Would you easily forgive a person who has done a terrible crime?

Generally, as you describe the situation, yes. But it depends on a lot, like the original event, remorse and work to rehabilitate himself. But you threw in that he “got out because of a good lawyer” which completely stands the whole thing on its head.

@zenvelo you wouldnt personally know that, all you would know is that he has been previously accused of child molestation.

This one is hard for me because my grandmother and a few cousins were molested, so I feel a natural abhorrence for child molesters specifically.

My mom worked with a man who was in that situation and it made her very uncomfortable to the point she almost quit (because kids came in), and she’s a good Christian, well versed in the forgiveness aspect of our religion. He eventually left after ‘someone’ disclosed his past.

For me, child molestation is unforgiveable, but then I think, they’ve done their time, shouldn’t they be let off the hook like a murderer or thief? It’s only fair that they are, but who cared about fair when they were raping a three year old?

It’s very difficult, but I think I would try to treat him like any normal person, while making sure I never saw a child in his presence and that he was checking in with the local Sherriff as a registered sex offender.

@Eggie So, as I was saying, I’d need to know things like that.

We had a well known sexual predator in my county, and he was released from prison, but it was so hard to find a place to live that he lived on the grounds at San Quentin in a trailer. The Probation Department finally found him a place. And he underwent chemical castration, because he was still a danger.

But there have been others that have both shown remorse and done their best at restitution.

A convicted child molester ?......probably not.
A bank robber ?......possibly.
George W. Bush ?.......no f*ckin’ way….
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I don’t think that the evidence indicates that child molesters can change.

If I were certain that the person in question had truly repented, I could. Different times for different crimes, naturally – probably a function of how close I felt to the criminal, crime, and victim.

I would treat him like a human being. I’d be polite and say hello, as with any other neighbor. I wouldn’t ask him to babysit, however.

Imagine being treated like shit for the rest of your life because of something you did 30 years ago. That’s what he has to look forward to. Don’t add to it.

I never had children, so I can take risks with these people that I couldn’t expect others to. I would treat the person equitably, no different than other people. I might be a bit wary, I suppose, but a pedophile is no danger to me personally. It would be the same arms-length relationship I have with other strangers. Neutral. I believe that once someone has paid their debt to society, they should be given a second chance to rebuild their lives. I distrust the blanket statements of the psych community when they talk about incurable conditions such as pedophilia. This professional community has been wrong many times before. I want to believe everyone can be rehabilitated, if they choose to be. But this is a tolerance I don’t think I could afford if I had children. And I would understand completely if parents were intolerant toward this person. It’s a tough question, I’m really not sure. It becomes a question of the greater good. Are we able to ensure the safety of the children in our community? I would listen closely to others in my community, especially the parents, before taking a stance on this.

I’d have nothing t do with them at all, I believe your sexuality is your sexuality, and that it can’t be changed.

If we outlawed being gay or heterosexual it would not stop anyone from wanting what they want, and I don’t think it would work with child abusers.

There are certain things, that when challenged, they just get hidden. Challenge someone on abusing children, punish them for it, and put them in a situation were everyone disapproves of it, and they will merely hide it, not stop.

So, just to clarify…the man was convicted or accused? Since he did jail time, I assume it is the former.

The word “forgive” doesn’t seem right. If I was not directly or indirectly involved with the crime, I am not in a position to forgive them for their actions. Maybe a better phrase would be ‘show kindness” or ‘show empathy’. In this case, yes, I think I could. It’s been done with two friends from grade school days who have both been in jail several times, albeit not for child molestation.

Would I treat him differently? To be honest, yes, although maybe not on the surface. Having this nugget of background information, how could anyone overlook it when having interactions with him?