PAUL HEGARTY,
Madam, - I am surprised by the backlash against those who believe Tim Allen did not receive an appropriate sentence. There are calls for compassion, forgiveness, and complaints about a mob mentality. This "mob" is asking that the law be fairly applied, rather than bargained against. If this same "mob" is hostile to the Allen family, it is perhaps due to the latter's too public support of the guilty person, combined with a concern about public image that bordered on contempt for the legal process and public opinion.
When we hear of the need to forgive and be compassionate, we should remember that a functioning legal system, without which there is no society, needs judgment and the capacity to punish. As for forgiveness and compassion with regard to child pornography, have we forgotten that misplaced compassion has facilitated clerical child abuse over decades, if not longer? - Yours, etc.,
PAUL HEGARTY,
Sunday's Well,
Cork.
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Madam, - I am outraged in recent weeks by the witch-hunt revolving around Tim Allen and his "lenient" sentence for viewing and downloading child pornography on the Internet. I believe the justice system worked exactly as it should. He admitted his guilt, assisted gardai in locating evidence, and his psychiatrist testified he had sought help for his compulsion six weeks before the Operation Amethyst raid. A custodial sentence would have served nothing except to deny him the professional help he had already sought and had been receiving.
In no way do I condone what he did, which was clearly perverted and wrong. But unlike so many paedophiles, he knew this was wrong and had sought help. Unlike the media, Judge Patwell gave him the benefit of this so that he could continue to receive professional treatment to overcome his compulsion.
Kevin Myers (An Irishman's Diary, January 21st) suggests the complete suppression of such desires from an early age. I believe that these problems manifest themselves because of suppression and that paedophiles need to feel able to seek help and not hide in the shadows. Openness, honesty and understanding are the key to healing any mental or sexual illness.
As a final note I would ask your readers not to punish the employees of Ballymaloe for the wrongdoings of Tim Allen and not to judge Darina and their children for standing by him. We could learn a lot from their strength and courage, but most of all from their understanding; hopefully through them he can be cured in so far as that is possible. - Yours, etc.,
RUPERT J. McCANN,
York Road,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
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Madam, - Are credit card companies aiding and abetting the crime of downloading child pornography?
As well as facilitating the crime, they earn commission for each image downloaded. Yet they seem to have escaped censure in the recent controversy.
I believe they should be asked to make a "healthy" contribution to charity. - Yours, etc.,
BRENDAN FANNING,
Ballinalea,
Co Wicklow.
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Madam, - I wish to express my compassion for Tim Allen. I hope it is possible to do so without being labelled a closet pervert or child porn sympathiser.
Tim Allen is a criminal - a consumer and sponsor of child abuse images. He was caught and punished by the police and justice system. In my opinion a jail sentence should have been imposed but that is not the issue I want to discuss here.
I once attended a funeral where a man had hanged himself, leaving a wife and children. The priest asked us not to judge the man for a single act; none of us would like to have our life assessed in that manner.
The Allen family has the right to love and forgive the sinner. The rest of us are empowered neither to forgive nor condemn him. The present outrage should focus on the crime rather than on a man who might have succeeded in repressing his dark side forever if such evil and disgusting images were not available at a touch of a few buttons. - Yours, etc.,
ROBERT DUFFY,
Woodside,
Hacketstown,
Co Carlow.