by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright August 4, 2007
All Rights Reserved.

eeking a temporary restraining order against self-proclaimed 45-year-old pedophile Jack McClellan, two Santa Clarita lawyers obtained a statewide injunction, telling Chatsworth Superior Court Judge Melvin Sandvig that he represented a “clear and present danger.” McClellan, who's homeless and lives in his car in Santa Monica, threatened to relocate to Santa Clarita, a fertile ground for snapping photos of underage minors. Before it shut down, McClellan hosted a Website called “Seattle-Tacoma-Everett Girl Love,” for a few years, providing pedophiles pictures and instructions where to find underage girls. “As disturbing and offensive as we find this, there's no evidence of a crime, or even suspicion of illegal activity,” said Snohomish County Sheriff spokeswoman Rebecca Hover. Apparently Judge Sandvig disagreed, issuing the statewide order.

      Pedophilia and child sexual abuse is no laughing matter, stirring collective outrage from McClellan's open admission about his proclivities. While he's never been arrested or convicted of a sex crime, McClellan acts clueless about all the hubbub, causing Judge Sandvig to grant the statewide restraining order. “I guess the main thing is I just think they're cute, a lot cuter than women. I admit there is a kind of an erotic arousal there,” McClellan confessed on FOX News. McClellan wants to make the point that it's OK to harbor illicit thoughts without crossing the legal line. When he posts the whereabouts and pictures of underage girls on his Website, he's aiding and abetting potentially dangerous pedophiles to act out. As with most pornography, community standards determine limits to free speech, something McClellan crossed when he posted pictures of minors.

      Most fixated or regressed pedophiles don't stop at looking at pictures but seek to inappropriately express sexual impulses. McClellan says he wants to help gratify pedophiles urges without sexually acting out. With the Catholic Church priest-abuse scandal still fresh on peoples' minds, there's little tolerance for child abuse. “I really think a lot of this pedophilia hysteria is overblown. I think there's a lot of people like me. They have the attraction but they're not going to do anything physical because of the laws. It just makes me happy to attend these events,” admitted McClellan, showing he's in a different category than the majority of pedophiles that can't control themselves. If McClellan's restraining order is reviewed by an appellate court judge, it's likely to be ruled unconstitutional, since there's no ban on snapping photos. There's also nothing illegal about teasing pedophiles.

      While McClellan openly admits to being a pedophile, there's some question of whether he fits the definition. Lusting after underage minors doesn't constitute a crime until there's acting out or illegally downloading images off the Internet. Asked whether he understood the outrage, McClellan said “I can understand the fear,” adding, “I hope that what I'm doing is setting myself up as an example that it is possible to have these attractions and not be out of control,” said McClellan, exposing the motive behind his shenanigans. He sees himself as sick but considers it OK because he's not acting out. While everyone's outraged by McClellan's antics, they forget he's a garden-variety homeless schizophrenic seeking inappropriate attention and approval from anyone taking notice.

      McClellan's presence in the news attests to failures in the state's mental health system that lets far too many schizophrenics slip through the cracks. McClellan's open disclosures about his “pedophilia” doesn't fit the secretive picture of most dangerous sex offenders frequently concealing their behavior. His open admissions have generated fears and death threats rather than the “cry for help,” begging for urgent psychiatric intervention. “There is a compelling public policy reason to issue this relief . . . What we a seeking to restrain is not speech. It is conduct,” said attorney Anthony Zinnanti, filing the restraining order on behalf of his daughters. Yet McClellan's conduct is pathetic. He seeks attention from the media, not, as Zinnanti suggests, to threaten innocent children but to get some psychiatric help.

      McCleallan raises more questions about California's failed mental health system, where there's more schizophrenics walking the streets than in state hospitals. While McClellan begs for attention, the media finds itself sucked into a bogus argument about pedophilia and the dangers of child sexual abuse. Whatever McClellan's proclivities, he is no “clear and present danger” to anyone but himself. Living in his car, essentially broke, McClellan waits until someone recognizes his cry for help. All the collective outrage should be transformed into a psychiatric evaluation to get McClellan appropriate medication and therapy. No real pedophile divulges to the world his secret desires and propensities. Before vigilantes string McClellan up, they should have some compassion for garden-variety schizophrenics fallen into the cracks of today's broken mental health system.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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