The Dark Parts Of The Internet

[anonymous]

The internet is a big, dark scary place. I get that. There is a lot you don't want to read or see out there and I've never gone looking to find that, but I found myself shaken to the core when I discovered on another forum for all psych/mental health issues that there was a paraphillias subsection dealing mostly in discussing paedophilic fantasies/urges.

It horrifies me how many of the users justify their attraction by saying they would never act on it as long as the child didn't want it (I personally don't think a child can make this decision) or unless they knew they wouldn't be caught. It also freaks me out because they say that they would like the age consent not lowered but removed and how many of them are around young children whom they admit feeling uncontrollable around. Other people talk of their interest in paedophilia and sadism and have fantasies of committing rape and causing the child pain.The forum is apparently moderated to make sure laws aren't broken but what they're discussing is illegal. I don't know how they can justify it.

O.K. so I quickly got out of there but I sometimes feel a morbid curiousity to read things there because I want to know how to protect myself but also in the stupid way I try to seek answers for what happened to me - even though I'm no longer a kid and at risk, it's like a form of hypervigilance. I can't believe this subforum exists, and that it isn't heavily watched by legal authorities, which maybe it is, but how is it legal that a place like this exists and these conversations take place?!!!

 

[digger]

Perhaps you could report it?

 

[anonymous]

It is apparently all above board because it's all hypothetical. I just don't get someone talking about being sexually aroused by blood, especially that of little girls and having fantasies of psychologically torturing young children (just one thread picked at random) is ok and whilst I'd rather that person talk about it that act on it, that individual sounds like he really needs serious and professional help, especially when in another thread he says he's struggling to not act on his urges and the main prevention was distance until he returned to his home town - again, this is just one in many threads on a whole subforum dedicated to "paraphilias" although it's almost exclusively about paedophilia or a combination of it and something else.

It seems as long as the say they don't think they will act on it, or that it's only something they're thinking about doing it's ok, a few of them claim to be dating 16 year olds, but that they prefer children aged 0-10 and their favourites are 6 year olds. Again there isn't just one or two, it's a lot of them.

I'm actually not that prudish as an individual I can accept all sorts of sexual preferences and paraphilias - everyone has their kinks, but this crosses a line for me, am I wrong to think it should be for them also? I can also accept that a lot of them were abused as children, I can even accept that they are genuinely attracted to kids - but to me the justification of actions that would put a child in harms way is wrong even if it is vague, for the most part actual action is frowned upon, but it's treated as a grey area mostly and I cannot see any circumstance that engaging in sexual activity or even non-sexual activity for the purpose of gaining sexual gratification with children is ok.

Like I say I think the reason it bothers me is that on the same site there is a PTSD subforum and Dissociative subforum almost all of the users of whom have been abused by people who are just a click away. It's O.K. I won't use that forum again - for anything. But the fact that it exists disturbs me.

 

[anonymous]

It does say "Discussions that promote illegal activity will not be tolerated. Please note that this forum is moderated, and people who are found to be using this forum for inappropriate purposes will be banned. This site works hard to ensure that this forum is law abiding. Moderators will report evidence of illegal activity to the police"

 

[billie]

Report it. You put those f##kers in a group they become even worse monsters. That disclaimer is to trick you to believing they are law abiding citizens. It is what they do, that is the place to meet like minded people and prey in a pack, or buy dvds or worse.

 

[Gryffy]

I'd say report it and let the authorities decide if there's illegal activity or not. At the least they'd know it exists so they can keep an eye on it and catch any illegal activity that might happen in the future.

They do have the right to free speech and maybe talking about it with others keeps some from acting on their impulses....at the same time, it's definitely concerning.

 

[billie]

I ask you please report it, there are so many people here affected by monsters like them. Also can you please (if you can) put a trigger warning on your thread?

 

[StarChild]

Also can you please (if you can) put a trigger warning on your thread?

Hi billie, we don't use trigger warnings on this site. If you have questions about it, please ask the Help Desk.

 

[Spiderallis]

It can't hurt to make sure that the proper authorities are aware of the message board, just in case they aren't already monitoring it. The laws are confusing about discussing things 'in theory' as opposed to actually doing them, but that's best left to the experts to decide. As it's a subforum on a mental health/psych based site, the people posting such things are probably aware that they have problems. I'm not sure what kind of therapy would help someone with a paraphilia, but maybe talking about it is part of the process? Doesn't sound like you saw many users offering advice about coping skills or how they manage their condition though...

 

[scout86]

I'm trying to remind myself that my therapist has asked me to please try to avoid visualizing solutions to problems that involve the use of firearms....

If you can figure out how to report it, I'd sure encourage you to do it. Let the authorities decide if it's legal or not. Even if it is, maybe they can find some useful information to help track some of those "people" down. And, no, you're not wrong for thinking they've "crossed a line:" Sadly, I suspect they don't even know there IS a line.

 

[Spiderallis]

I'm trying to remind myself that my therapist has asked me to please try to avoid visualizing solutions to problems that involve the use of firearms....

I had the same thought but not enough courage to say it. It might be highly effective and not exactly wrong, but it is very very illegal.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I'm not surprised. (Isn't that in itself SAD?) I've watched enough crime-drama to know about all sorts of sick crap that exists out there.

And no, children cannot consent, even if they're begging for it. (Sick thought, rather said to make my point.) Below a certain age you cannot consent no matter what. So the "if they want it" argument is crap because legally they CANT want it.