Press Release: 11 February 2005
THE LINK BETWEEN PORN AND CHILD ABUSE
Ms Marie Dyhrberg, the lawyer acting for a Scout leader, Andrew John Pybus, 32, who was convicted of sexually abusing two boys, one under 12 and one under 16 years, is reported in the Dominion Post (9/2/05;NZPA report) as having stated outside the Court that "she did not believe there was a definite link between watching porn and child abuse," despite acknowledging that Pybus and fellow Scout leader, Nigel Richard Fenemor, 48, who was convicted of similar offences, "had watched porn before some of the offending." She added: "One can be interested in pornography and not necessarily act it out. It may be more likely that if one is acting it out, then one is also attracted to pornography." The Society finds these simplistic comments, that effectively downplay the well-established link between the use of pornography by child abusers and potential abusers, and its influence on their actual offending, demonstrate a lack of common sense and ignorance of the facts. A recent Department of Internal Affairs report shows that there is a very high correlation (link) between persons convicted of possession of child porn and their sexual offending against children (see internet link Reference 1).