Rolf is so arrogant.

I heard that he described them as "crawling out of the woodwork" - pretty darn sickening eh?

Think he has lost the plot and surely shouldn't be released until he shows some sort of remorse.

The really weird thing is that it so doesn't fit with my image of him about 20 years ago.

Perhaps it is the early stages of dementia?

Perhaps that is what he wants people to think Chareygirl, his lawyer will be working to get his sentence reduced and medical grounds seems to work.

What an awful thought Harrigran but you could be right.

If he's sending what amounts to hate-mail from prison in an attempt to persuade the authorities he's got dementia, it seems an odd way of going about it and one not likely to gain him any sympathy!

He sounds as if he has a psychopathic personality that cannot relate to other people or how they feel (his victims) or how they will re-act (the outside world reading this lyric). he sees everything from his viewpoint alone.

Despicable creature

If this is true it is awful. Sometimes I dont always believe what I read in the paper. It may be true, I hope not

I don't see him as a psychopath. He's an untreated paedophile who is on the 18 month waiting list to start the sex offender treatment programme in prison, unlikely to complete it before automatic release on parole so he'll be expected to continue when he's on probation supervision for the remaing part of his sentence in the community. If he can't/won't do it in a group, he'll do it individually with his probation officer and a specialist worker. They will report to the MAPPA panel (Multi Agency Public Protection) and set reporting and monitoring conditions accordingly. He's going to find his movements and freedom heavily restricted if he displays the same irresponsible attitude to the people he has harmed, and the MAPPA will still monitor him under sex offender registration, even when his licence has ended.

I assume the letter he sent will already have been discussed with him in the governer's office, and the likely consequences laid out. His claim to be able to do what he wants in there is probably posturing - he appears to be dishing out sketches to curry favour - vulnerable prisoners like him lie to themselves as well as others in order to save face and/or avoid others' hostility. Privileges often get withdrawn for this type of behaviour. He should think about the impact on his wife, too - the home assessment visits prior to his release will be very uncomfortable for her to bear, when she learns how intrusive the authorities will have to be without his full cooperation. The days following release are frequently the times that spouses decide they can't live with sex offenders.

I couldn't live with him from the day I found out about his crime.

Yes Confused it is true some of the Sunday papers printed his handwritten letter to a friend with his revolting poem about his victims.

What a piece of sh** he is.

I don't think anyone chooses to be a paedophile. Now that he has been shown to be one, the priority must be protecting those around him if he gets parole; and making sure that he does have to face the full force of the law for his actions, so that victims can see that they will be taken seriously, however "exalted" the perpetrator..

You're right, Mishap. One if the first distorted views about himself that the treatment team will want to dismantle will be that arrogant sense of entitlement that he has used to keep everyone at arm's length whilst maintaining his innocence. His whole sense of himself will topple if he allows this to happen - I wonder if he has the courage to do it? Not easy at his age.

I read the letter and the song he's written and he did show some concern for his wife. Too little, too late

He shows no remorse because he doesn't accept he's done anything wrong.

A lot of you know my views on paedophilia and my reasons why. Lock him up and throw away the key. I have no sympathy for his age or any infirmity he may have or develop in the future. He should serve his full sentence and if he dies in that time then all the better. One less to worry about on the outside.

So explain to me why a paedophile can't stop abusing children? Is it a mental illness, where the world is distorted?

I'm not saying he chose to be a paedophile but the fact is that he is one and he sees nothing wrong in it. That makes him a danger to children.

No vampire I wasn't questioning you - my question is genuine I know nothing about paedophilia and wanted to know a bit more if possible about their mind.

Not a problem whitewave. I sorry I can't give you an unbiased opinion about the mind of a paedophile.

Can sex offenders such as paedophiles be treated with any hope of success? (Genuine question).

Speaking generally, yes, if they train themselves to self-regulate, let everyone around them know they are trying to control their compulsion, collaborate and cooperate with treatment providers and the authorities and see every day as a day of living a good life, which means thinking ahead, not testing themselves to see if they can resist, avoiding unsupervised children, staying out of the way of supervised children (so going to church when children are sat with parents is still not on), putting into action all the techniques they learn to dismiss unwanted thoughts and fantasies and stop kidding themselves that they don't do harm if they are kind. They might not learn to empathise with the people they have harmed - it doesn't marry up in their heads when thet believe they are 'nice' people so would never hurt anyone (except for sadistic sex offenders who rely on causing harm).

That's generalising - there are so many different individuals who need relapse prevention/self-regulation that is tailored individually to them. Not all sex offenders will offend again, treated or not. Some treated sex offenders will still offend again and will have learnt how to 'talk the talk' to try and convince others they are safe. It's not an illness and there isn't a cure, just self-control or control by the authorities if they can't control themselves. Risk assessment and management by the authorities tries to determine which ones need closer monitoring. Child protection police do a tremendous job, supported by the relevant agencies.

He has a very poor choice of friends also. He certainly should not have committed the grimes for which he has been found guilty, but his friend should not have given the letter to the press. Give it to the governor of the prison or the police but to the press. What sort of friend is that?

Perhaps RH was secretly hoping his friend would go to the papers with it anyway - after all in his mind he's done nothing wrong and is setting the record straight!