child pornography and thought crime

Today, I was playing Fable, and during the load times, I would turn my Vcr off to see whats on TV. What was on under it was Oprah, now the load time is long and I like listening to people who want attention by talking about how they cheated on their husband for 27 years on public television. But, what the issue was, was child pornography. Eventually, they came to the point where an 18 year old had been convicted of possession of it. Now, their initial reaction was, "Oh mah Jesus what a screwed up child!".
To me, they thought it just to persecute the man for thought crime. The man was not a sexual offender, only in possession of child pornography. This means they were persecuting him on the grounds of thought crime. Personally, what are the benefits of child porn being illegal? Raping children should be illegal, not the pornography. Either way, they were persecuting him for thought crime.
On the flip side, does someone who watches child pornography have a higher likelihood to become a sexual offender? Should said person be made aware of on a list of potential sex offenders? Is it better to be safe that sorry at the expense of a mans reputation?
As for thought crime, I believe no thought is a crime. Period. But then again, what if you think about killing the president? Or express it over the phone?Would they persecute you to be safe? Would it be right? Just like would it be right to persecute someone for downloading child porn?
What do you all think? About child porn in particular and about thought crime.

Possessing CP is not a thought crime because he is supporting the makers of CP, who are harming children.
Fictional child pornography however harms nobody and possession of that is morally OK, even if it's disgusting. But real CP is a definite crime

Yes, it is a thought crime, because to justify persecution on such grounds, the only logical thing one could do is claim that looking at child porn makes you more apt to rape children, which has been shown as ridiculous. Otherwise, how does the possession of it in anyway support the maker? (Unless you are buying it.) And how in any way have you committed any type of crime besides thought?