Jenkins may be among the first outsiders to have witnessed on-line interaction among self-described pedophiles. In some ways, theirs was like any Internet community, with its newbies, revered regulars, and arcane tech discussions. As much as users exulted in finding directions to caches of child porn, they rejoiced in finding others like themselves. Questions like "When did you first realize you were a pedophile?" provoked endless responses, Jenkins reports.
All of this reminds me of the "Collectors'" convention in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman (via Plastic)
(continued)
... for a corrupt colleague, or some other improper act.
This continual self-deceit must create an unbelievable
`moral' stress, which then drives them to an equally
immoral release, or causes them to seek an immoral act
so gross that it renders their everyday activities
`harmless' in comparison. Same goes for that `getting
dressed up as a baby' fetish, shitting your nappy,
getting spanked, cleaned, changed, etcetera, acts as
some kind of absolution from their daily sins. It
almost makes me want to get involved with psychology
or sociology. Almost.
Interesting theory. Not sure if I'd lend credence to it in real life, but it could be a good idea for fiction.
I myself have wondered whether incidents of child molestation are increased by news/rumours/scares about them. Something similar has been observed with suicide (it's called the Werther Effect, after a Goethe novel which inspired a wave of copycat suicides among young men).
I have a theory on child pornography and molestation: it's pretty simplistic, and it's based on something a character said in Preacher (DC/Vertigo) ... but it makes sense, in my contorted mind anyway. It seems that the people who are into the really kinky stuff, from the cliche of English MPs dying in auto-erotic asphyciation, through prominent figures of society being involved in bizarre acts of masochism in brothels, to the `unspeakable' and taboo acts of child molestation and distribution of child pornography ... these people are generally people in positions of privelige, responsibility and trust, ie MPs, preists, Judges, school teachers, politicians, etcetera. Because it suits my theory, I'm going to focus on MPs and Judges and so on ... people who, by the very nature of their jobs, are forced to commit unethical or illegal or immoral acts: for example, letting off a criminal because there's not enough evidence to prove them guilty, or having to cover up for a corrupt colleague