Kieran Creaven at it again..

I'd want to kill myself after a few years of that.

He will go on to reoffend upon release, he should be dashed upon the rocks. This kind of thing is why we should have an occasional death penalty case.

Yeah I think I remember that case, didn't he get a bit of a hiding before the Guards arrived?

Undeniably so. I feel genuine pity for those people who are paedophiles who've never acted on the urges or impulses. For those on thread who don't seem to understand, it's a sexual preference not somebody who's committed a sexual crime. I've no doubt there are thousands of people in Ireland who have those attractions who have never done anything untoward, what an awful awful situation that must be.

To be crystal clear, I feel ZERO sympathy and nothing but disgust to those who DO act on those impulses.

EDIT: I quoted the wrong user who'd quoted the poster who'd originally said the above. Point still stands.

Yeah even writing a post about it here is probably viewed with suspicion. It's not talked about even though it must be a very real part of our society. Nevertheless I feel I must state that I am fortunate enough not to be in that position, and don't know of anybody who openly is, as you said it's not something anybody would admit to. In all likelihood I do know somebody in that situation who I just don't know that that's how they feel. The fear must be immense, not something anybody could admit to, even to closest friends or family. To be honest, I don't know how I'd react if a close friend told me that's how they felt. I'd like to think I'd accept that they can't help it etc etc, but it's one of the last taboos. I think Louis Theroux did a documentary some years back on it.

Do you really believe those who don't act out on their urges in real life also don't look for images and videos of it on the dark web to get themselves off?

Well thats what I believe they do and behind every image and vidoe is a real victim.

Calling it a sexual preference is a bit of a strange one.

I have to believe that, yes. I can't believe the country is awash with people searching for illicit images of children. There's got to be people who are aware of their sexual attractions, know the morality of it, do their all not to succumb to it. There must be people with a strong moral compass who are unfortunate enough to be paedophiles.

Also I'm no fool and I'm sure there are many people who've never acted on impulses in real life who do indeed get off on what they can find online, and I'm in total agreement with you that behind every image and video is a victim, of course there is. I'm not excusing or condoning it in any fashion.

I'm sorry if my wording is wrong, sexual preference? What would you call it? Sexual attraction maybe?

Heterosexual. ADJECTIVE

1. (of a person) sexually attracted to people of the opposite sex.

paedophile

[ˈpiːdə(ʊ)fʌɪl]

NOUN

1. a person who is sexually attracted to children.

Should the terminology be changed? To I dunno, paedosexual?? Which it shouldn't be of course because it links sexuality to children and all the connotations are just wrong. Just happens that the impact of the word paedophile automatically is presumptuous of guilt of wrongdoing I think.

EDIT:

Also, absolutely if it was confided to me by somebody about their sexual attraction to minors, you can be damn sure I won't be leaving my children in their care, regardless of how well I know the person.

He may very well be there now Andrea. I was speaking to a chap that works as a prison guard in Castlerea. It was while there that this was the practice. He was in Portlaoise and Castlerea this of course was possibly pre trial

He was only released from Castlerea 3 days before this.

Its hard as a human being let alone a parent to read this article and not be enraged

But it's only the tip of the iceberg. This Creaven scumbag is no better. He might have had a better job but he's every bit as bad

Yip, ftom some reading there, seems they are sending them elsewhere now as well.

The vast majority of men these vigilante groups catch seem to be either isolated loners living on benefits or people with learning difficulties or on the autism spectrum.

Creaven was very much out of the ordinary in being middle class, well educated, well travelled, with a high profile job etc (I guess the argument would be that someone with even a modicum of intelligence wouldn't be stupid enough to be entrapped in a sting by a bunch of semi literate yobs and chavs). It's debatable whether these guys are doing any good for society whatsoever.

They did indeed but I'd say they simply got lucky. The vast majority of men they catch seem to be very isolated types, not very intelligent, often on benefits for years etc. Creaven was completely out of the ordinary - it was good that he was caught and jailed, but his high profile was very unusual for these type of groups. The vigilantes themselves are usually from run down areas or rough housing estates, as can be seen in any documentary about them.

It's debatable how much the isolated loner / misfit types pose to children or to society. Perhaps the only people who will even engage with these individuals on social media or give them the time of day are the vigilantes themselves? Therefore the groups are 'preventing' crimes that were probably never even going to happen.