly. One who never talked or confessed and kept on doing it, harsh sentences seem quite appropriate, but milder ones if he confessed, had managed to stop doing anything worse than maybe watching that type of porn, and started looking for help when he could not stop in spite of trying.
Because to some extent giving them nothing but harsh judgement can make them worse as a group and a problem when they feel they dare never talk about it to anybody, which can cause them to hide something they maybe can't really fight alone and they escalate to where they start harming children in real life instead of "just" imagining doing it.
It's worse than alcoholism or other substance abuse problems, but a recovering alcoholic or somebody who has those tendencies but has managed to stay away from even starting can be an otherwise mostly normal and useful member of society, but a habitual drunk is likely to destroy not only his own life but often several lives around him, or potentially even kill people because of his problem, so it makes sense to help those alcoholics who can be helped, and the first step in that IS that they are willing to confess and admit they have that problem.
So I think it would make sense if we allowed enough leeway to pedos that they'd dare do the same thing, at least if they haven't acted on it yet. Help them to live a life in which they do not get constantly tempted to act on it because they could do things like stay away from children without that destroying the rest of their lives.
At least when we are talking about those pedos who actually have those urges. Seems to nowhere near all people who sexually abuse children even are specifically and mainly attracted to children. Many are simply bad people who will sexually use a child if a child is what they can get at, but are equally likely to abuse the elderly, a drunk, well, anything available when they get the chance and the urge to have sex.
Those latter types need no mercy because even if they have a problem with their obsession with sex they should be able to satisfy that need by doing it only with other adults who are willing participants.