Brain tumor caused pedophilia

[Simon Moon]

This is kind of an old story (2002), but it brings up some interesting questions.

Article

"The sudden and uncontrollable paedophilia exhibited by a 40-year-old man was caused by an egg-sized brain tumour, his doctors have told a scientific conference. And once the tumour had been removed, his sex-obsession disappeared.

The cancer was located in the right lobe of the orbifrontal cortex, which is known to be tied to judgment, impulse control and social behaviour."

The man had perfectly healthy sexual urges his entire life, then at the age of 40, he started having inappropriate sexual urges toward children. His wife caught him visiting child porn websites, and reported him to police.

He was admitted into the hospital for headaches, where a tumor was found. When the tumor was removed, his urges returned to normal.

Assuming that it is true that it was the tumor effecting his behavior (all evidence seems to confirm it is), does this man deserve to be punished for his behavior while under the influence of the tumor?

[Neuroman]

This is something I ponder frequently as a graduate student studying neuropsychology. My training in the clinical applications of neuropsych, and my research in neuroscience leads to a strong bias that we are a product of our brains. I know that in the future, I may be handling cases like the story presented here.

Under the influence of drugs, alcohol, etc. we may behave in ways that we would not normally behave. The same is true for medical issues like tumors or lesions, or chronic neuropsychiatric conditions, as these have an impact on neurological functioning. With this said, it is hard to draw the line at times. A man with a brain tumor, will never do those cruel acts again once the tumor is removed, and never would have raped/molested etc without the tumor being present. He was clearly not in his right state of mind from his illness. The justice system is about reforming and correcting behavior. Surgery in this case would take care of that. Someone who drinks alcohol in excess would also suffer from a lack of judgement, as this has a direct impact on your executive functioning. This individual would be made an example of, because of his substance use.

It is a very difficult to remove social biases from this, as well as the fact that life isn't black and white. Personally I struggle with this and my view flip-flops as I can see both sides of the coin.

[Minimalist]

So every fucking priest has a brain tumor?

[Gilgamesh]

Did he have sex with kids? No? He doesn't deserve to be punished.

If he did; yes.

[pocaracas]

So every fucking priest has a brain tumor?

Only pedophile ones. And it doesn't mean they have tumors... might be genetic malformations, or lesions.... or just suffered an improper development during childhood.... or....?

[Minimalist]

or...just priests with an overblown sense of their own importance because some old fuck in Rome keeps telling them how wonderful and "holy" they are.