Madam, - I find it quite baffling that Colm O'Gorman should take umbrage at the so-called "celebrity paedophile" who appeared on The Late Late Show last Friday on the grounds that he cites (The Irish Times, September 11th).
Mr O'Gorman seems to find it unacceptable to imagine that those who have been sexually abused may have a propensity towards sexually abusing other people. This flies in the face of current research by those leading the field (Longo, Finkelhor, Ryan) whose research would indicate that between 40 and 65 per cent of those who commit sexual offences have themselves been sexually abused.
Thankfully, many people who have sadly experienced this form of abuse go on to live healthy lives. However, it would be unfair, I believe, (as someone working in the field), to suggest that because of one's own experience of abuse the potential does not exist for a pattern of abuse to develop.
I believe that Mr O'Gorman as spokesperson for 'One in Four' is doing a disservice to those he represents by trying to gloss over the fact that part of the damaging legacy of sexual abuse is that it may, without intervention, perpetuate itself. There were many issues raised on Friday's show which were worthy of further discussion. However, in this instance I believe Mr O'Gorman got it wrong. - Yours, etc,
DON BOARDMAN,
Family Therapist,
Northside
Inter-agency Project,
Temple Street Childrens'
University Hospital,
Dublin 1.