Alliance MP. Richard Harris (Prince George-Bulkley Valley) felt that,

“…the government has no intention of protecting our children from the likes of predators or perverts who would prey upon our children.”

In opposing Bill C-20 he knows

“…full well that the recidivism of pedophiles is almost 100%, if not 100%”.

Others repeated this belief which is the basis of demanding harsher sentences and civil commitment where offenders may be held indefinitely after the end of their sentences.

While it is impossible to establish if sex offenders are cured as there is no way to determine what they may think, their behaviour, their rates of recidivism, are matter of much investigation and record.

A recent report of the American Justice Department report looked at almost ten thousand sex offenders released in 1994 and found that only three percent were subsequently convicted of another sex offence, a much lower rate than for other crimes. The myth of incurability serves the interests of many in the criminal justice system.