i think you are spot on. just writing paedophiles off as monsters who shouldnt be allowed any freedom ever again is just a blanket knee-jerk reaction founded on a lack of understanding and fear.

we need to realise that paedophiles are just people the same as everyone else, who have been mentally damaged in some way which has skewed their persception of sexuality. it is a sign of a very weak person as far as i can see. and i think that rehabilitation is possible.

it is a symptom of society that we want a quick fix, we want problems dealt with and moved on from because there are so many to deal with. but if we blindly start changing laws our of fear and prejudice (and i think the general publics attitude to paedophilia is highly prejudice and not especially based in reality) then we will be creating more problems for ourselves as a society furthur down the line.

as raj said the majority of paedophiles are victims themselves ( including the personal example i gave, len.) so instead of treating the syptoms of our problems with them, we should be dealing with teh cause of those symptoms, teh illness itself. to do that we are going to have to devote more time understanding what makes a paedophile in the first place and put support in the community to prevent people who have paedo tendancies actually acting out theri desires.

we will only effectively cut down paedophilia by understanding it and dealing with it proffessionally and maturely, instead of like an angry mob.