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

[Big Al1st]

Hi Jno, I understand where you are coming from, but what age does a child become a young person. At what age can a child understand what it is all about. The age varies from one child to another. Tat, surely is why the bought the age of consent in, so that there was a definate border between what should and what should'nt happen.

That is why I believe that any one who has sex with someone under the age of 16 should get done. The sentence would vary due to circumstances and the age of the "abuser". i.e 16 and 17 year olds wont go to prison but would get a sentence of some sorts.

Where I live, which is quite rural, the number of girls under 16 who have had babies is frightening and none of the fathers have been taken to court.

[Silversky]

Sorry Ward~Minter, I had skipped a couple of post, (or didn't read them properly) So, ok. So I now know there is no such thing as statuory rape in the uk.

[jno]

Big Al the law fixes the age of consent - it's fairly arbitrary and varies widely between countries. Below that you will be legally liable, though the punishment handed down may well depend on the man's age and the girl's.

But as to what age a child physically matures - well, the age of puberty varies; many primitive societies celebrate a girl's first period, which I suppose is as good a moment as any.

I don't have any problem with an age of consent being fixed and people punished for ignoring it, though it doesn't seem to happen much. But I do think the word 'paedophile' should be reserved for those who prey on a child who's below the age of puberty. For me there's a huge difference between sex with a 15-year-old and with a 10-year-old (to say nothing of a 10-month-old, which does happen), and Jonathan King simply doesn't fill me with the same horror as Gary Glitter. But I do realise other people feel differently.