November 2010 Archives

Long before Wikileaks founder and editor Julian Assange became the planet's most hunted man for releasing hundreds of thousands of military and diplomatic documents, he published a eerily prescient exposé on Masha Allen entitled One Child's Unending Abuse - From Disney World Girl to Drifter

In March 2008, Assange and business reporter Christopher Witkowsky, released what would become journalism's epitaph on what had been an international story influencing everyone from Senator John Kerry to Oprah to President Putin.

Masha's rapid ascent to worldwide fame in 2005 and 2006 was followed by an equally quick descent into oblivion. Assange and Witkowsky were the first and only media to explain Masha's tragic unwinding.

Once the political darling of both the right and the left (the 2006 Republican controlled House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has long-featured Masha Allen on its now-archived web page and Senator John Kerry spoke about his work on Masha's Law as recently as last year), by 2008 almost no one cared or remembered anything about her shocking story.

Despite several abortive efforts by ABC News to uncover the truth about Masha's situation, and a short-lived law enforcement investigation initiated by Senator Johnny Isakson in late 2007, no one from either the political or media establishments had the time or interest to uncover the uncomfortable truth behind Masha's downfall.

Quite simply, after she had done such a good job serving both the politicians and talk show hosts, Masha's messy life became too complicated and too fraught with blow back to warrant too much exploration.

"Don't ask don't tell" isn't just for the military. Out of sight, out of mind often serves everyone's interests.

According to FBI agent Gregory Christopher--who was recently named the State/Federal Law Enforcement Officer of the Year--"about 70 percent" of child prostitutes in the Tampa area are foster children.

"A lot of these kids are foster kids, runaway kids. There's not a lot of people looking out for them. I'd say about 70 percent or so are foster kids."

Last year, 22 children were removed from their pimps in Hillsborough and Pinellas county Florida. According to Christopher, "I have no doubt there's a lot more out there. I get at least two or three leads a week. We can't act on everything. There's no way."

For the complete interview of Agent Christopher, check out this article in the St. Petersburg Times.

Longtime contributer to this blog and internationally known social work expert Daniel Pollack has just published a fascinating article in the International Social Work Journal entitled Opening Juvenile Proceedings to the Public and the Media: An international Social Work Perspective.

According to Professor Pollack, for youth offenders around the world, any contact with their country's juvenile justice system is serious business. In this concise legal note, Pollack discusses whether there should be a presumption that juvenile proceedings to be open or closed to the public and the media. Similarly, the article challenges the reader to consider how we balance society's general desire for openness with a child's and the juvenile justice system's desire for confidentiality.

Daniel Pollack, MSW, JD is full professor at Yeshiva University School of Social Work in New York City and is a frequent expert witness and contributer to this blog.

For a copy of this article, please contact Professor Pollack at (212) 960-0836 or by email.

There simply are not enough hours in the day to smack down all the pedo material on Wikiepdia, Facebook and now Amazon. For once the mainstream media scooped this blog by reporting on a recently listed self-published e-book entitled The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct by "I-am-not-a-pedophile" author Philip R. Greaves II.

There's lots to digest in this story which MSNBC has been following closely. I'm not sure where the story first originated, but needless to say it has spread quickly around the globe. According to this excellent story on MSNBC:

The book, The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct by Philip R. Greaves II, includes graphic "first person" descriptions of a child's sexual encounters with an adult, "presented as an adult's recollection of his youthful experience," as well as advice to pedophiles afraid of becoming the center of retaliation. The electronic book, which is not illustrated, was available for $4.79 from Amazon.com's Kindle e-reader.

Amazon had initially defended the sale of the book, issuing a public statement that said, "Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable. Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions."

Speaking in a "TODAY" show segment about the "Pedophile's Guide" before it was removed from the site, Greaves said protesters "are free to think whatever they want to think about the book."

"Every time you see (pedophiles) on television, they are either murderers, rapists or kidnappers," he said as reason for writing and publishing the book. "And you know, that's just not an accurate presentation of that particular sexuality."

MSNBC has hit on something very significant with their bold reporting on this issue. Thanks to author Greaves' shameless declaration, MSNBC has publicized what people working in the field have known for years if not decades: there is a growing unabashed pedophile political action movement which equates "that particular sexuality" with civil rights. From the Dutch pedophile party to convicted child molester James A. Freeman's advocacy group SOhopeful, pedophiles increasingly see themselves as a persecuted and misunderstood minority struggling for civil and legal rights.

According to MSNBC:

Greaves' self-published work contains six academically titled chapters in which the author attempts to add cultural context and express sympathy's for his intended audience's cultural plight.

Excerpts from "Our Gardens of Flesh" posted on Gawker reveal text equally graphic and disturbing as that of "Pedophile's Guide."

"Besides an extended defense of pedophilia, (the author) includes a long account of one adolescent boy's sexual encounter with an adult ice-cream man," writes Gawker's Max Read. "The whole book functions as a kind of manifesto, a theory of sexuality and a creepy declaration of principles."

If anyone has any doubts about the seriousness and extent of "the movement," a brief segue through Wikisposure should remove any doubts.

If the pedophile manifestos weren't bad enough, Amazon's naturist videos are now the latest rage, highlighted again through some great reporting by MSNBC (made even g r e a t e r from some prominent quotes from this tireless ChildLaw blogger!)

Enough of all this commentary. Check out the primary materials at the links below.

• The Creepy Sex Manifesto by the Author of The Pedophile's Guide
• VIDEO: Why was Amazon selling pedophilia guide?
• 'Pedophile's Guide' gone from Amazon
• More trouble for Amazon, this time with photos

Infamous child pornographer Richard Steve Goldberg whose trademark r@ygold is a longtime, well-recognized tag for hardcore child pornography, has a Facebook interest group with almost 300 fans.

Unfortunately, there's lots more thanks to an anonymous reader of this blog who assembled a damning cornucopia of profiles and links to such Facebook interest groups as "incest," "preteen hardcore," "our little group," and "lolita."

Favorite activities ranged from "spanking kids," to "preteen hardcore lover," "incest," and "I like chubby boys." The well known East European child pornography studio, "LS Magazine," is also a frequently listed activity along with the seemingly benign "family fun."

All of this material was assembled in a few hours by an amateur slooth. Certainly the Friending professionals at Facebook could spend a bit of time checking out Google and Urban Dictionary in an even cursory attempt to keep child pornographers and avowed child molesters off their site.