To be a fly on that wall...

Interesting change re: "Psychforums works hard to ensure that this forum is law abiding. Moderators will report evidence of illegal activity to the police." I assumed this was always the case, but suddenly mentioning it like is interesting. And how's that work? "Hi, I'm the site admin for a psychological counselling website and I only just noticed we have a lot of people seeking counselling for fetishes which are kinda illegal. What? I only just noticed ya. Me? WHAT?!" As far back as Feb 2006 this board has had pedo threads. That's not "working very hard ensuring the forum stays within the law."

If you only just noticed the illegal stuff you're blind, deaf, and dumb like "Tommy." Otherwise you've been aiding and abetting all along. I don't see how this site can continue to do what it does while playing cop-wannabe reporting its users. Of course, "evidence" might be the key word in play. A user claiming something is not evidence. If we reported every claim of illegality we saw online the country'd be overrun by rabbits.

And lest we forget, these days even the law-enforcers are criminals. NSA ring any bells?

Obviously, common sense has to prevail. This forum is very important as one of the few places people can come to, and find support for sexual inclinations that would be harmful or illegal if acted upon.

People need to be confident that getting things off their chest here isn't going to result in an early morning knock on their door by the local plod, not least because in some cases, the support of this community could make the difference between someone offending or not.

I don't want people who wouldn't offend scared away, and I certainly don't want potential offenders who could be helped scared away. This isn't just about the posters, it's about potential victims too.

Obviously, if someone makes a post like: "Hi, I'm Fred, and I'm currently abusing my 6 year old child," ...then he needs to be reported ASAP.

Shocked! Shocked I am to find out gambling is going on in this establishment.

HesDeltanCaptain wrote:Interesting change re: "Psychforums works hard to ensure that this forum is law abiding. Moderators will report evidence of illegal activity to the police." I assumed this was always the case, but suddenly mentioning it like is interesting. And how's that work? "Hi, I'm the site admin for a psychological counselling website and I only just noticed we have a lot of people seeking counselling for fetishes which are kinda illegal. What? I only just noticed ya. Me? WHAT?!" As far back as Feb 2006 this board has had pedo threads. That's not "working very hard ensuring the forum stays within the law."

You're sharp. We just put that up today.

Just for clarification, this new notice does not represent any sort of change in site policy nor the manner in which this subforum will be moderated. It's a more of a clarification and explanation to new (and existing) members about what this forum is all about. We understand that the vast majority of members are here for the right reasons, but from time to time we get people wandering through who seem to think that 'anything goes'. The most important part (to me) is the part that is not bolded: This forum is intended to be a place where people can support each other in finding healing and healthy ways of functioning.

I wholeheartedly agree with what Graveyard wrote:

Graveyard76 wrote:People need to be confident that getting things off their chest here isn't going to result in an early morning knock on their door by the local plod, not least because in some cases, the support of this community could make the difference between someone offending or not.

I don't want people who wouldn't offend scared away, and I certainly don't want potential offenders who could be helped scared away.

Moderators are keenly aware that the majority of members here are supportive and helpful to each other in preventing harmful and potentially illegal behavior, and are not looking to change this. This is a user-driven and not a moderator-driven forum, and shall remain that way.

Anyone who sees any "illegal stuff" happening on the site is welcome to make a report and mods/admins will look into it. I think most of you are aware that an offensive post can be reported by clicking on the red exclamation button in the top right hand corner of any given post. Similarly, offensive or inappropriate private messages can be reported to moderators in the exact same manner. We're not trying to turn this into a forum for tattle-tales, we're more interested that everyone here feels like this is a supportive and ultimately safe place to sort through issues related to Paraphilias.


(If anyone is confused as to what we are talking about, it's the newly-expanded pink header at the top of the forum page entitled "Forum Rules").

Thanks for the clarification, Wichita =) I value this forum for doing what none other I've come across has ever done by providing a safe place for these discussions. I enjoy giving my input as helping others makes me feel valued and it's been an immense help to me as well.

My question as far as reporting illegal activity is what about those who have or are currently struggling with CP addiction? Will those threads or users be reported as well, or is it more so only those who have caused direct harm to a child?

I'm just curious because I've seen a lot of discussions involving CP.

revolutionex wrote:I'm just curious because I've seen a lot of discussions involving CP.

Yes, this is a very important issue that needs to be addressed. In the past, I asked someone about it (I think jasmin back when she was a mod in this forum), and she said that admissions of CP possession would not be reported (if I remember correctly, admissions of distribution of said content might be a different story). And of course, admissions of molestation will be reported. There used to be a member here who admitted to a past act of molestation that he'd been convicted of and served time for. He hadn't made it clear that it was a crime he'd already been convicted of in the past, and the police showed up at his house one day. He had to spend the day in the police station being interviewed.

Anyway, I'm sure we'd all appreciate clarification about the CP issue. It's only fair to everyone who's here and who may join in the future that we know what is safe to say here and what's not.

I think protection of (potential) victims should be given priority over law-breaking. Over the years that I've been reading/posting here I've seen two guys saying 'I wanna rape kids' and 'you know how easy it is to get hold of orphans in Eastern Europe?' No suggestion of them having actually committed an offence, but sufficiently creepy and detailed that I had genuine concerns that they might act on those fantasies. And so I reported them. Conversely there have been guys here who are looking to give up CP. They might not even be paedophiles; they may just be addicted to porn and the thrill of taboo. But in their case they're confessing to having broken the law (jurisdiction-dependent, of course).

A more variegated approach to this policy would be advisable, as child safety should be the number one priority. Furthermore, if we adopt the stance that viewing (rather than producing) CP is not a victimless crime because it fuels demand, then we should also accept that a policy that dissuades those who want to give up viewing CP from seeking support here then we indirectly contribute to demand, as we're not part of the solution.

Common sense is the bottom line, but common sense is not the traditional approach to subjects that centre on attraction to minors.