Apparently, at least in Toronto, pedophiles are more likely to be
Trekkies (or Trekkers, if you prefer):
From an article in the LA Times
(
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-fg-
photo27apr27,1,755648.story) that included these paragraphs:
<i>On one wall is a "Star Trek" poster with investigators' faces
substituted for the Starship Enterprise crew. But even that alludes
to a dark fact of their work: <b>All but one of the offenders they
have arrested in the last four years was a hard-core Trekkie.</b>
Det. Constable Warren Bulmer slips on a Klingon sash and shield they
confiscated in a recent raid. "It has something to do with a fantasy
world where mutants and monsters have power and where the usual rules
don't apply," Bulmer reflects. "But beyond that, I can't really
explain it." [Emph. added]</i>
Analysis of the article by a concerned blogger clarified this
somewhat, but a connection still seems to be there:
http://www.corante.com/importance/archives/2005/04/28/la_times_claim_a
bout_pedophiles_wrong.php
<i>
April 28, 2005
LA Times Claim About Pedophiles Wrong
Posted by Ernest Miller
This has very little to do with the normal topics of this blog, but
yesterday the LA Times published an article regarding the Toronto Sex
Crimes Unit that focused on their fight against child pornography
(Sifting Clues to an Unsmiling Girl). They are the law enforcement
organization that photoshopped the victims out of child porn photos
in order to get the public's assistance in identifying the
backgrounds (it worked). In any case, the article had this amazing
claim:
On one wall is a "Star Trek" poster with investigators' faces
substituted for the Starship Enterprise crew. But even that alludes
to a dark fact of their work: All but one of the offenders they have
arrested in the last four years was a hard-core Trekkie.
Wow. All but one in four years. Seemed rather unlikely to me.
So, I called the Child Exploitation Section of the Toronto Sex Crimes
Unit and spoke to Det. Ian Lamond, who was familiar with the LA Times
article.
He claims they were misquoted, or if that figure was given it was
done so jokingly. Of course, even if the figure was given jokingly,
shouldn't the Times' reporter have clarified something that seems
rather odd? Shouldn't her editors have questioned her sources?
Nevertheless, Detective Lamond does claim that a majority of those
arrested show "at least a passing interest in Star Trek, if not a
strong interest."
They've arrested well over one hundred people over the past four
years and Det. Lamond claims they can gauge this interest in Star
Trek by the arrestees' "paraphenalia, books, videotapes and DVDs." I
asked if this wasn't simply a general interest in science fiction and
fantasy, such as Star Wars or Harry Potter or similar. Paraphrasing
his answer, he said, while there was sometimes other science fiction
and fantasy paraphenalia, Star Trek was the most consistent and when
he referred to a majority of the arrestees being Star Trek fans, it
was Star Trek specific.
A weird factoid. Nevertheless, it is not correct that "all but
one ... in the last four years" was a hard core Star Trek fan.
</i>
- David
Received on 2005-05-03 11:01:54