Scumbag gets 30 years in the clink for running CSAM dark-web chatrooms, abusing kids A Texan who ran a forum on the dark web where depraved netizens could swap child sex abuse material (CSAM), and chat freely about abusing kids, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. An FBI probe in 2018 identified Robert Shouse, 37, of Houston, as the administrator of a Tor-hidden CSAM exchange on which miscreants could …
Criminals are sent to prison as punishment, not for punishment. If as a society we want to enforce harsher penalties on criminals then we should enact it, not have people subjected to mob punishment while behind bars. I’m not defending this guy in the least. I’d happily support capital punishment for this kind of vile offending, but as a society we need to be clear about the purpose of prisons.
Well, yes, but individuals in prisons are not known for their adherence to the law.
One thing to note: the article didn't mention anything about the implant used to find his ip address. This indicates to me that the prosecutors hid evidence from the defense, again, because nothing's too vile when you're trying to catch a kiddy diddler.
Not mention, training criminals that violence is good may backfire if they are released back into the public - aren't those people inside because of their bad judgement?. It also teaches that being a vigilantee is good. Side effects: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/28/father-of-three-admits-blinding-man-in-bungled-revenge-acid-attack https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8002066/man-wrongly-accused-paedo-vigilante-trolls-acid-attack/
Maybe if the justice system was doing a good job for the people there would be less attempts at vigilatism (however you spell that!). We do seem to have a 2 tier system according to whatever narrative is being pushed. I mean prison for nasty words on the Internet or saying something to a policeman - really? Are the police all snowflakes too?
"Nasty words"? You mean racist hate speech? Targeting people with abuse because of their natural characteristics, creating a society where people from minorities fear to go about their lives because such speech causes an increase in violence against minorities?
Yeah, I think they should be in prison for that too.
People in prison aren't killed as a public service but because there are people in who are just looking for an excuse to kill someone. If this person is killed by a fellow inmate it won't be because the fellow inmate is trying to do society a favor, but he will use the the fact that a large portion of society believes that the prisoner deserves to be killed as an excuse to do something he likely would do if he thought he could get away with it. Now the threat of prison is gone and it's unlikely that there will be much fuss for doing what many people outside of prison apparently want done, the inmate who may in the future kill this man will do it with the blessing society and apparently with the blessing of a large number of the commentators of this story. Don't think murder should be encouraged under any circumstances.
You would need to check the psychological report to know if he is a pedophile.
It appears that abuse is often about power and control, not attraction, which would explain how a significant number of disgusting child rapists and maybe even child porn collectors turn out to not actually be attracted to prepubescent children (pedophilia).
30 years in prison for what he did seems rather short, considering he raped a child, abused other children and facilitated the abuse of many, many other children - maybe more years of imprisonment would be necessary to ensure a repeat of such actions don't occur (prison shouldn't be about punishment - it should be a last resort to prevent the repeat of harmful actions).
“You would need to check the psychological report to know if he is a pedophile“
Why do you consider this as important enough to mention ? Are you making the allusion that somehow this would be different depending on whether or not he was classed as a psychological paedofile ?
You mentioned it twice , so obviously you have something more to say.
I think it is a fair point if this guy is called a pedophile that the description isnt attributed incorrectly. I for one hadn't realised that a child abuser may not be a pedophile and that something else may be going on as well or instead of.
From the point of view of prosecuting and sentencing this scumbag it makes no difference, but from the point of view of understanding what problem is and trying to stop it it makes a big difference.
It is possible for someone to be sexualy attracted to young children (ie a pedophile) and not act on that impulse ie not be a child abuser. I would posit that if you recognise this trait in yourself and seak help to contain and manage it, this would be a good thing.
Personaly I am for robust punishment for those found guilty of child abuse in all its forms. However complex problems dont have simple solutions and it is always wise to understand the problem before "fixing" it.
Personaly I am for robust punishment for those found guilty of child abuse in all its forms. However complex problems dont have simple solutions and it is always wise to understand the problem before "fixing" it.
So, where are these so-called adults getting the idea that being sexually attracted to children is not an evil act. This doesn't make sense; it's just not in the natural order of things.
I am not a religious person, but it is very easy to understand right from wrong, but I just don't understand what's happening to the world, it just seems to be getting sicker..
So, where are these so-called adults getting the idea that being sexually attracted to children is not an evil act. This doesn't make sense; it's just not in the natural order of things.
The evil act is the abuse. The attraction is almost immaterial as far as the evil, in the sense that it makes little difference to the victim what desire drove the abuser. As deeply unpleasant as I find it, I would prefer if people with those attractions felt at ease seeking help before they act on them because the alternative is sacrificing at least one child to 'detect' them.
"It is possible for someone to be sexualy attracted to young children (ie a pedophile) and not act on that impulse ie not be a child abuser. I would posit that if you recognise this trait in yourself and seak help to contain and manage it, this would be a good thing.”
Yes it would, and in an ideal world the concept of a person understanding that they feel ‘this’ but rationally know that it isn’t right and actively seeks help; should be applauded, they should be encouraged.
Alas we don’t live in an ideal world, do we....?
> take good care of him.
I am finally reminded of the phrase, play, and film "Short Eyes". Prison slang for a child molester. The play took six Tony Awards, the New York Critics Circle Award and an Obie Award for the "best play of the year". I tech-consulted for a university theater production. Not a cheery story.
I thought you had heard today's news from Maine. No, this is a different case.
Maine youth theater founder faces 30 more years in prison after discovery of hidden child sex abuse files
by Christopher Burns -- December 11 -12, 2024
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/12/11/midcoast/midcoast-police-courts/topsham-maine-henry-eichman-child-sexual-exploitation-guilty-plea-hidden-laptops/
The founder of a Maine youth theater and former Catholic school teacher faces another 30 years behind bars for sexually abusing children. .....employee discovered two laptops and several hard drives hidden under a kayak ....discovered files depicting the sexual abuse of children,.... The worker recognized Eichman, a former employee of the company,..... .....more than 500 images and videos of child sexual abuse, including videos .... sexually abusing four children .... Eichman was already serving a 10-year sentence for sexually abusing children. ....over a number of years during sleepovers at his Topsham home and ....Youth Theater, which Eichman founded.... He also inappropriately touched children over several years at St. John’s Catholic School.... ....sentenced Eichman to 10 years in prison for each felony,....With these new charges, Eichman faces up to 30 years in prison, a fine up to $250,000 and five years of supervised release.
"A few hundred years ago this would also have been the punishment for:
homosexuals, trans-genders, witches, apple fanbois, heretics, tax evaders, people who looked at the king in the wrong way, systemd proponents, motorcyclists, gypsies, ladies who wear trousers, you .."
are you suggesting that the only reason we are horrified by it is because we are too backwards to grasp that it's normal and harmless?
Because if there ever exists a society where doing real harm to literal children and babies is considered as innocuous as someone with a v*gina wearing trousers, I would prefer not to live in it
But
Catch a suspect with a load of CP.
Impersonate them online.
Work their way up the network to find people like this.
Just like other criminal networks have been broken up.
Indeed if this stuff is as pervasive as the data fetishists claim shouldn't it be a daily occurrence? Indeed by now how could a single one of them, who was part of any kind of group, still be running free? John Smythe the prolific CofE nonce wasn't caught that way either, but by survivors of his "Education" coming forward and speaking out.
This is because a) That 24/7/365 surveillance doesn't actually work very well b)The threat was vastly inflated to play the TOTC card, and in fact the infrastructure was set up to spy on everyone because we can afford the storage and the machine cycles to do so.
It's good he was caught and it was bad he used his skills to avoid detection and further his interests but we still don't seem to be any further forward on a)What turns people into nonces? b)How to make them stop doing it.
The only way to figure out why people start doing this kind of thing and how to prevent it happening, would be to study people at various stages of that process.
That seems unlikely to happen as long as these people are demonised and universally hated. What would happen if you went to your GP and said "I find myself wanting to have sex with kids"?
I don't know the answer to that, but I'm certainly not keen to make the experiment. And yet that's what needs to happen, if we're ever going to understand it.
Today’s sentencing is more than just a punishment. It’s a message
The way I see it, punishment is always a message. The whole reason we punish people is to deter them from doing it again, and to tell other people they shouldn't either. In the case of jail sentences, there is additionally the potential benefit of protecting the population from criminals.
Problem is it's not that great at doing any of those things - except temporarily/permanently removing the perp from troubling 'law abiding society' with their crimes. That outcome is potentially very useful, but as to 'teaching them not to behave badly' and 'discouraging others from behaving badly', the evidence for success is mixed, to say the least.
'Prison' (as we tend to run them), in far too many instances is an expensive, counter-productive non-solution - a sop to the 'hang 'em and flog 'em' brigade.
I won't argue with you on that particular point (30 years re child sexual abuse), but having worked in a prison I have no doubt that in a significant proportion of cases 'prison', as we run them, often does far more harm than good, both for the 'criminal' and for society at large when that person is released—and all at vast expense. Very poor value for money, and too often a lousy 'solution' to many of our social problems.
Prison (or jail) is mostly a criminal factory (in the US). They go in for something bad and come out hardened sociopaths from their experience in the system. Many of the guards are sadistic animals turned on by power over another human.
That said, i think 30yrs is a joke. Life...
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