However - from my experience and reading on this I would still say that the paedophile has turned his perversion into a "game" in as much as he can explaint it away to the victim as such - one which disgust most of us, but to the perpetrator he is calculating and prepared to move very slowly and steadily gaining (misusing) the childs trust or building fear of consequence ......"if anyone finds out about our little game........."
In some instances, yes. In some - no. The illusion of a game is just wording sometimes. "War games" for instance. "Friendly Fire." It doesn't mean that it's that way all the time. "Daddy's playing games." It's not just the pedophile....it becomes society in general which rationalizes. Some pedophiles aren't playing any games. They're as deadly serious as any other rapist. Oh, some have fun while their raping......but that doesn't make it a game. Just because a person laughs....doesn't mean it's funny.
I've never read where Ted Bundy thought he was innocent of raping and killing women. And some of them were quite young too.
Yes its not innocent play but to the paedophile who can rationalise away his behaviour he cannot see himself as an abuser.
Your experience is different than mine. From what I gather, you've been part of judicial committees as an elder where a man's come in and been shocked that the innocent play (in his perception or rationalization) could be viewed as child molestation. He had deluded himself into this thought process. Ok. no problem.
My experience is entirely different. My father had no delusions about what he was doing. I was his, so were all the animals in his house. And tying me in with the animals is just fraught with psychological implications. He was raping & beating me & my brother, he was raping & gutting animals, he was having sex with anything that moved within his range...or didn't move. It didn't matter. He had full control - and he knew it.
It was not a game with him. He was deadly serious - and very good. A very quiet man.
I don't discount the type of experience you've had - nor the pedophiles you'e come into contact with. Please don't discount my experiences. It was just my bad luck to come into contact with another type of pedophile. He knew what he was doing....so did his friends. I remember.