| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
alex
Developer
Joined: Jun 14, 2004
Age: 22
Posts: 6292
Location: DC Metro Area (No. VA)
|
 Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:42 pm Post subject: Autistic (Asperger) Student had 900 child porn collection |
 |
|
"AN AUTISTIC student who amassed more than 900 child porn pictures has been spared jail because his condition meant he couldn't bear to throw anything away.
Jonathan Bristow, 21, of Church Lane, Bromley Common admitted eight counts of making indecent images of children and three of possessing indecent images of children.
Mr Bristow's Asperger's Syndrome means he acts on impulse and becomes obsessive about collecting things.
The barman, whose social life revolves around a medieval battle re-enactment society, had downloaded 922 indecent images."
http://tinyurl.com/2ryl8x
From the Bromley Times
| Quote: | "The court was read part of a transcript of Bristow's police interview in which his father told officers his son regretted what he had done.
It read: "Two characteristics in common with people of that condition are that he is extremely impulsive and not likely to think ahead of what the possible ramifications might be. In retrospect he can see he has done something wrong.
"Jonathan, once he starts down any particular course, tends to very quickly become obsessed with that."
Judge Deborah Taylor jailed Bristow for four months but suspended the sentence for two years. She told him: 'This isn't a victimless crime. These children are often trafficked or forced into the making of these images and have to be protected from sexual exploitation." |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
afreakout
Emu Egg
Joined: Feb 11, 2006
Posts: 3
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:19 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| He's still being punished, but what an awful stigma that sort of reporting could encourage against people with AS. The comments absolve people with AS of too much responsibility. Lots of people have to fight impulses, not just people with AS. Really sad that Aspergers/Autism was made so prominent here..seems totally inappropriate. |
|
| Back to top |
|
Anubis
Your thoughts are mine...
Joined: Sep 07, 2006
Age: 18
Posts: 13400
Location: The Kremlin
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:19 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Hmm. He is a paedophile, but granted if he wasn't thinking about it and acted on impulse, then it was fair that he was spared jail.
_________________
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER |
|
| Back to top |
|
Number_11
Snowy Owl
Joined: Dec 13, 2007
Age: 24
Posts: 132
Location: WA
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
So this basically says that with the "autism" excuse, one can get away with just about anything.
_________________
End of line. |
|
| Back to top |
|
Grimfaire
Deinonychus
Joined: Aug 06, 2007
Age: 38
Posts: 346
Location: Michigan
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
No one said he was a paedophile. They said he had a collection of child pornographic images. I could easily see myself amassing that with no sexual feelings whatsoever if I decided to collect pics with people dress in blue boots or something like that... the child porn images would appear but not because they were porn but because they met what to me at the time would be much more important, blue boots. (Note: I've never done this, just creating an example)
Paedophilia is a sexual dysfunction not an action.
_________________
When in trouble or in doubt; run in circles scream and shout. |
|
| Back to top |
|
alex
Developer
Joined: Jun 14, 2004
Age: 22
Posts: 6292
Location: DC Metro Area (No. VA)
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Grimfaire wrote: | No one said he was a paedophile. They said he had a collection of child pornographic images. I could easily see myself amassing that with no sexual feelings whatsoever if I decided to collect pics with people dress in blue boots or something like that... the child porn images would appear but not because they were porn but because they met what to me at the time would be much more important, blue boots. (Note: I've never done this, just creating an example)
Paedophilia is a sexual dysfunction not an action. |
pretty sure the whole porn thing doesn't have very many people wearing clothes... |
|
| Back to top |
|
Grimfaire
Deinonychus
Joined: Aug 06, 2007
Age: 38
Posts: 346
Location: Michigan
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 4:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| alex wrote: | | Grimfaire wrote: | No one said he was a paedophile. They said he had a collection of child pornographic images. I could easily see myself amassing that with no sexual feelings whatsoever if I decided to collect pics with people dress in blue boots or something like that... the child porn images would appear but not because they were porn but because they met what to me at the time would be much more important, blue boots. (Note: I've never done this, just creating an example)
Paedophilia is a sexual dysfunction not an action. |
pretty sure the whole porn thing doesn't have very many people wearing clothes... |
Then you just need to see more Porn.  Complete nudity takes away half the fun in my opinion. Of course, I happen to prefer my porn to include only people who've made it past the age needed to drink and vote.
_________________
When in trouble or in doubt; run in circles scream and shout. |
|
| Back to top |
|
TheMidnightJudge
autist
Joined: Mar 29, 2007
Posts: 1311
Location: New England
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 4:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Even if his motivation wasn't sexual, it's against the law and it's wrong.
Even if it is an autistic obsession. Perhaps rapists have sexual obsessions, but they don't get off the hook because they were horny. If someone is a sadist they don't get off the hook for killing people because they got to urge to kill.
In general, I think that autism as an excuse is one of the greatest plights of the autistic community. |
|
| Back to top |
|
dean
Butterfly
Joined: Nov 05, 2005
Posts: 17
Location: south-east Virginia,USA
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 4:54 pm Post subject: |
|
|
the more I think about it , the less I have to say about it. 
Last edited by dean on Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:30 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
Stevopedia
Velociraptor
Joined: Nov 03, 2007
Age: 17
Posts: 402
Location: Nowhere Land, Maryland, United States
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 5:12 pm Post subject: |
|
|
The way I see it, crazy/sick people come from everywhere, and can be anyone. This time, he just happened to be autistic.
But the reportage does cast negative light on autism, and he was wrong to use it as an excuse/defense.
_________________
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness that gives everything its value.
-Thomas Paine, The American Crisis |
|
| Back to top |
|
EvilKimEvil
zoo-music girl
Joined: Sep 27, 2007
Posts: 3040
Location: highway to hell
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:16 pm Post subject: |
|
|
From the article:
| Quote: | | It read: "Two characteristics in common with people of that condition are that he is extremely impulsive and not likely to think ahead of what the possible ramifications might be. In retrospect he can see he has done something wrong. |
 I've never read that a lack of impulse control is a characteristic of AS. The article implies that people with AS can't control any impulses related to their obsessions, and that this is so extreme that they can't be held accountable for their actions. It also implies that we aren't always capable of thinking ahead, which I doubt is true.
I might not always have the best impulse control, but it's not that bad. I'm certainly responsible for my actions, and I do understand the consequences of them. |
|
| Back to top |
|
Soap
Emu Egg
Joined: Jan 23, 2008
Posts: 7
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
He paid to join that site and download the images. He's a pedophile.
I don't think having Asperger's Syndrome should be an excuse for this. "He just wanted to collect them", they say.
I agree every time some crime is committed and AS is put up as the excuse, everyone else with AS gets stigmatized. This is why I dont generally let people know that I have AS anymore. A lot of people still believe Cho Seung Hui had AS and will associate me with him. |
|
| Back to top |
|
Quatermass
Yahtzee's Protege
Joined: Apr 28, 2006
Posts: 16814
Location: Somewhere with a sweet hat and a chip on my shoulder
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I agree. AS should not be an excuse for collecting child porn.
_________________
At moments when monsters spawn in by rising up from the ground, it turns the action into a gory, protracted session of Whack-A-Mole.
-Yahtzee on Clive Barker's Jericho |
|
| Back to top |
|
jrknothead
News Junkie
Joined: Aug 04, 2007
Age: 42
Posts: 1101
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida USA
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quatermass wrote: | | I agree. AS should not be an excuse for collecting child porn. |
Same here... if enough people do this, AS will become synonymous with pedophilia in the public eye... ditto for murderers who hide behind their dx's in order to get a lighter sentence...
_________________
Never let your schooling interfere with your education. - Samuel Clemens |
|
| Back to top |
|
Cyanide
Leader of Shadaloo
Joined: Sep 25, 2006
Posts: 1317
Location: OR
|
| Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 1:26 am Post subject: |
|
|
| jrknothead wrote: | | Quatermass wrote: | | I agree. AS should not be an excuse for collecting child porn. |
Same here... if enough people do this, AS will become synonymous with pedophilia in the public eye... ditto for murderers who hide behind their dx's in order to get a lighter sentence... |
I also concur. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
