We are Chameleons

Good evening all,

I had occasion this evening to run across the programme “24 Hours in Police Custody” which can be found on channel 4, if you’re in the UK.
Check it out here:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/24-h ... /57099-003

For those that haven’t or can’t watch it, I shall provide a bit of a synopsis. The idea relates to the fact that in UK law, you have 24 hours after an arrest to build a case for further remand. The two arrests showcased here were to do with paedophilia, at least nominally.

The first guy was arrested for indecent images and his computers were seized. In point of fact, he was found to have looked at some pretty ###$ up $#%^, which he later did not deny. But I was struck by a few moments of his evidence, when he was asked, “have you told anyone about your interest in children? Have you tried to seek help?” His response was, “no, but I wish I could.” One can make all the arguments one wishes as to how genuine this desire for help actually was…but if true, it represents the exact problem which many people battle with daily. We dare not seek help. I do not and will never defend those who view child pornography, but there is absolutely no doubt that the stigma against individuals with such desires is virulent indeed.

I know that it is merely an exercise in pointless philosophising, but I do wonder how many of those like him, found with thousands of images and seemingly no ability to break the cycle could have been helped if intervention was affected at a young age? What could have been done to prevent him spending the next 5 years in prison for crimes which, yes, were quite heinous. One can argue that this question is more broad than that – that most of the prison population may have been spared there own fate if they had been given help. Maybe so, but I do believe the worst cry for help is the one which, even when uttered, is known to be a hopeless one.

The second suspect had reportedly groped a 10-year-old girl outside a school. She described a similar car and clothes to that of the suspect. When they raided his home, they found no illegal images – his computers had nothing on them. He had no priors for sex crimes, but they did find a blow-up doll and a stuffed duck with a vaginal insert. Yes…a duck! Surely one could find a more interesting species to be intimate with…but I digress.

They let him go. The interior of his car did not match what the girl described…there was no evidence other than the fact, which he admitted, that he liked the schoolgirl uniform look. Although all the porn on his devices was over age. What angered me most here was that it was presented as just a matter of time before this sick pervert offended, because obviously being deviant instantly equated with an interest in children. Obviously, anyone warped enough to shag a duck and a doll would progress to children…even though he denied ever having searched for child-related pornography and his history substantiated that. The way the two people were juxtaposed brought it home to me how much hatred there is out there. Should he have agreed to participate in the documentary in the first place? I honestly don’t know…knowing Channel 4, probably not. But maybe he hoped to make a statement? I don’t know.

He also spoke to camera after he was released, talking about how he was perceived as a criminal, rather than just a weirdo, by police. He spoke of loneliness and the constant feeling of being judged…a feeling which I believe most of us carry. I have been lucky, those I have told about my plush ETC have been accepting. But there is always that little voice, isn’t there? There is always the knowledge that maybe your colleagues, your friends or your family would just walk away, or despise you if they knew what you were. No matter who, out of our close acquaintances, accepts us, we will, I think, always carry that vague, niggling feeling that we are mere imposters – chameleons who must blend in or be destroyed. It’s not entirely logical, because of course; we are just like everyone else. But I cannot rid myself of that feeling of non-belonging on nights like tonight, where societal hatreds for things they do not understand have been thrown into such sharp relief.
So on behalf of all my inner demons, I would simply like to conclude this with an affirmation. ###$ you, channel 4.

Me

I'm going to just go ahead and join you with ###$ channel 4. Everything you've describes smacks of the kind of blind propaganda that reminds me that I'm far more likely to commit arson against a major media outlet than I am to molest a child.