unparalleled legal uncertainty of cp

## unparalleled legal uncertainty of cp

#### 11 September 2019
from celibate pedophiles

### ethan edwards

| Is it only 5% who get caught, or 95%? Ethan Edwards is the co-founder of Virtuous Pedophiles. Blog posts reflect his personal views, and are not statements from the organization. I've argued that CP viewing should not be a crime, on civil liberties grounds. This post focuses on what happens after a person has looked. What sort of crime is this and what sort of enforcement can a person expect? It is highly uncertain, and I would suggest that the uncertainty is greater than for any other crime. A lot of people look at CP. A UK estimate is 500,000. If we guess that only 25 million of the 33 million British males have the temptation provided by private internet access, that's 2 percent. That's a lot of people. We should compare it to crimes of similar or greater frequency. Unless someone is arrested, it is a private crime. I don't just mean that the perpetrator might not be identified, but that there is no victim. In this it is unlike theft, where the victim knows a crime has taken place even if they don't know who did it. If CP downloading is detected, it is based on inferences in the vast electronic realm of the internet that lay people simply don't understand. Like most things on the internet, the evidence stays around forever. On the other hand, for crimes in the physical world, you have a sense of the evidence and know that the chance of detection goes down as time passes. The fact that it is a private crime and that those who are not caught choose overwhelmingly not to report their private viewing means those who commit it have no intuitive sense of how likely they are to be caught. News reports are only about those who have been caught, and there is no sense of how many silent ones there are who do not get caught. Is it only 5% who get caught, or 95%? There are technologies that can greatly reduce your chance of detection, such as use of Tor. Most people will be uncertain whether they have used this correctly or whether they have some other vulnerability (such as malware on their computer). It is also a crime with huge penalties. If you get a ticket for speeding or are caught having cheated on your income taxes, you will likely pay a fine. If you've downloaded CP you might well be facing a long prison sentence. What's more, it has huge social penalties. You won't lose all your friends if you are caught speeding or cheating on your taxes. The next problem is that it isn't always clear if you've broken the law or not. The legal system does not allow independent investigation and categorization of the illegal images that people possess that lead to their being convicted — almost always on the basis of a plea bargain. It is understandable that the system does not want images circulated for prurient interest, but surely some group of professionals that is totally independent of government control could be trusted to not share the actual images they study. Borderline cases include youthful-looking adult women, or actual minors with bodies that can easily pass for 18. They include girls posed provocatively but with their private parts covered and not engaged in any sexual activity. They could include video that is legal in its entirety (such as video from nudist camps) but that could be considered illegal if the editor crops it to focus on the genital areas. They could include cartoons or drawings. They could include teen selfies. Case law is unsettled on these borderline cases and varies between jurisdictions. Many of those who ordered the Azov videos felt confident that they were buying something legal. The consequences of being wrong were not a fine, even a large fine like $5,000. They were prison time and further time on the sex offender registry. One principle of a free society is that there can be no ex post facto laws. Another is that the law has to be sufficiently clear that someone can know whether they are breaking it or not. In their latest package of anti-pedophile bills, the UK powers-that-be essentially said that it would technically make illegal things that are innocent, and they asked the citizens to trust them to figure out who were the actual bad guys. That position strikes at the heart of a society governed by laws. In practical terms, some people write to Virtuous Pedophiles who have looked at CP. They shouldn't have done it, just like people shouldn't commit any crimes. They now report living in fear of the police knocking on the door. But in this case, I can do little to assuage their anxiety. I really have no idea how likely it is they will be investigated, or how the chances of that will vary over time. It feels to me like this uncertainty is unparalleled in comparison to any other frequent crime. A few others report that they only looked at innocent video of young girls, for instance dancing or doing gymnastics. But they still fear the knock on the door, and I can't be totally confident reassuring them. What if some illegal images were bundled with a download and they don't even know they have them? If law enforcement decides they are a pedophile, with no evidence of other wrongdoing, then they are subject to harassment, at the least. About the author: Ethan Edwards is a pseudonym. I am a pedophile, always celibate, and I have never seen child pornography. My attraction is strongest to girls around 4 years old, but I am also attracted to girls and women up through their 30s or beyond. Now in my late 60s, I'm divorced and living alone. I was married for over 10 years and was heavily involved with raising my 3 daughters. For most of my career I was a successful software engineer. I am very unusual for a pedophile in that I didn't realize that I was one until I was in my 50s—but it was there all along. I am angry that we all must remain silent or risk losing everything. That was my mindset when I co-founded Virtuous Pedophiles in 2012. I soon learned of the the terror of the typical pedophile who realizes as a teenager that his attraction isn't going to go away, who has nowhere to turn for help. The injustice I am most passionate about is the harsh legal penalties imposed on pedophiles who passively view illegal images of children. I stepped down from my role as a director of Virtuous Pedophiles early in 2024 and am delighted to pass the mantle on to a younger generation. This content was taken from Ethan's longstanding blog, Celibate Pedophiles. Some of the titles and taglines have been edited for their inclusion at thepword. You can see an earlier version of the blog at the wayback machine. |

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childlike self-concepts, pt. 1: an anecdotal introduction |  | untreated: meet the spouses |  | thread: what doesn't harm kids?
bly Academics have begun to study autopedophilia, with a focus on sexual arousal from the idea of being childlike. But there's a much broader phenomenon going on here, and I'm right in the middle of it. |  | untreated team Two pedophiles and their long term partners discuss how their relationships began, how minor attraction was disclosed, and what happened next. |  | bly It's important to understand what really harms children so we aim to prevent the right things.

childlike self-concepts, pt. 1: an anecdotal introduction bly Academics have begun to study autopedophilia, with a focus on sexual arousal from the idea of being childlike. But there's a much broader phenomenon going on here, and I'm right in the middle of it.
untreated: meet the spouses untreated team Two pedophiles and their long term partners discuss how their relationships began, how minor attraction was disclosed, and what happened next.
thread: what doesn't harm kids? bly It's important to understand what really harms children so we aim to prevent the right things.