Who is a paedophile?

[Big Al1st]

When does someone, in the legal sense, become a paedophile. If I get any aswers to this question I will elaborate further as the answers I hope will not be affected by any of my views. It is a subject I feel strongly about, but note I am not one!

Rgds Al

[Silversky]

Ok, but would they still get a lesser sentence than the man?

[joko]

i agree with wm, it is my understanding that paedophilia is mental and medical state of being aroused by children, not a criminal conviction.

if a girl happens to be 15 yet looks to all intents and purposes like a adult woman, the man who is attracted to her is not a paedophile, as she has all the physical attributes of a woman.

then it is underage sex.

perhaps the law should change the name of the crime to reflect this as the word paedophilia seems to provoke kneejerk vigilante-ism and people assume that anyone accused must be a dirty old man, in a mac, luring kids into his lair, when it could just as easily be a 15 year who looks 18-19 and has lied

neither is right of course but in the second scenario i don't think the man should be treated as an evil monster like they usually are.

i myself went through puberty at a very early age and always looked older than i was, so i know how easy it is for blokes to be fooled by a 14-15 year old.

(when i was 14, a man offered my dad 30 camels for me because he thought i was 18, he couldn't believe i was only 14 - my dad nearly flattened him)

[Ethel]

Between 1995 and 1999 18 women were convicted of rape, or aiding and abetting rape, in the UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stori es/march/16/newsid_2521000/2521053.stm

[IggyB]

Yes I agree - only a man can commit rape. This is because the offence requires penetration with a penis (this includes a surgically created penis). If a women forces a man to engage in sexual intercourse against his will this can amount to a sexual assault (sexual offences Act 2003 s.3) or the offence of causing another person to perform a sexual act without consent (Sexual Offence Act 2003, S.4) but will not be rape.

[Silversky]

So does this mean that there is a lesser sentence for a woman than a man with a more-or-less similar sentence?

[Ethel]

Women have been convicted of rape in the UK.

Explaining to the jury how it was possible to prosecute a woman for rape, Richard Whittam, prosecuting, said: "Obviously, being a female, she herself couldn't commit what is defined as sexual intercourse in law, by herself, penetrating the victim. But, if she was party to a group attack and if she was actively encouraging, ready to lend a physical hand, to join in, or if she was holding down when the event was taking place, she in law would be guilty of rape, although female."

[Big Al1st]

Hi everyone, Very interesting. The reason why I asked is that a 19 year old boy near us has had two girls under the age of 16 pregnant, In fact he is living with thesecond one and her mother. So just how old does one have to be benfore you are classified as a paodophile. Certainly he probably groomed these two girls before having sex with them. But nothing has been done and he has not been charged with anything.

Also you never seem to hear of female paedophiles although I reckon there is quite a few around.

A while ago woman could not he had up for rape, Joyce Mkkinney the mormon a classic example who was only charged with rape. Howevr woman can now be charged with rape see below.

Claire Marsh, 18, is believed to be one of the youngest of the few woman convicted of rape in the UK.

She was among a group of up to 12 youths who attacked a 37-year-old woman on a London canal towpath in July last year. From BBC News Item.

Once again very interesting discussion Thank you Rgds Al

[Silversky]

Thanks.

I agree with Joko.

I went through puberty at an earlier age, and I look a lot older than I am. I am often mistaken fo an 17-18 years old, whereas I'm only 15. I continously have men coming onto me, and if I had not put them straight and given my consent to sexual intercourse. Surely they cannot be prosecuted because they were under false beliefs.

But nowdays, I think some girls do it purposely to catch out the men. If it's true, then surely then they cannot be prosecuted?

[Big Al1st]

Made a mistake on my post. Joyce Mkkinney was only charged with kidnapping, not rape, although she did have sex with her victim.

It still seems that men can get away with underage sex even though they are considerably older than their victims.

[Big Al1st]

WM agree with everything youve said. Another thing that worries me is that some people are activly trying to get age of consent lowered to 12. This may the mean, acording to you that we may have girls of 10 and 11 trying to pass themselves off as older. We already have a case of a 12 year old just given birth. Bit frightning is'nt it

[funkymoped]

i guess in the eyes of the law, a guy would be a paedphile if he slept with a girl the day before her 16th birthday, but not at 12.05am on the day of her birthday !

[Silversky]

Yeah, that seems really odd doesn't it funkymoped?

So does this mean that a man is still a paedophile or would it be considered statuory rape, if consented to sex and had sexual intercourse as the minutes passed over into her birthday, so when it was over is was 16?

(are we now lowering this topic considerably?)

[jno]

paedophile comes from Greek words meaning loving children. I don't think it has any legal definition. In ordinary speech, I don't think it usually means the same as underage sex - it has to be sex with someone who is not just below the legal age of consent but is prepubescent (ie still a child).

Not everyone uses the word in the same way, though. Everyone thinks Gary Glitter's a paedophile; but some people think Jonathan King is too, and some don't, since - as I recall - the boys he had sex with seem to have been 14 or so and sexually mature.