Friday, September 4, 2020

The Center Square writer Bethany Blankley uses "pedophile" and "sex offender" interchangeably in attack on Romeo and Juliet bill

Here we have yet another example of a poorly written article by a reporter with an agenda. 

My email to this reporter, sent to bblankley@watchdog.org

Your use of the term “pedophile” is incorrect.

By your own words, “The bill specifically gives judges discretion over whether to make an adult register as a sex offender if they had anal or oral sex with a willing minor, and only if the minor is 14 years old or older and the statutory rapist is less than ten years older.”

There is no criminal statute called pedophilia, only a clinical diagnosis.

From Psychology Today: “Pedophilia is an ongoing sexual attraction to pre-pubertal children. It is considered a paraphilia, a condition in which a person's sexual arousal and gratification depend on fantasizing about and engaging in sexual behavior that is atypical and extreme. Pedophilia is defined as recurrent and intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children—generally age 13 years or younger—over a period of at least six months. Pedophiles are more often men and can be attracted to either or both sexes.”

This law by its very structure cannot even cover an event that could meet the criteria for pedophilia. In other words, your headline is entirely incorrect. It seems you do not seem to understand that “sex offender” and “pedophile” are not interchangeable.

I doubt she has the intelligence to respond. After all, she cited Urban Dictionary as a reference in her report. 

https://www.thecentersquare.com/california/california-assembly-passes-bill-allowing-some-pedophiles-to-not-register-as-sex-offenders-with-stipulations/article_c8497582-edee-11ea-935e-03c280391711.html

California Assembly passes bill allowing some pedophiles to not register as sex offenders, with stipulations

By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square Sep 3, 2020 

(The Center Square) – The California State Assembly this week voted to revise the state’s penal code that regulates the registration of sex offenders by passing SB-145. The revision of the bill would allow pedophiles to not be registered on the sex offender list as long as they are not 10 years older than the minor they were convicted of molesting.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Scott Weiner 18 months ago, relaxes sex offender registry requirements for sodomy and other acts with minors to reportedly end “discrimination against LGBTQ young people on the sex offender registry,” according to Weiner.

The bill states that, “Existing law, the Sex Offender Registration Act, requires a person convicted of one of certain crimes, as specified, to register with law enforcement as a sex offender while residing in California or while attending school or working in California, as specified.

“This bill would exempt from mandatory registration under the act a person convicted of certain offenses involving minors if the person is not more than 10 years older than the minor and if that offense is the only one requiring the person to register.”

The bill specifically gives judges discretion over whether to make an adult register as a sex offender if they had anal or oral sex with a willing minor, and only if the minor is 14 years old or older and the statutory rapist is less than ten years older.

It passed by a vote of 41-18; 22 legislators did not vote on it. The Speaker of the House, Anthony Rendon, and 40 Democrats voted in favor. The Speaker’s office did not return a request for comment.

The bill passed by a vote of 23-10 in the state Senate.

Assemblyman Steven Choi, R-Irive, spoke out against the bill. He said, “In the age of historic sex trafficking and child trafficking here in California, I think this bill is entirely inappropriate. I don’t understand why a 24-year-old volunteer coach should not have to register as a sex offender for being with a 15-year-old student. Statutory rape should be a registerable offense either way. … This is intolerable.”

Assembly Appropriation Committee Chair Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, vehemently opposed the bill. She said, “I cannot in my mind as a mother understand how sex between a 24-year-old and a 14-year-old could ever be consensual, how it could ever not be a registerable offense. We should never give up on this idea that children are not, should be in any way subject to a predator. And that is what it is.”

In a recent report on the crisis of sexual predators in the U.S., the New York Times reported that “Images of child sex abuse have reached a crisis point on the internet, spreading at unprecedented rates in part because tech platforms and law enforcement agencies have failed to keep pace with the problem. But less is understood about the issue underlying it all: What drives people to sexually abuse children?”

“A majority of convicted offenders are men who prey on children ages 6 to 17,” the Times reports. “But women also commit hands-on offenses; rough estimates put the rate of pedophilic attraction at 1 to 4 percent in both men and women. Studies suggest that a small subset of male and female pedophiles have an interest in toddlers, or even infants.”

A new movement to normalize pedophilia, MAPs “minor-attracted persons” or NOMAPs or “Non-Offending Minor Attracted Persons” has emerged, which has caused concern among the gay community.

According to Gay Star News, "Many on social media are warning LGBTI people and allies to be wary of the MAPs flag during Pride season. Additionally, many also called out the problematic nature of using a term like ‘minor attracted persons’ to normalize pedophilia."

According to Urban Dictionary, MAPs include Infantophiles (being attracted to infants), Pedophiles (attracted to pre-pubescent children), Hebephiles (attracted to pubescent children), and Ephebophiles (attracted to post-pubescent children).

Below are some more of Bethany's beliefs:




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