Distortions

One thing we've noticed about the pedophiles that we've tracked is an almost compulsive level of persistence.  In the past few months, we've seen a few users arrested and charged for posting child pornography to Facebook and all of those users had created new accounts after being kicked off Facebook at least once.  So it was interesting to read "Inside the Mind of a Pedophile" (Neuroanthropology, 2010) that discussed some of the neurological and behavioral abnormalities associated with pedophilia.  It mentioned neural characteristics similar to disorders in the obsessive-compulsive spectrum, e.g., pathological gambling and kleptomania.  It said that there were both biological and environmental factors, specifically mentioning experiencing sexual molestation as a child.  Another article cited, Abnormal Attraction (Scientific American Mind, 2009), expanded on the correlation between being abused as a child and later committing a sex offense.

Both articles also referred to cognitive distortion, and the SciAm one pointed out that in some cases, this distortion may help prop up an individual's self-esteem.  This may be the case with Marcos Teia, one of the most active posters of child pornography on Facebook who seems to use this to gain attention and acceptance.

There are some unsettling parallels between these people and some of the spanking enthusiasts we've seen on Facebook and elsewhere online.  For example, if you google Becky Chandler's ID, "beckychr007" and "spanking," you get about 840 hits.  It's not hard to find anecdotes involving her mother spanking her bare with a hairbrush, and it's even easier to find her posting in parenting forums about the benefits of spanking kids.  Others have posted collections of images depicting children getting spanked with their pants down, which have attracted equally disturbing comments from their Facebook "friends."

 Some have even trolled for videos.

There are also some problems with boundaries and distorted patterns of thinking in both groups.  When discussing child pornography, pedophiles often rationalize it by saying that the victim seemed to be enjoying the sex acts.  Some of the spanking fetishists claim to be loving parents who have to "discipline" their children.  For example, we saw Amanda Facey in a previous post commenting enthusiastically about sadomasochistic fan fiction, posting to a Yahoo group about her boyfriend spanking her to tears, and also talking about spanking her own daughter with her pants down.  When someone else expressed their disgust, Amanda accused that person of "child pornography."

Human behavior and sexuality are complex and still not very well understood.  I can't offer any explanations as to why some of the people I've watched are the way they are, nor can I offer any solutions.  But some things are hard to ignore.  Both the child pornography traders and the S&M people who fixate on children getting spanked seem to be troubled individuals with damaged sexuality.  A number of the S&M people have talked in great detail about getting spanked as children, and some recent research has even established a correlation between this and later "sexually deviant" behavior.  The Neuroanthropology article about pedophiles have indicated that at least some of them were sexually abused as children and may be "re-living" what they experienced and trying to master it.

What can be done about these people?  Beyond locking up the ones who break the law, I have no idea.