David Holthouse confronts killer inside him on This American Life: Read shocking story here

• Brilliant, gripping and disturbing account from Holthouse. I fear his abuser is lying. The smoking gun is the poor cat he tortured with a fire-cracker. This says two things: 1) Holthouse was NOT his only victim, and 2) the abuser (in case anyone needs further evidence) is seriously psychopathic. I'm not aware that psychopathology is a little hobby one can discard at will.

• It is an interesting and provocative story. Can we reduce the statistic Holthouse cites (the average number of children pedophiles molest before being arrested) better by imposing unconstitutional sentences on those few convicted, or is there another way? Holthouse did not deliberately forgo prosecuting his rapist, but the resolution of his embarassment, expressed as concern for his parents, could not take place until they had read the diary he had left in their house, by which time the statute of limitations had run out on the offense. His hyperconcern for his parents kept him from shame, but forgetting the presence of a diary written three years after the attack served to communicate the truth to them. His confrontation of his rapist is what is most remarkable about the story, up until this point a description first of why and how he was psychologically constrained not to tell of his rape and then of how he was driven to murderousness. Holthouse retains the objectivity to be able to find his attacker's remorse genuine, and even to consider that his claim of not having molested others might be true. The denouement of this affair could not be satisfactory to any of the parties involved, but is perhaps better than the imposition of a draconian prison sentence on the malefactor (not an option for a fifteen-year-old, in 1978 anyway). We would be better off if we knew each other well enough to prevent such offenses in the first place, or to detect them after the fact even somewhat more effectively, than to crucify some miniscule fraction of those committing them. I interpret much of our law regarding sexual offenses as expressing the impotent rage of societal incompetence.

• Robert, thanks for clarifying. Appreciate your help.

• This American Life has featured any number of good stories. The quality does range, but the excellent ones certainly outweigh the mediocre. If you've never heard David Sedaris' Santaland Diaries, you should -- it's hilarious: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/sites/all/play_music/play_full.php?play=47 (~4 min. in). P.S. Michael, not to niggle, but This American Life is not actually an NPR show (although it is played on NPR stations).

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