I AM moved to write by your headline "Call this Justice?" in reporting the sentence given by York Crown Court to my professional colleague Charles Holdaway (November 16).
Well before the case reached Court, Mr Holdaway was undergoing voluntary counselling for his self-confessed, rollercoaster addiction.
So far as we know, he did not seek to profit financially from it, he did not trade images or try to bring his fantasies to reality. This was surely reflected in the sentence which he received.
An aggressive paedophile who shares his cravings with a wider community, or who tries to practise his fantasies, deserves prison and will justly receive your public condemnation. But it may be helpful in this case, to recognise that Mr Holdaway voluntarily sought the kind of help which your critique can so easily undo.
I do hope that Charles can ultimately use his experiences to voluntarily counsel and help to cure others who may follow his previous, misguided course.
Equally positively, perhaps the Evening Press can feature the kind of assistance that is available for those who seek to be cured of such cravings.
For the present, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Any takers?
Paul Hepworth,
Windmill Rise, Holgate,York.
Updated: 11:12 Thursday, November 18, 2004
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