I'm from UK too mate (i'm Lloyd's mate btw), and yes, totally hear you there...it's a big national, prurient, hypocritical obsession in the media and it masks/allows some really nasty traits within people (lynch mob mentality etc, see Brass Eye, that shit in Portsmouth a few years ago, paediatricians getting their houses burnt etc). Stuff like that Madeleine malarkey is talking on a lot of different levels, lost innocence, ideas of childhood etc etc...whereas fucking loads of brown kids die in places like Iraq and the papers don't give a shit. seen...but...
Thing is though, not having met the gent, but having read a lot of interviews with him/stuff about him, I think Sotos' raison d'etre IS just actually "I am a nonce, I love this material"...have read stuff where he kinda poo-poos the over analysis of his work and just says "i write this stuff because of limited options, I'm obsessed". are people reading too much into the dude?