People are so focused on the terrorists who are living on the other side of the world that they’re forgetting about the terrorists living down the street.
I’m talking about the terrorists who prowl parks, school grounds and stores to fantasize about encountering their next victims.
There are currently about 90,000 sex offenders registered in California. It gives me goose bumps to think about how many other sexual predators are freely lurking the streets. But now, Californians can worry about one less creep.
Jack McClellan is a 45-year-old self-described pedophile. He maintained a Web site while living in Washington that exhibited pictures of children in public places and also discussed where he searched for little girls, but it was shut down more than a month ago.
His recent publicity came because of his unwelcomed move to Los Angeles and his outspokenness about how he doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong by watching young girls. His lousy defense is that he’s never been arrested for any sex crimes.
But that didn’t stop the public and the law from treating him as though he is a criminal because there’s nothing holding him back from becoming one. A judge ordered him to stay away from places where children gather and he also can’t go near anyone under the age of 18 in California.
Not surprisingly, he was soon after put in jail for 10 days because he was caught taking photographs near a child care center at the UCLA. Then a state Superior Court judge issued a more strict restraining order: For three years he’s prohibited from coming within 30 feet of places in California where children congregate.
McClellan’s negative response was expected, but in the midst of his misunderstanding of reality, he called the judge’s sentence an “Orwellian protocol.”
What a joke.
By claiming a law or sentence is “Orwellian,” one is referring to it as specifically put in place as personal interest of the government for selfish reasons and to discard citizens’ right to speak against the government. In no way is this restraining order “Orwellian.”
The government responsibly reacted to him – a man who claimed on Fox News that he would have sexual relations with a child as young as three if it was legal.
His words are worrying. His Web site was frightening. What makes it worse is how he continues to publicize his little-girl obsession and his innocence. It proves his unbalanced mental state and amplifies his threat.
So law enforcement responded. It would be disturbingly irresponsible if the California government didn’t do something to stop his dangerous activities.
He wonders why his Web site was removed from the Internet and why he was punished with a restraining order. To clarify: Some Americans’ rights and freedoms are put on the back burner when he or she threatens to put others in danger.
You can be arrested for yelling “bomb” on an airplane even if you’re not holding a bomb, so how does McClellan expect to go parading around as a self-described pedophile and not get in trouble for it?
It’s the government’s responsibility to make sure that McClellan and people like him don’t get the chance to do what they want to do.
He claims he would never touch a child, but how can people trust the words coming out of his dirty mouth?
He’s unemployed and currently lives in his car, and he already broke his original restraining order put in place to protect children in the L.A. area.
The truth is that Southern California won’t be safe until he leaves the state. And to make the dreams of L.A. parents come true, on Sunday he said as a response to his updated restraining order, “I have to leave the state. It’s nightmarish.”
It’s in fact nightmarish to have a man like him roaming around, thinking that he’s not doing anything wrong.
He’s never admitted to his pedophilia as a problem, but he has said that his Web site was a form of therapy.
That’s reassuring.
He has confused the exercising of his disturbance with a type of self-help. He actually needs to get good professional help, and until then, no one will sympathize with him. Does he expect to get a job or start a family after his picture and pedophiliac argument have been in every Internet newspaper and TV news show across the country?
America will take the extra steps to defend our children and criminalize sexual predators, and no one will take this story lightly. Versions of Megan’s Law and Jessica’s Law have been adopted by most states (including California) to ensure the safety of children and enforce harsh punishments to convicted sexual predators.
Now McClellan’s going to leave California and terrorize another state. They’ll enforce similar restrictions, and he’ll become just as upset as he is now.
I can only hope that his new home state’s police can spot him before it’s too late.
-Amanda Strouse is a journalism senior.
-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed – include your full name, major and year in school.