[RustyPellican]

Hello,

My name is James,
I live in Portland.. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment where I lease out the 2nd bedroom. I have been fortunate where I live because of the close proximity to down town. About 7 months ago I rented to a man about my age, and we just clicked. I sensed something was amiss, but couldn't place my finger on it. My mother and father are two people in the mental health industry for many many years. I know certain things to look for when seeking for a room mate. I might add because of my upbringing.. and knowledge, I am a fixer.. I help people even when it costs me.

This man and his therapist sit me down to tell me something that really catches me off guard. He is a registered pedophile in the state of Oregon, and it gets better, he has re-offended 2 times in the state of California where he served 10 years for the original issue and offended again and was sent to a California state hospital for another 10 years.

I know I am a fruitcake for letting the man stay. My reasoning is, he has 2 years of his last 20 years of confinement, clean. He see's a therapist once a week.

However that idea changed this week when he showed me a 3T drive 3/4 full of child photos. I spent 18 hours looking through the photo's to see if any were nude photo's none of the ones I saw were nude, almost a terabyte, but none the less they are photo's of what he called "pretty and cute". I have been searching the net to see if there is a mandate, or a law restricting this type of activity. Thus far I have not found anything.

I guess my concern is, I know how illegal having the nude child photo's are, and he has a real sickness with the clothed photo's, how can I help him? I have determined he has a dysfunctional disorder, yet there seems to be no recourse for his current activities. He is not registered as a "Predatory Sex Offender"

He has a full time job, he has in all other aspects flipped his life around.. I don't really want to toss a wrench into a work in progress, yet I want to be sure of my safety and others.

[Travelinglady]

Hello and welcome to Psych Central, James! I am no expert, but I see no illegal activity here. I am concerned that he still likes to look at kids, though. To me, that sounds like it is the first step back into his old pattern. After all, I assume the kids he abused were dressed when he first saw them.

Is there anyone you can report him to, just to make sure that it's okay that he is still having all those pictures of kids? As I say, I am not any expert, just giving my thoughts.

[junkDNA]

get a new roommate

[Truth in Ruin]

18 hours?! That's good you took the time to look through those. How do you help him? I don't think you can. You could help a child by keeping your eye on him. It's not your responsibility, but it may be better that you don't kick him out. That way someone (you) could keep a close eye on him. If you really want to help, this may be the best option.

PS - I want to thank you for doing what you have already.

[IndieVisible]

Rusty you seem like a decent guy and try to do what's right and treat everyone fairly. Very commendable and I respect that! I think however these are extenuating circumstances. The fact that this person has so many pics (videos?) of children is still very disturbing even if it doesn't actually break any laws, and it actually may be breaking laws. Child porn is not limited to nudes. In fact, any thing that can be used for arousal qualifies for child porn. So what qualifies for arousal? Skimpy clothing, tight clothing, close ups of genital areas even fully clothed, splits, cheerleaders, even some thing as innocent as a little girl sliding down a slide could be a qualifier if her legs are spread. So it really is not so easy as being nude or not. I would suggest you call the an agency that is more knowledgeable on this subject, being a convicted pedophile he is not aloud any where near schools or playgrounds, si it is very possible even having those images may be breaking his parole conditions. Do the right thing.

[Angel of Bedlam]

Because I have been the victim of pedophile, this touches a nerve with me. You seem to have been empathetic to him which shows your not judgemental so that's good, but I truly believe this man is sick. Just having those pictures of all those children is sick. I think the best thing you can do is

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[Angel of Bedlam]

Report this to his parole officer. Something is wrong.

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[Ash89]

I agree with Angel. The photos are a serious red flag. If he were completely out of his old habits he wouldn't have a terabyte of children's photos. Maybe email or call his counselor or therapist? Technically that wouldn't be illegal and the therapist could steer conversation that way to dig a little deeper.

[Angel of Bedlam]

Unfortunately, I truly believe that some pedophiles (most all, really), can't be rehabbed. You cannot fix this. My molester went on to abuse another girl and even at sentencing earlier this year when I finally brought him to justice, he claimed that while he understood his behavior to be illegal, it wasn't wrong. He was "just trying to help me," and said that Mary and Joseph were 20 years apart and the bible didn't find it wrong. You KNOW something is awry with this or you would not be here.

As someone who didn't come forward to persecute a pedophile who offended again, I cannot urge you enough to do something. Don't sit on your hands, the regret you'll feel can be almost too much to bear.

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[702webdev]

I do agree with Angel, I think that it at the very least needs to be brought to his therapist attention.

I do not agree with Angel that pedophiles cannot be rehabbed and not all pedophiles are deamons, be sure not to feel that way. There are some pedophiles that will admit what they are but will tell you that they do not have desire to harm a child or watch kiddy porn. Instead the struggle with what they are and live their life like any other person, yeah the urges can be there but that doesn't mean they will become a Sexual Offender..

[Grey Matter]

I agree with Angel, something is wrong, it is disturbing, report the behavior. Having that many photos of children, who are not consenting to photos being taken, is still illegal as indievisible said.

I also agree with Angel that more likely than not, they can't be rehabilitated. He spent 10 years in a hospital and did he stop the behavior? No. He is still downloading photos of children and using them as a means to become aroused, be that mentally or physically.

You can't fix him, it seems no one can. Keep yourself safe because since you're sharing internet, if that is under your name, you can catch yourself in trouble to and you haven't done anything wrong.

[Mike_J]

I will also agree with Angel, report his behavior, and get a new roommate.

And realize the danger you are in, if they find child pornography in your house, it would be hard to prove that it wasn't yours, and if he has any access to your computer he could use your computer to hide his porn, and/or use it to access online porn the cops trace it back to your computer, or even your apartment you are in HUGE trouble.