Molesting a child is one of the worst things that can happen and I feel for the victims of such crimes.

Now let me say that anyone that thinks administering an SSRI or SNRI is the answer is sadly mistaken. It is a fact that these mind altering drugs can and do cause disinhibition, mania, psychosis and pornography seeking. It is also a fact that one of the symptoms of mania or hypomania is hypersexuality (can't get enough). How can anyone suggest the children would be safer with the offender being on these drugs?

Charlie, Springdale, U S

When a paedophile attacks a child the rights of that child have been ignored - surely as an application of simple logic the rights of the paedophile should also be ignored - surgical castration, whilst extreme, would remove any further temptation. Chemicals treatments are always open to misuse and therefore unreliable.

Phil, Huntly, Aberdeenshire

Paul is so correct. Why is there any consideration given to the rights of child criminal rapist murderer paedophiles? They don't have any consideration as a grown adult when they are killing an innocent helpless child!

D & D, New Haven, USA

This is a thin end of the wedge. The next thing we will have,and believe me I KNOW that this happens, we will have whispers and gossip made about anyone and everyone that happens to be "different" in some way shape or form. There are many mindless idiots out there who have nothing better to do than gossip, and having seen a paediatrican beaten up simply because it sounds like "paedophile" god only knows what will happen when the practice of witch hunting takes hold again. Yes clid abuse is very very bad and unacceptable ,but starting gossip and innuendo is the wrong way of tackling it. As I say, firstly it will start with convicted sex offenders ,then it will change to suspects ,then it will be..who knows. The trouble also now is that almost everyone is classed as a "sex offender" and that does not distinquish between an 18 year old who has had a relationship with a 15 year old ,and a 60 year old who has wilfully abused a child.

Alex, London, UK

Paul, if the government follows your solution it would mean that everyone who has previously been convicted must stay in prison for the rest of their lives. I am not condoning their crimes in any way, but the purpose of a prison sentence is not only punitive, but also to rehabilitate the offender.
It may be argued that perpetrators of these crimes have effectively ruined the lives of their victims and their families, but it does not necessarily follow that they should not be given a second chance in life.
It would be so much easier to just lock them up and forget about them, but there is no simple solution. It is not practical to keep all previous offenders in prison for the rest of their lives; the issue of overcrowding in prisons is a very real problem that the government of today are facing.

Todd, England,

Whilst I strongly agree with, if not champion, a person's fundamental freedoms to liberty, privacy and other Human Rights, such rights should be removed when dealing with defendants who have taken part in crimes against children. Criminals convicted of child sex offences or other such horrific crimes should be left with Art 2 Right to Life and Art 6 Right to a Fair Trial and no more; all other rights, as far as I am concerned, were surrendered once the act was committed.

Jake Jones, Cardiff,

For someone to re offend they must have been previously convicted. The solution is simple, don't let them out of gaol in the first place. To much consideration is given to the rights of criminals.

Paul, Thornton,

Why chemical castration and not actual castration. If a person is a serial offender then surely removing his testicles will reduce testosterone with the effect of reducing sexual desire and anger.

You should ask those parents whose children have been abused and/or killed what they would like to happen to the offender.

Joseph Kellie, Edinburgh, Scotland

Are we to be living in a country where murderers, people who END other peoples lives, can serve a modest sentence and then get on with their lives; but sex offenders, are to be faced with a lifetime sentence of solitude? Although any abuse warrants severe punishment in a civilised country, and all sexual activity pertaining to children surely falls into this category, I feel these proposals are just furthering this countries movement towards a 'big brother state.'

I feel we are losing the distinction between punishing desire and punishing actions. Whilst many people feel like murdering people, they don't, and are not socially outcast for these desires. Unfortunately, the internet has undoubtedly led to an increase in the networking between paedophiles and increased the exchanges between these individuals: I think we should dealing primarily with elements of social contact between perverted individuals, rather than making them further social outcasts. They need help, through therapy

William Barnes, Norwich, Norfolk, England