So I was looking (innocently) at a picture of a beautiful little girl (about 7 years old) in a one-piece swimsuit. It was a full length, high resolution and quite detailed photo of Her. I stared at Her for a few moments just because She was pretty.

But a thought struck me. What if, in a hypothetical thought experiment, I showed this completely legal photograph to a prosecutor, LEO, judge, or some other Law person? Then I told them that I was a pedophile and was seriously attracted to the image. At no time would I have said or done anything illegal. But, what would society do about a very blatant violation of their notion of “right and wrong”? They couldn’t arrest me, couldn’t charge me with anything, but they sure would be pissed off as could be, eh?

Do you think I should go stand on a corner of the nearest shopping mall and do just that? Smile and claim that I am sexually attracted to that image of Her? (I mean, disregarding the fact that all malls are closed at the moment.) How much hell could I raise? (Keeping in mind that this is just a hypothetical thought experiment and I would never do this because it sure would damage my family.)