Wednesday 21 August 2013

CAN PEDOPHILES BE CURED?

DURING THE NIGHT THE FOLLOWING COMMENT APPEARED ON THIS BLOG:

 Didn't Bishop Buckley give a roof, bed and shelter to the serial child abuser Martin. Kerr?
CHILD ABUSER - MARTIN KERR
THE SHORT, STRAIGHT ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS: "YES".

BUT LET US NOW TO ON TO DISCUSS THE WHOLE MATTER FULLY, OPENLY AND IN CONTEXT.

MARTIN KERR WAS BORN AND BROUGHT UP IN SORELLA STREET ON THE LOWER FALLS ROAD IN BELFAST. AS A PRIEST IN THE AREA I KNEW HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER WHO WAS NICKNAMED "MASH" KERR. MASH WAS AGGRESSIVE AND ROUGH. WHEN I WAS THERE THE IRA WAR WAS RAGING. MARTIN KERR WAS AN ALTAR BOY AT ST PETER'S CATHEDRAL AND WAS ALSO THE PARISH SCOUT LEADER!

WHAT CAUSES PEDOPHILIA?

EXPERTS HAVE YET TO DISCOVER THE CAUSE OF PEDOPHILIA. MANY EXPERTS IN THE AREA HAVE HIGHLIGHTED THINGS THAT ARE VERY COMMONLY FOUND IN PEDOPHILES: LOW SELF ESTEEM; POOR SOCIAL SKILLS; PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY; COGNITIVE DISTORTION AND IMPAIRED SELF CONCEPT.

ABOUT 5% OF MEN ARE PEDOPHILES AND BETWEEN 0.4% AND 4% OF WOMEN ARE PEDOPHILES. 

OTHER COMMON PEDOPHILE TRAITS ARE: DIFFERENT BRAIN STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION; LOW IQ; A RECORD OF FAILURE IN SCHOOL AND, STRANGELY ENOUGH, PEDOPHILES DO NOT SEEM TO GROW AS TALL AS NON PEDOPHILES.

MARTIN KERR HAS PROVEN HIMSELF TO BE A SERIAL PEDOPHILE AND ONE WHO DOES NOT WANT HELP.

WHEN HE WAS FIRST IN PRISON HE WROTE TO ME AND ASKED ME TO VISIT HIM IN PRISON. SHOULD I HAVE REFUSED? WHAT ABOUT THE GOSPEL - WHERE IT SAYS: "I WAS IN PRISON AND YOU VISITED ME".

WHEN HE GOT OUT OF PRISON HE TOLD ME THAT HE WANTED ME TO HELP HIM TO CHANGE AND NEVER HURT A CHILD AGAIN. I AM A CHRISTIAN AND A PRIEST. I WANT TO HELP PROTECT CHILDREN AND MAKE THE WORLD SAFER FOR THEM. OF COURSE I WANTED MARTIN KERR TO CHANGE HIS WAYS AND STAY AWAY FROM CHILDREN.

HE CAME TO STAY WITH ME FOR A FEW DAYS IN LARNE. "I WAS A STRANGER AND YOU MADE ME WELCOME. I WAS HUNGRY AND YOU FED ME."

I THEN GOT HIM A FLAT IN THE MAIN STREET OF LARNE - A BUSINESS AREA - WHERE NO FAMILIES OR CHILDREN LIVED.

I GOT HIM TO EMBARK ON A PEDOPHILE MANAGEMENT COURSE WHICH WAS ORGANISED BY THE SOCIAL SERVICES.

I ATTENDED THREE MONTHLY CHILD PROTECTION MEETINGS WITH THE POLICE, THE SOCIAL SERVICES AND THE PAROLE SERVICES - AS MARTIN KERR'S "WATCH MAN".

I ENCOURAGED HIM TO PRAY; TO REPENT OF HIS SINS AGAINST CHILDREN; TO AVOID ALL PLACES WHERE THERE WERE CHILDREN.

I ADVISED HIM NOT TO HAVE A COMPUTER OR A CAMERA. MY CONGREGATION IN LARNE AND I TOOK ON THE TASK OF WATCHING HIM AND WATCHING HIS MOVEMENTS. 

WE DID NOT LEAVE HIM ALONE ALL THE TIME - IN CASE ALONENESS AND LONLINESS DROVE HIM TO RE-OFFEND.

WE DID ALL WE COULD FOR HIM. BUT ALL TO NO AVAIL.

HE RE-OFFENDED. AS SOON AS I HEARD HE DID IT WAS I WHO REPORTED HIM TO THE POLICE. HE WAS IMMEDIATELY ARRESTED AND SENT TO PRISON. 

AND I REALISED, SADLY, THAT MARTIN KERR WAS ONE OF THOSE PEDOPHILES WHO DID NOT WANT HELP. HE DID NOT ACCEPT DEEP DOWN THE GREAT EVIL HE HAD DONE. HE WAS LIKE MANY PEDOPHILES - HE WANTED TO FOOL HIMSELF. THERE WAS NOTHING MORE I COULD DO FOR HIM.

TODAY I BELIEVE HE LIVES IN SOUTH BELFAST. I HAVE HEARD THAT FATHER GERRY REYNOLDS FROM CLONARD MONASTERY IN BELFAST MINISTERS TO HIM?   I HOPE THAT FATHER REYNOLDS IS NOT BEING TAKEN IN.
FATHER GERRY REYNOLDS


PEDOPHILIA IS ONE OF THOSE TOPICS THAT MOST PEOPLE APPEAR NOT ABLE TO DISCUSS WITHOUT BECOMING HYSTERICAL AND AGGRESSIVE.

HYSTERIA AND AGGRESSION DOES NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. WE MUST BE RATIONAL - EVEN ABOUT SUCH A DIFFICULT TOPIC.

THE TRUTH IS THIS:

A SMALL NUMBER OF PEDOPHILES WANT HELP AND DO NOT WANT TO RE-OFFEND.

MOST PEDOPHILES DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE.

PEDOPHILIA - AS WELL AS BEING A CRIME IS A MENTAL ILLNESS.

THOSE WHO WANT HELP SHOULD BE HELPED.

THOSE WHO DO NOT WANT HELP - NEED TO BE WATCHED, MONITORED, MADE LIVE AWAY FROM CHILDREN, CAUGHT, PUNISHED ETC.

IS THERE AN ARGUMENT FOR LOCKING THE WORST ONES AWAY PERMANENTLY? THERE PROBABLY IS.  




7 comments:

  1. You did what was appropriate to support Martin as a human being and a Christian. Can Pedophilia be cured? I dont know. Perhaps it is a bit like Alcoholism. I was an active alcoholic for 20 years more or less I now am sober for 13. To or three attempts failed and circumstances led me to the last attempt which thankfully worked. What made the last attempt different? Again I don't know. All I do know is that the Grace of God helped me & in some way I chose to cooperate with common sense. All being said and done children and vulnerable people in general can never knowingly or by lack of action be put in harms way-Sean

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  2. Thank you Sean.

    Your points about getting help and protecting children hit the nail on the head.

    Pat

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  3. Ask the Romans, surely the are the experts. Are they not the largest child abuse network in the world? I thought the UN declared that to be the case!!

    Frank

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  4. No. There's no magic cure that can make the sexual attraction to children go away, and up to 50 percent of convicted pedophiles re-offend. But like drug addiction, gambling addiction, and other destructive obsessions, pedophilia can be successfully treated, if pedophiles are motivated to stop their behavior.

    The most common treatment for pedophiles is "relapse prevention," a lifelong therapy similar to alcoholism treatment that conditions them to live with their obsession but not act on it. Some clinics offer aversive conditioning, or "shame therapy," which forces pedophiles to associate their urges with something painful or unpleasant, such as an electric shock.

    There are also drugs that can suppress a pedophile's sex drive. With the right combination of drugs and therapy, pedophiles can learn to resist their urges, said Dr. Fred Berlin, founder of the Johns Hopkins Sexual Disorders Clinic. "We're not going to be able to put out the fire," he said, "but we can do a nice job of containing [it]."

    If anyone can compare your mature actions with the actions of the criminal bishops of the Roman church, then they are irrational!!

    A professional.

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    1. You have made an excellent contribution.

      Dr Berlin is right - we all need to work together to manage the fire.

      Pat

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  5. Thank you contributor-The best bit of common sense I read in a long time-Sean

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  6. Seems like you did your best Pat, and in a sensible child centered/protective way. Much better that paedophiles are actively monitored, as you tried, with relevant professionals involved, than that they are aggressively criticised, go "underground", and continue reoffending.
    I'm a retired professional with long experience of child sex offenders. Very few can be "cured", like a simple illness. Like an addiction it has to be actively managed, and such abusers are incredibly devious and self delusional in denying/minimising their abusive behaviours.

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