The basic notion behind this amnesty is not to give hardened Paodophiles a way to avoid procecution in fact the proposal is very specific in making sure this is not the case.
What it could offer though is a chance for those individuals on the margins to volunteer for help without the fear of direct procecution. The benfit for the community is that access to their harddrives would allow further investigation of others in the chain.
As things stand now few, if any, worried by their own suspicions about the path they have found themselves on would volunteer for treatment because of the perceived consequences.
Until operation Ore most assumed the numbers on the margins were relatively low, but sadly what was clear from the results of that operation, was that the numbers involved and especially the types of people involved ran against the percieved wisdom at the time.
The list included police, teachers, lawyers and yes even social workers. In fact just the very people one would have hoped were those least likely to be involved.
There are many theories about why this was true but one that makes most sense to me is that not only do each of these groups come into contact with children but the children they do come into contact with are the most vulnerable.
Sadly the levels of training involved in each of these groups is often insuficient to cope with the emotional demands involved working with such vulnerable people.
I cite as one example the junior officer involved in the Soham case. His work had brought him into contact with a series of shocking and disturbing evidence as part of his duties. Disturbing as it sounds, exposure to such material can and does awaken in some thoughts and feelings that would never had entered their minds without such exposure.
This young misguided man was no Paodophile but unchecked and unhelped who knows where he would have ended up without the help he is now receiving following his conviction.
I would suggest it is just such individuals that this amnesty is designed to help, whereby they have a route to the help they themselves often realise they need without being procecuted for stepping forward and asking for that help voluntarily.
The inclusion of the requirement to submit their hardrives so that others in the chain can be identified and dealt with is I think a stroke of genius. I applaud this "trade off" between treating those who volunteer less harshly for the benefit of tracking down those that don't.
At the end of the day anything which reduces the ammount and availability of child-porn has to be commended.
EDIT: Having just read Graham's post on page one I must congratulate him on making such a great contribution to the debate way to go Bro !!!! Rep point on the way.
