More victims of the sex 80s and 90s hysteria

February 14th, 2011

This case fits in perfectly with the day care sex abuse hysteria of the 1980s and 1990s.  In 1994, four women were accused of molesting two young sisters ages 7 and 9, convicted, and sentenced to decades in prison, but on closer examination, these convictions are yet another monument to the lynch mob mentality typical of a public that imagines sex criminals hiding behind every tree.

The case was largely decided on the testimony of pediatrician and child advocate Nancy Kellogg who immediately suspected the case was a satanic abuse case after examining the victims when the accusations were made, two months after the incident occurred.  By the mid 1990′s the impossible claims made during the satanic ritual abuse panic were already being discredited wholesale, but that didn’t stop Ms Kellogg from proceeding with this case.

Kellogg’s theory of Satanic ritual abuse was not directly presented to the jury, but the language of Prosecutor Philip Kazen certainly seemed to be tying the case to teh notoriety of the nationwide day care cases:

“We’re going to ask you,” Kazen told jurors, “to believe a 9-year-old little girl who was sacrificed on the altar of lust.”

Typical of other sex abuse cases or the era, teh case was aggressively prosecuted and guilty verdicts were reached despite the ample room for doubt.  The first warning sign was the fact that pediatrician Kellogg was pushing the Satanic ritual abuse angle in spite of its having been discredited.  Secondly, the children’s stories were perpetually changing.  Physical medical evidence was hardly conclusive.  The two girls had a history of making rape accusations.

Typical of innocent people, the four women rejected plea deals, opting to go to trial.   There is little comment from the actors in the ordeal.  Reviving this case won’t doing them any good.

Two advocacy groups, the Lubbock-based Innocence Project of Texas, or IPOT, and the National Center for Reason and Justice in New York, or NCRJ, have taken up the women’s case.

Let’s wish them luck.  The child sex abuse witch hunts of the 80s and 90s are proof of the utter cruelty people are capable of when given an excuse.  The fact that there are still victims of that crusade of languishing in prison is an example of the indiscriminate destruction that can be wrought under the mantra of “protecting children”.

Posted in Child Molestation, Day Case Sex Abuse Cases, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Texas | 2 Comments »

Craigslist prostitute-turned-teacher gives up

February 12th, 2011

Melissa Petro is giving up her fight to keep her job with the New York City school system the face of a powerful effort to fire her for openly admitting to selling sex on Craigslist before becoming a teacher.

Pietro, who resigned late last month and promised never again to seek employment with the D.O.E., continued, “Although I could have fought my removal I have decided, instead, to move on. Regardless of the outcome of a trial, which I have every reason to believe I would have won, I do not believe I would have ever been welcomed back to the classroom by the Department of Education.”

New York City has proven that, while it’s nearly impossible to fire an inept teacher,  it is indeed possible to fire one that isn’t.

Nice work, New York Department of Education.  I’m certain the Devil has reserved a special place in hell for you.

Posted in Censorship, New York, Politics, Prostitution | 1 Comment »

Cops caught fraternizing with the enemy

February 10th, 2011

Several cops in Raleigh, NC are the subject of an internal affairs investigation for their involvement with a representative of the world’s oldest profession.

Internal affairs investigators used GPS tracking devices and hidden cameras to uncover the activity, which involved sex with a prostitute who frequents Bragg Street in downtown Raleigh, the sources said.

Speaking on the condition that they not be identified, the sources said the Raleigh Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit raided the Southeast District Substation on Crosslink Road over the weekend and that several officers there were told to turn in their guns, badges and patrol cars.

Of course, the law that governs everyone else also applies to cops, right?  Oops.  I guess not:

Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby said his office is aware of the investigation and that criminal charges did not seem likely. He declined to say why or to discuss the matter further.

Well, these are probably just a bunch of young rookies who made a mistake, right?  Oops.  I guess not:

One of the names tied to the investigation, sources said, is Raleigh police Sgt. Rick Armstrong, who is the president of the Raleigh Police Protective Association, a professional association that represents the interests of police officers.

Armstrong, who also is a member of the state Law Enforcement Training and Standards Commission, said Tuesday that he could not speak about the matter, on the advice of the Raleigh Police Department’s Internal Affairs Bureau.

Well, surely some honest cops came forward and management acted quickly to put an immediate end to the activity just as they would if the culprits were ordinary citizens, right?  Oops.  I guess not:

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Police Chief Harry Dolan did not address the specific allegations but acknowledged a “comprehensive” internal investigation into “improper conduct” stemming from a police officer’s complaint in late 2009.

Well, at a very minimum, an outraged city government must be demanding that the officers be publicly identified as is the case for anyone else caught with a prostitute and charged under the relevant criminal statutes making clear to the public that police are not above the laws they hold everyone else accountable to, right?  Oops.  I guess not:

Mayor Pro-Tem Mary-Ann Baldwin, who chairs the city’s Law and Public Safety Committee, said such incidents “reflect poorly” on the police department but that police officers generally do an excellent job.

“Anytime you have something like this you want a quick resolution and I would imagine our residents who would be impacted by this expect that,” she said.

So, after secretly studying the matter for over a year, now that it’s public they are suddenly in favor for a “quick resolution”.  My guess is that, had it not been for the unidentified “sources”, the city would have been quite content if this story never saw the light of day.

So what happens now, Chief Dolan?

“When all the available facts are present, appropriate decisions will be made concerning any personnel action that should be taken pursuant to departmental policy in response to administrative violations.”

Ohhhhhh!  I see.  When ordinary people go to a hooker to get laid, it’s a crime against the public morals where they get their picture in the paper, pay big money for a lawyer, end up being fined and probably spend some time in jail, and (in some states) get their car seized.  But when a cop does it, it’s an “administrative violation”.

Can we say “cover up”?  Can we say “blue wall of silence”?

Posted in North Carolina, Police Misconduct, Politics, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Prostitution | 2 Comments »

Using an underage prostitute worse than murder

February 10th, 2011

A proposed Georgia law beefs up the penalties for engaging is unapproved sex, specifically prostitution.

Among other things, it would permit prosecutors to target the spouses of prostitutes and it would require that those who use prostitutes to magically know whether a hooker is underage even if she claims to be older:

For people charged with human trafficking, the bill would prohibit such defenses as relation by blood or marriage (for parents exploiting their own children, or men pimping their own wives). It also bars such defenses as “I didn’t know she was 15 years old…she looked 20 to me!” or “Hey, she’s been a prostitute before.”

If that’s not enough, the new law would increase the maximum penalty for using a prostitute under 18 years old to life in prison, essentially making the crime as bad or worse than murder.  Keep in mind that the age of consent in Georgia is 16, so it’s perfect acceptable for a girl to give it away, but selling it to feed and clothe herself is illegal.

Penalties for human traffickers would also be significantly beefed up, with the possibility of life in prison if the victim was under 18, and new fines of up to $100,000. What’s more, the state could seize any real or personal property that a trafficker used for, or bought with the proceeds of, the crime.

Of course, with those kinds of financial incentives, the state will have a lot more reason to convert more prostitution cases into trafficking cases.  And how could they do that?

As for sexual exploitation, the bill would block charges for anyone forced to commit sex crimes, including prostitution, against his or her will.

A young prostitute is now guaranteed an attractive payoff to claim she was coerced and to testify against her pimp, assuming there is someone handy she can accuse of being a pimp.  A pimp can be a landlord, massage parlor owner, or just a boyfriend.  I think the legal term for this is ladder climbing.  Essentially, prosecutors buy custom testimony from low level participants in order to fabricate a case against those higher on the food chain (whether a food chain exists or not).  And make no mistake, a youthful witness will often say whatever a prosecutor wants in exchange for a free pass to walk out without charge.

Aside from their potential to raise revenue for the state through fines and property seizures, sleazy laws like this are designed to generate arrest and conviction statistics to prove fear-mongering claims that don’t otherwise jibe with reality.  Anti-prostitution crusaders in Georgia are determined to do everything in their power to convince the world that Atlanta has a serious child prostitution problem.  I have written about their strategy to generate statistics in the past and Maggie McNeil did a very thorough two-part critique of the  so-called independent “research” methods designed to generate those forgone conclusions.

Posted in Georgia, Politics, Prostitution, Trafficking | 5 Comments »

Cragslist prostitutes moving to Facebook?

February 10th, 2011

The answer is yes according to this Fox News article:

[New York] City sex workers are now increasingly plying their trade on Facebook, after popular classifieds website Craigslist shut its Erotic Services section last year, according to a recent study.

Since the story is being reported by a number of mainstream news outlets, it will be interesting to see if it gains strength or quietly fades away.   I think the latter may be the case.

For now, Facebook doesn’t have a specific policy dealing with prostitution but takes a hard stance against illegal activities, spokesman Andrew Noyes told FoxNews.com. “We will take down content, disable accounts, and may take further action including escalating illegal activity to law enforcement. We strictly enforce this policy through proactive investigations and response to user reports.”

While the public was largely complacent about the censorship campaign against Craigslist, they would be much less likely to sit idly by if anti-prostitution  crusaders start shitting on one of their favorite playgrounds.  They are also unlikely to find any support from elected officials who view Facebook as a recruiting ground for supporters.  Nonetheless, the media always profits by exploiting exploitation paranoia, so it could gain some traction.

Those selling sex, on the other hand, might find Facebook a more attractive place to advertise since they have far more control over who can see their ads.

The big question is how long before CNN’s Amber Lyon sets herself up as a teen sex slave on Facebook to prove that all minors on Facebook are now at risk of being trafficked.  This mainstream press theater would be entertaining if it weren’t for the public being so easily taken in by such trash reporting.

Posted in New York, Prostitution, Trafficking | 2 Comments »

States back off on child child pornographers

February 8th, 2011

State obscenity laws that criminalize the sending of child porn by electronic means often don’t differentiate between children and adults.  A minor who sends a picture of herself to a boyfriend can be prosecuted under child porn laws.  Adults who send nude pictures of themselves to another adult are, of course, protected under the First Amendment.  Not so with minors who are not accorded those same free speech rights.

Texas is one such state trying to introduce a new perversion twist to this situation.  Rather than having to charge minors with a felony for sexting, they are considering a new option.  From Chron:

Instead of sending young people to jail for sexting, judges under Senate Bill 407 would be authorized to sentence minors — and one of the minor’s parents — to participate in an education program about sexting’s consequences.

Who better to train parents on how to raise their children than the state, right?  I guess, given the choice between spending the rest of your life as a registered sex offender or a re-education program, the latter option probably seems pretty attractive, although the kid is probably not entirely sold on the idea that he did anything wrong to begin with (precisely the kind of attitude that is remedied by a state re-education program).

The attorney general’s office quoted a 2008 report from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy indicating that 22 percent of teen girls said they have electronically sent or posted online nude or semi-nude images of themselves.

If you’re criminalizing an activity that almost a quarter of minors are guilty of, it’s only a matter of time before 60 Minutes does a segment about how your state is cranking out felon sex offenders by the boat  load.  Destroying kids’ lives is one thing, but embarrassing the state is another.

Of course, the concept of not prosecuting kids for non-crimes is not even on the radar of these morons.

Under current Texas law, minors charged with sexting face a third-degree felony, penalties of two to 10 years in prison, a fine up to $10,000 and lifelong registration as sex offenders.

Other states are addressing the same issue:

Watson’s bill is similar to recent legislation in Vermont, Illinois, Utah and Ohio that seeks to ease sexting penalties and prevent young people from getting caught up in the criminal system.

Back in April I posted about legislation in Arizona, North Carolina, Florida, and Virginia that provides for a lesser charges in the case of minors who send nude pictures of themselves to friends, thereby committing the terrible crime of child abuse where they are both the predator and the victim.  Sheesh!  Regardless of whether it’s a misdemeanor or a felony, it’s pretty clear that the real source of the abuse these kids face is at the hands of their own state governments.

Posted in Illinois, Ohio, Sexting, Texas, Utah, Vermont | 8 Comments »

Alabama sex shop trades sex toys for guns

February 8th, 2011

Starting today and continuing for a week, Alabama Sex Toy Freedom Fighter Sherri Williams is offering sex toys in exchange for guns.  Williams owns the Alabama sex store chain known as Pleasures which has recently been in the news for opening the world’s first drive-up window.

Customers can bring in a gun in any condition to trade for an adult toy. Williams says all guns that were used in a crime will be handed over to authorities while all others will be placed in an auction for sale on the store’s website.

The promotion capitalizes on the fact that the sale of sex toys in Alabama is a crime, while the sale of guns is legal.   A sex toy is defined as “any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.”

While there used to be a number of states that banned the sale of sex toys, Maggie McNeil has pointed out that the 5th Circuit has overturned such laws in a several states and after browsing the net I get the impression that if any such laws exist in other states, they are not strictly enforced (as they apparently aren’t in Alabama).

Of course, the fact that the law is still on the books in Alabama and has been upheld in both state and federal courts means that prosecution is possible.  It would definitely be a quick way for a prosecutor to earn a lifetime membership in the Sex Hysteria Hall of Shame.

Disclaimer:  My highlighting the irony of the law in Alabama should not be construed to mean that I am an advocate of gun control.

Posted in Alabama, Sex Toys and Paraphernalia | Comments Off

Monday Links

February 7th, 2011
  • After an anonymous tip, a female teacher in Ohio is accused of having sex with five of her male students. She “faces up to 81 years in jail if she is convicted of 16 counts of sexual battery and three offenses involving an underage person.” The sexual “battery” charge presumes that the sex was unwanted.  I’m guessing that’s probably not the case (although reality does not play a major roll when it comes to the legalities of sex with  minors).
  • Florida is going to consider banning “simulated” obscenity, whether clothed or unclothed, in material accessible to minors.  Perhaps next year they will outlaw having dirty thoughts within 1000 feet of a minor.  No more suggestive cheer leading moves or dancing in Florida.
  • to minors by adding a clause that says that “a suspected sexual predator purposely and knowingly sent obscene electronic messages to a minor”.   This is apparently a attempt to reconcile free speech rights with their desire to restrict free speech rights.
  • Biblical porn: “My lover thrust his hand through the hole, and my insides groaned because of him.”  Surprise!  The Bible is conflicted about sex!

Posted in Books, Censorship, Florida, Massachusetts, Obscenity, Ohio, Pornography, Prostitution, Relgious Zealotry, Texas, Trafficking, Virginia, Washington | 5 Comments »

Egyption internet kill switch comes to the U.S.

February 1st, 2011

Senator Joe Lieberman, former Presidential candidate and active proponent of internet censorship, is co-sponsoring a bill to give the President the same kind of internet kill switch recently made famous as the weapon of first resort in quelling the popular discontent in Egypt.

From the HuffPo:

The authority granted to the government in the bill, known as the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act (PCNAA), has been likened to an Internet “kill switch.”

The bill would require that private companies–such as “broadband providers, search engines, or software firms,” CNET explains–”immediately comply with any emergency measure or action” put in place by the Department of Homeland Security, or else face fines.

And how will this new security measure be administered?

[The law] would also see the creation of a new agency within the Department of Homeland Security, the National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications (NCCC).

Because, if there’s anything that the bloated and largely incompetent Department of Homeland Security needs more of, it’s bureaucracy.

But wait, there’s more!  The bill not only subjugates the privately operated internet infrastructure to the government, it also provides for additional violation of your privacy and Fourth Amendment rights.

Any private company reliant on “the Internet, the telephone system, or any other component of the U.S. ‘information infrastructure’” would be “subject to command” by the NCCC, and some would be required to engage in “information sharing” with the agency, says CBS4.

As the government learned from the warrantless wiretap fiasco, the government needs a way to assure private corporations that they won’t be held accountable when the government tells them to violate the Constitution.

He added that the bill is necessary for it would reduce the liability of companies that may need to resort to extreme measures in an emergency situation. Companies might have to “do things in a normal business sense you’d be hesitant to do but national security requires you to do,” Lieberman explained, adding “We protect them from that because the action the government is ordering them to take is in national security or economic interest.”

We probably don’t give our “leaders” enough credit for thinking ahead.  It’s clear that Lieberman sees that what’s happening in Egypt could happen here.  Anyone who remembers the civil rights or Vietnam war protests and riots (as Lieberman certainly does) can attest to that.  But, if and when the U.S. has a popular uprising like we’re seeing in Tunisia, Greece, and Egypt, by God our government is going to be ready.  They are going to be able to summarily kill the internet and phone service but rather than looking like an oppressive tyrannical response to citizen unrest, it will be all dressed up in the rule of law.

The government has finally found a way to put the internet firmly under the thumb of government as the public silently goes about its business.

Posted in Big Brother is Watching You, Censorship, Egypt, Greece, Politics, Tunisia, United States | 4 Comments »

The idiocy of typical sex trafficking articles

January 31st, 2011

I came across an article about sex trafficking in Chron that typifies the  way the problem is vaguely hyped by law enforcement and the way it’s mindlessly reported by the media who simply parrot what they hear from government.  The article begins immediately with claim followed by a disclaimer that says they can’t prove the claim.

Authorities know that thousands of men, women and children are trafficked into Texas. Proving it in a court of law is another matter.

What differentiates trafficking from illegal immigration is the use of force.  But here is where it starts to get goofy.

“They may be victims of trafficking that do not even know it,” Sean McElroy of Homeland Security Investigations told the newspaper.

Yeah, they probably thought they were over here voluntarily, but DHS clearly knows what’s going on in their heads better than they do.

McElroy handles trafficking and smuggling investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Houston office. He said many victims initially appear to be illegal immigration cases until weeks of interviews show that they entered the United States against their will.

When it comes to cops, no does not mean no.  They just keep asking until you say yes.  In 1989, law enforcement was able to get four innocent people to confess to the notorious “Central Park Jogger” rape case after hours of “interviews”, so it should come as no surprise that incarcerated illegals can eventually be pressured to agree to the government’s version of events.

So, of the thousands of trafficking cases alluded to in the first paragraph, hpw many have been prosecuted?

Federal court records show no cases of human trafficking in 10 South Texas counties since 2000. Corpus Christi police said they cannot recall any cases where they were able to charge a suspect with trafficking, despite suspicions.

And what is the state doing to crack down on this epidemic of non-identifiable crime?

Beginning this year, state law requires newly sworn law enforcement officers to take a basic course in human trafficking. Legislation has been proposed with the aim of equipping local law enforcement to crack down on human trafficking rings that lead to or pass through Texas.

And where is all this trafficking not happening?

The attorney general’s study said the state’s busiest trafficking artery was the 900 miles of Interstate 10 that runs from El Paso to Houston, making both cities the state’s busiest trafficking centers.

Articles like these are common and so self-contradictory that they don’t hold up under even the slightest bit of analysis.

Said Hunter, “We still depend largely on kidnapping and prostitution laws to address human trafficking cases. A missing or kidnapped child whose face appears on a milk carton could actually be the victim of human trafficking.”

Well, I guess that last sentence is true.  They may not be able to identify a single case of trafficking, but they have no problem prosecuting prostitution and then calling it trafficking.

Posted in Prostitution, Texas, Trafficking, United States | 2 Comments »

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