Pedophiles in Entertainment
TONIGHT! Anne Henry of BizParentz Foundation on Dr. Drew to discuss Pedophiles in the Entertainment Industry.
News About Pedophiles in Entertainment
Jason James Murphy
Just over three weeks ago, the LA Times broke a story about Jason James Murphy, who was convicted and sent to prison in Washington State for five years for the kidnapping and child molestation of an 8 year old boy. Dressed as a woman, Murphy went to the child's school, kidnapped him, and the two flew to New York City. "America's Most Wanted" featured the case and Murphy was arrested three days later in a New York Times Hotel at 1:00 a.m. while the two were "getting ready for bed."
Murphy, a registered sex offender, has worked in casting children in films for 16 years. Registered as a sex offender in California, Murphy assumed a new identity by dropping his last name and working in the entertainment industry as "Jason James" on films such as "Super 8."
Read LA Times Article:
Marty Weiss
A week ago, the LA Times reported that Marty Weiss, a talent manager specializing in young actors, was arrested on child molestation charges and the allegations are very serious. The victim reports that he was abused over several years and taped a conversation with Weiss that may prove very damning. "The police suspect there may be other possible victims."
Read LA Times Article:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-molest-arrest-20111201,0,6384624.story
Please, please, please contact law enforcement if you suspect a child is in danger. Law enforcement officers care deeply about protecting children and are highly trained. Honestly, if you see or suspect something, say something to someone who can help ~ this would be law enforcement.
Leave Jason James Murphy Alone, He's Trying to Start a New Life
Below is my response to the comments and articles that suggest that convicted child molesters, such as Jason James Murphy, have paid their debt to society, have not been convicted again (who knows if he has reoffended), and are trying to start a new life. My favorite article was entitled "Leave Convicted Child Molester Jason James Murphy Alone."
While "give a guy a break, he's paid his debt to society" may work for the vast majority of criminals, it is an extraordinarily dangerous proposition when applied to child sex offenders, particularly in the case of Jason James Murphy.
Humans are driven by a small number of basic needs. Aside from breathing, food, water, sleep, and a few others, sex is one of those basic needs. While humans are not born with the need to steal, destroy property, ingest drugs, kidnap, or murder, they are born with the need to have sex.
To frame this simply, for some child sex offenders, abuse occurs as a result of opportunity or the need for power and control. Children are easy, convenient victims when an offender wants to have sex or dominate. For these offenders, associating sex with children is a very powerful cycle to break.
Pedophiles, on the other hand, are sexually aroused by children. This may be due to hardwiring, past experience, or an otherwise "glitch" in their processing system. In order to have sex, they need children. Pedophiles may "passively" view child pornography, forcibly kidnap children or become groomers. Groomers develop a relationship with a child, often at-risk for abuse, over a period of time. The grooming process may proceed quickly or slowly but once the abuse takes place, the stage has been set for easy access and continued abuse.
So while the burglar may be rehabilitated through achieving some financial success or the drug addict may overcome addiction through counseling and/or medical treatment, it is extraordinarily unlikely that a child sexual offender can be rehabilitated. Jason James Murphy is a groomer who kidnapped a child he had developed a relationship with over the course of two years. When released from prison for kidnapping, child molestation burglary of four schools and forgery, James James Murphy purposefully chose, through deception, an occupation that would place him in direct, continuous contact with children, casting associate specializing in children.
Jason James Murphy could have chosen to work in thousands of occupations yet he chose the one job that would provide him with a steady stream of children - and their pictures - and quite possibly unsupervised contact. It's alleged that Jason James Murphy participated or hosted acting workshops. To protect children, the entertainment industry must screen applicants carefully, make background checks a standard, quickly report suspicious activity to law enforcement, and rally around children who have the courage to disclose abuse.
News from the New York State Department of Labor
Commissioner Gardner has refused to respond to our recent letter (see letter below). I did speak with Leo Rosales, Spokesperson for the DOL (see letter below). Mr. Rosales indicated by phone that the Department of Labor is aware of the timeframe and they have no news to report.
Letter to New York Department of Labor Spokesperson, Leo Rosales
(dated December 1, 2011)
Dear Leo,
To follow up on the message I left with your assistant this morning, I have reached out to Commissioner Gardner, Maria Colvaito (I understand she is now retired), Jeffrey Shapiro, and Joan Connell (voice mails and though the office secretary more than 10 times now), to no avail. New York can and should be a leader in adopting safe regulations to protect children and allow the industry to operate in a healthy, productive, financially sound manner. There are thousands of people that work in NY entertainment that would like to get some resolution on the regulations proposed over a year ago including child performers whose safety is extremely threatened by the regulations proposed thus far.
At the conclusion of the scheduled hearings last January, it was my understanding that either the DOL would redraft and publish their changes, with the possibility of one public hearing before adoption, or they would establish an Advisory Board to formally assist the DOL in drafting responsible regulations that would protect the workforce while promoting the entertainment industry in New York.
To date, we have received no communications from the DOL save my correspondence with you more than a few months ago when you indicated there were no meetings scheduled regarding the Child Performer proposed regulations.
In early November, I published a Child Performer Newsletter comparing the Penn State scandal and the NYS DOL proposed regulations. There are three regulations that would not only invite pedophiles into the entertainment industry to victimize children but would allow those already working in the industry to have greater access to children. ("see Newsletter below" ~ Newsletter was attached)
Within a week of my newsletter, the LA Times reported that Jason James Murphy, convicted of kidnapping, child molestation and burglary of four schools, had been working as a children's casting associate for 16 years. I emailed a letter to Commissioner Gardner apprising her of the situation and again asking for resolution. ("Letter to Commissioner was provided")[See Letter to Commissioner below].
Yesterday, I received word from Los Angeles that Marty Weiss, an LA children's talent manager, had been arrested for what amounts to child molestation (the allegations are repeated sodomy over the course of several years). Today, the LA Times confirmed the arrest and charges. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-molest-arrest-20111201,0,6384624.story
I encourage you to click through my website http://www.childperformerscoalition.org/ to confirm my involvement, my bio, and my expertise. Although I do not believe any of the proposed regulations are appropriate, I do believe that healthy regulations would help the industry. The Act that established a basic framework for child performers working in New York anticipated regulations. That was many, many years ago - child performers and the industry continue to wait.
I welcome any assistance in this matter,
Kelly Crisp
Letter to Department of Labor Commissioner Colleen Gardner
(dated November 18th)
Dear Commissioner Gardner,
The entertainment industry continues to wait for your Department to make its next move ~ to either publish your changes to the proposed child performer regulations or formally table them, as we have repeatedly requested, and establish a Child Performer Advisory Board to recommend the adoption of regulations that would protect child performers and promote the entertainment industry in New York.
Tuesday, my Child Performers Coalition Newsletter (see below) compared the Penn State Child Sexual Abuse Scandal to the entertainment industry, in particular, the environment that would be created if your proposed regulations were to be adopted. "The entertainment industry's dirty little secret is that perverts love child performers. There are websites dedicated to sexualizing child performers and [there are] arrests of industry insiders. I'm going to repeat my assertion that if the Department of Labor understood the industry, if they had included advocacy groups in their conversations, they wouldn't have drafted the rules the way they did because the proposed rules endanger children ~ period, end of story, full stop."
Last night, the LA Times broke a story reporting that an LA casting [associate], Jason James, with a 16 year history of working as a casting agent, was a convicted child molester who had spent considerable jail time for child molestation and kidnapping of an 8 year old boy. Prior to casting, he worked as a camp counselor at Boys and Girls Cub. Then years in prison, changed his name, and became a casting agent in LA. He has cast some big projects and last night someone posted a twitter picture of Mr. James partying with kids from the film Super 8.
Here is the LA Times story:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-fi-ct-casting-director-20111118,0,3505723.story
Here is another article "Tumbler Becoming the New Blog Platform of Choice for Pedophiles" (note child performer reference):
http://getoffmyinternets.net/2011/11/18/tumblr-becoming-the-new-blog-platform-of-choice-for-pedophiles/
I would ask that rather than letting the time expire on your proposed regulations, you immediately table them as a gesture of good will to child performers and the entertainment industry and immediately form a Child Performer Advisory Board with BizParentz and Child Performers Coalition solidly on the Board. I hope by now understand the jeopardy you have placed child performers in as well as the duty you have to protect their interests as part of your labor work force.
I look forward to hearing from you soon,
Kelly Crisp
Thank you so much for your support.
Kelly Crisp
Founder, Child Performers Coalition
|
