"Our society doesn't know how to deal with people such as these. If they offend, they go to prison - which does not help to reform them or change their viewpoint. I spoke to one man who, after being released on parole, came to see the band playing in a London pub. I asked him how he was getting on and what he intended to do with himself. "Youth work" was the reply! He could not see himself as in any way flawed. In my view, he was mentally sick and not fit to be on the streets."

This is the crux of the problem, really. These people ARE sick, and we need some kind of legislation, IMHO, which keeps them incarcerated. Maybe permanently. At least until some kind of "cure" is found. But I am reluctant to demonise them, because I do believe that they are profoundly mentally ill.

"What were the reasons for this man being the way he was? Who knows - I certainly didn't."

A lot of studies seem to suggest that the abused become abusers - another reason I am reluctant to write them off as "evil". Who knows what they have suffered themselves?

But these are still different issues to how we deal with the abusers that are still out there. As I said earlier, I have never seen any statistics to suggest that there are proportionally more paedophiles committing sex crimes - the kind that involve personal or face-to-face contact - than ever before. So the key, as it has always been, is awareness, and vigilance. And it is really, really important to remember that any child is at greater risk in their own home, from people they know, than they are from all the kiddy-fiddling wierdos out there on the street or in cyberspace.