Your friend tells you they're a paedophile

[robvalue]

I would try to help as much as I could, I'd try my best to get them to some kind of counselling, but my child would be allowed nowhere near them and my friend would be told of this boundary and, if they overstepped...well, let's not go there.

All that said, I would also have a huge amount of respect for them.  From what I understand, abusers have nearly always been abused themselves.  If this person had the courage not to act on those impulses and confide in me, I'd have to admit that they're probably 10 times stronger than I could be.

My daughter would still be going nowhere near them though.

That's a very well measured response, thank you.