Is the prurient behavior of sex predators an uncontrollable act, like an illness, or a premeditated choice?

Question

I am concerned about the multitude of convicted sexual offenders in our neighborhoods and after watching Dateline realize how frequently they continue their behavior.

Answer 1

I just look at them as malfunctioning units. Anytime you hear of a kid getting kidnapped by one of these pedophiles, it is almost ALWAYS a repeat offender who got let out of his cage.

Where the law did finally draw the line however, was in Austin Texas, where a man served almost a decade for killing a public tree. Justice, gotta love it.

------------------Story of Treaty Oak and "Molester."

In 1989, in an act of deliberate vandalism, the tree was poisoned with the powerful hardwood-herbicide, Velpar. Lab tests showed the quantity of herbicide used would have been sufficient to kill 100 trees.[1] The incident sparked community outrage, national news reports, and a torrent of home-made "Get Well" cards from children that were displayed on the fence around the park. Texas industrialist and former Reform Party candidate for U.S. President, Ross Perot wrote a 'blank check' to fund efforts to save the tree.[2] DuPont, the herbicide manufacturer, established a $10,000 reward to capture the poisoner. The vandal, Paul Cullen, was apprehended after reportedly bragging about poisoning the tree as a means of casting a spell.[3] Cullen was convicted of felony criminal mischief and sentenced to serve nine years in prison.

The intensive efforts to save the Treaty Oak included the replacement of soil around its roots and the installation of a system to mist the tree with spring water. Although arborists expected the tree to die, the Treaty Oak became a Texas survivor. However, almost two-thirds of the tree died and more than half of its crown had to be pruned
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Too bad we don't put that much effort into saving abused children. Talk about a "confused" world.

Your kids may be getting molested, but the Treaty Oak Killer was locked behind bars.

When a "human" can look a child in the eye, and destroy that child to a fate worse than death, there is no rehab possibliltiy for the preditor.

Pedophiles, can't be fixed. Send them back to God for a retread.

Answer 2

Their behavior IS controllable - look at how much trouble many of them go through traveling hundreds of miles and thankfully getting caught. They are sick individuals who have no desire to behave in an acceptable manner. They see nothing wrong with destroying a child for their own narcissistic pleasure. They are vile and awful wastes of space. They always always always show signs and drop hints of their deranged thoughts. There is a pathetic group of individuals who profit off of these perverts and exploit children at the same time. It is a world-wide problem, children get bought and sold as slaves for these sickos to use for their pleasure, are photographed, filmed, abused beyond belief, I could go on, but you get the idea. There is no "cure" for them, nor are there ANY excuses. They are not satisfied with their pathetic existences, they should self exterminate before harming anyone else. They know they are scum, they admit to it, they deny their intentions, they are a bowl of contradictions - why drive 500 miles to bring "her" some dinner? Please. I applaud everyone who fights against these creeps, and it is imperative that parents watch their children and know who they are with and where they are at all times. Parents are key, parents who don't harm their own children that is.

Answer 3

There is huge disagreement about this right now. It's a nature vs. nurture issue, and acts very much like an addiction. Because they get an endorphin rush off of it, it's something that they continue to want to do, and doing it more makes them want to do it even more.

As anyone who has studied drug addiction knows, it is always possible to choose not to continue doing it, but making that choice becomes tougher and tougher as the addiction strengthens.

Answer 4

In a lot of cases, both.

Some can't figure out how to stop doing what they've started, like a compulsion; others choose to take such actions in a thought-out, deliberated way.