Judgement day

[Quantum Quack]

Difficult topic to ask clearly so please excuse the convoluted way of starting this thread.

fiction:
"I was following this guy and being an expert mind reader I knew that his deadly intentions towards his target were most likely to be carried out. As I followed him down the street I could mind read his plans and how he intended to kill the target. [ the hit fee of $30,000 was already in his bank account]
As he approached the area of his intent I was plagued with questions like "At what time does his intent amount to a crime?" or "Should I intervene or wait till after the crime has been committed?"

As he crossed the road approaching his target his right hand was reaching into his jacket pocket and as he grasped the butt of his pistol a truck he failed to see ran him to the ground and killed him instantly."

The question is a bit like that which was shown in the movie "Minority Report" and asks at what point should a person consider a crime is committed?

Can intention to commit a crime ever be described as a criminal act in a moral sense [ not legal sense ]?

Obviously there are laws in many countries now that allow the police to prosecute persons planning to commit a terrorist or criminal act.

Is it reasonable to prosecute someone simply because of criminal thoughts?

At what point should our mind reader interfere? Should he? Or should he wait until the crime was inevitable and on what basis would he consider a crime to be inevitable when an act of God [ heart attack, stroke, truck, lightenning bolt etc etc] could interfere before the crime is committed.

Guilty of intent vs Guilty of act type question.

 

[Quantum Quack]

or
"A man called John has been a pedophile [ by his own estimation ] all his life. He knows it as a truth of his character, yet not once in his 60 years has he ever gone near a child nor collected materials such as photos etc. In other words in his entire 60 years he has never committed an act or pedophilia. Yet the struggle to stay straight has plagued him all his life."

Many times he has come close to committing a crime against a child but on all occasions so far he has been able to resist the temptation to act on his obsession. He has sort counseling and has achieved small improvements but has never been able to let go of his lustful obsession."

Is he guilty of Pedophilia?

Or is he an extreme example of the common human struggle against temptations deemed to be inappropriate?

If he was a priest or a teacher would you sack him or respect his right to struggle with his conscience?

 

[TMBghostX]

Boring.