NBC10.com - Local News - Ohio Man Claims Right To Have Sex With Boys
CLEVELAND -- It was probably not a defense the court had heard before.
A suburban Cleveland man accused of sexually assaulting nine disabled boys told a judge Wednesday that his apartment was a religious sanctuary where smoking marijuana and having sex with children are sacred rituals protected by civil rights laws.
The admitted pedophile offered a surprising defense Wednesday to 74 charges of rape, drugs and pandering obscenity to minors.
Appearing in an Ohio court for a pretrial hearing, Phillip Distasio, 34, of Rocky River, Ohio, said he was a pedophile.
He told the judge, "I'm a pedophile. I've been a pedophile for 20 years. The only reason I'm charged with rape is that no one believes a child can consent to sex. The role of my ministry is to get these cases out of the courtrooms."
Distasio, a self-professed pagan friar, is representing himself on 74 charges. He said he's the leader of a church called Arcadian Fields Ministries, and that some of his congregants are among the victims in his case.
The judge told Distasio to confine his arguments to secular laws at his trial, scheduled to begin Sept. 11.
"If you want to challenge the law, that's your right to do so," Judge Kathleen Sutula said. "But we're going to follow the laws of Ohio in this courtroom."
Cuyahoga County Bill Mason said Distasio was arrested after he wanted to write a blog for the Lakewood Library. Officials noticed something was wrong and notified Rocky River police.
Distasio was arrested on charges he molested two disabled boys he was tutoring at his home. He's also accused of raping seven other autistic children at a Cleveland school for special-needs students, The Plain Dealer reported. All but one of the boys was under 13, which carries a mandatory life-in-prison sentence if he is convicted, the paper reported.
Police said they found journals at Distasio's apartment in which he described his illegal activities, along with child pornography and videotapes of him engaged in sex with boys, The Plain Dealer reported
"Not all pedophilia is bad, and sex [with boys] can be healthy," Distasio told the court.
According to the journals, two of Distasio's victims were so helpless they could never tell anyone what happened.
"The defendant describes acts in which he had autistic children and he did what I would call sadistic sexual acts with these children," said Mason.
The school he ran from his apartment was called Class Cutters. According to Distasio's Web site, students and parents chose the curriculum in the school for unique children.
But prosecutors said it was little more than a trap that snared one victim and then another.
"Like all predators, he used this one child to bring other children to him and that's what was happening, and that's how he got his second victim," said Mason.
And prosecutors believe there may be more victims.
Distasio has a history of working with children dating back 10 years.
Prosecutors said he could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Check out the story below also... Ned I say more.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Anti-porn effort criticized
Anti-porn effort criticized
Thursday, August 03, 2006
By FRED mailto:CONTRADAfcontrada@repub.com
NORTHAMPTON - A local couple who have been campaigning against a proposal to locate an adult-theme store on King Street were told last night that their rhetoric could damage the gay community.
Adam R. Cohen and Jendi Reiter, who live on North Street, formed NoPornNorthampton after Capital Video Corp. of Cranston, R.I., filed plans with the city's Building Department in June.
The company wants to renovate a former Kia car dealership at 135 King St. into an adult-theme store that sells videotapes, DVDs and magazines depicting sex acts.
Although Building Commissioner Anthony L. Patillo denied a building permit, Cohen and Reiter, who are the only two members of NoPornNorthampton, have campaigned relentlessly to regulate adult businesses in the city.
In addition to setting up a Web site, they have gathered more than 500 signatures for proposed zoning changes that would restrict such businesses.
At a meeting set up by Cohen and Reiter at the ServiceNet offices on King Street last night, several members of the public complained that their rhetoric was "over the top" and urged them to be more specific about their concerns.
In particular, some people said that repeated references to men having sex with each other in their literature feeds into negative stereotypes about gay men.
Mark Carmien, who owns Pride and Joy, a store that caters to gay clientele on Crafts Avenue, said he is worried that the ordinances proposed by NoPornNorthampton could be used against his store.
"Pride and Joy could fall under 'adult enterprise' because of the way this is worded," Carmien said. "There are lots of people out there who would like to come after Pride and Joy, and they have let us know that."
Carmien maintained that many, if not most, of the customers of these stores are straight men and deplored the references to sex between men and to pedophilia.
"Look at how you're perpetuating stereotypes and feeding the radical right," he said.
Cohen and Reiter, who traveled to Kittery, Me., last month to observe another store owned by Capital Video and talk with local officials about its ramifications for the community, said it is not their intention to target gay men or even to ban all adult stores from the city.
They said they plan to speak with Mayor Mary Clare Higgins today to get her input on the matter.
What has the world come to. It is now improper to oppose porn! What!!
The Lefties are afraid that anything hinting at saying perversion is a bad thing could be construed as truth. They can't accept the reality of their twisted ideas are beyond the norm of morality. I can't find the words to express how this sickens me.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
By FRED mailto:CONTRADAfcontrada@repub.com
NORTHAMPTON - A local couple who have been campaigning against a proposal to locate an adult-theme store on King Street were told last night that their rhetoric could damage the gay community.
Adam R. Cohen and Jendi Reiter, who live on North Street, formed NoPornNorthampton after Capital Video Corp. of Cranston, R.I., filed plans with the city's Building Department in June.
The company wants to renovate a former Kia car dealership at 135 King St. into an adult-theme store that sells videotapes, DVDs and magazines depicting sex acts.
Although Building Commissioner Anthony L. Patillo denied a building permit, Cohen and Reiter, who are the only two members of NoPornNorthampton, have campaigned relentlessly to regulate adult businesses in the city.
In addition to setting up a Web site, they have gathered more than 500 signatures for proposed zoning changes that would restrict such businesses.
At a meeting set up by Cohen and Reiter at the ServiceNet offices on King Street last night, several members of the public complained that their rhetoric was "over the top" and urged them to be more specific about their concerns.
In particular, some people said that repeated references to men having sex with each other in their literature feeds into negative stereotypes about gay men.
Mark Carmien, who owns Pride and Joy, a store that caters to gay clientele on Crafts Avenue, said he is worried that the ordinances proposed by NoPornNorthampton could be used against his store.
"Pride and Joy could fall under 'adult enterprise' because of the way this is worded," Carmien said. "There are lots of people out there who would like to come after Pride and Joy, and they have let us know that."
Carmien maintained that many, if not most, of the customers of these stores are straight men and deplored the references to sex between men and to pedophilia.
"Look at how you're perpetuating stereotypes and feeding the radical right," he said.
Cohen and Reiter, who traveled to Kittery, Me., last month to observe another store owned by Capital Video and talk with local officials about its ramifications for the community, said it is not their intention to target gay men or even to ban all adult stores from the city.
They said they plan to speak with Mayor Mary Clare Higgins today to get her input on the matter.
What has the world come to. It is now improper to oppose porn! What!!
The Lefties are afraid that anything hinting at saying perversion is a bad thing could be construed as truth. They can't accept the reality of their twisted ideas are beyond the norm of morality. I can't find the words to express how this sickens me.
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