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An Antidote to Complacency and Lethargy

One of the U.K. terrestrial TV channels recently showed a series entitled "The Hunt for Britain's Paedophiles", which was extremely well presented and factual. Bob McLachlan, DCI, Metropolitan Police & WiredSafety Board, has also written a book, together with Bob Long, the BBC Executive Producer of the series.

I initially thought that the book was merely a written summary of the series, but I was very wrong. Yes, it mirrors parts of the series, but it is so much more. The reader is presented with an in depth discussion into the minds of paedophiles, the possible treatment of them, their histories and, in terrifying detail, their crimes.

I thought it would be a 'coffee table book', to be picked up and put down when I had the odd five minutes to spare. Wrong again, Merlin! I was compelled to read it from cover to cover and, indeed, I reread some parts twice/three times.

A brief synopsis of both the programme & book follows:

In a unique decision, it was agreed by New Scotland Yard that a BBC team could shadow the work of the Paedophile Unit, part of the Serious Crime Group of the Metropolitan Police. Literally sharing the open plan office of the Unit, the production team followed the Unit in everything they did. They filmed officers knocking on the doors of suspected paedophiles and interviewing them in their homes. They witnessed the police discovering hauls of hidden child pornography and items to lure children to have sex. Above all, they had to review completely their own assumptions about paedophilia in the light of the horrors of what they saw and heard live and on tapes and audiotape.

The book is the compelling and disturbing detail behind the BBC series. It is not a comfortable book; it is too frank and revealing to be anything but disturbing. But this is because it tells us the truth and the truth is very hard to bear.

The quote on the back sleeve of the book from Bob McLachlan says it all…

"Monsters don't get close to children, nice men do…"

You can obtain a copy of the book here. A portion of the sale price is donated to our programs for every book purchased from this link.

I was going to take LOA, if you all remember, and then I saw the TV series. Then I read the book. Not only am I NOT taking LOA, I am actually taking on a bit more again!!! The police are doing the most amazing job, but they are dreadfully under-resourced. I can help by doing my bit in WiredSafety…and I will.

If you were toying with joining WiredSafety to help us fight child pornography, or you are not really sure how involved you can get after all, I ask that you read this book. You will approach online safety and child pornography issues with a new vigour!

Merlin