Ohio Man Claims Right To Have Sex With Boys

The Indy Channel ^ | August 3, 2006 | AP

[Abathar]

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.

[chesley]

I didn't say don't execute them.

Frankly, any country, culture, or person, or civilization that tolerates people like this one among it when they could do something about is doomed with Sodom & Gomorrah.

And I believe people who have crossed this line find it almost impossible to cross back. If they ever try.

But with God, all things are possible. If they show true repentance, He will forgive them. But they still have to suffer the consequences, which should be a swift but fair trial, a last meal, and the long drop. No other penalty is acceptable or adequate.

[butternut_squash_bisque]

I can agree with that, c.

"If they show true repentance, He will forgive them".

You're saying that God would allow Hitler/etc into his Heavenly Kingdom, and not banish him/them to Hell, if they were truly repentant?

I can't even begin to conceive of that kind of mercy, c. Surely, there has to be a *line* in His Mind for permitting repentance and allowing forgiveness?

[chesley]

1 John 5:16

If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

Mark 3

28 I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.

29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.

Don't know what it is, though most Christians think that is the final rejection of God's grace and forgiveness. That is God doesn't send people to Hell; they choose to go. So, yeah, I think God could have forgiven Adolf Hitler. The fact that He committed suicide leads me to think that he did not, however, accept God's grace. And that wouldn't mean that the governments of the Allies couldn't or shouldn't have hanged him by the neck until dead. Or that what he did should ever, ever, ever be forgotten.

[trisham]

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.

*****************

For the life of me I cannot understand this. What an evil, evil man. I hope he receives the mandatory sentence.

[dfwgator]

"Not all pedophilia is bad, and sex [with boys] can be healthy," Distasio told the court.

"But dude, you have sex with children."

[plan2succeed.org]

Did anyone notice the perp "was arrested after he wanted to write a blog for the Lakewood Library"? Thanks to the American Library Association, libraries are welcoming environments for such people. After all, as the de facto head of the ALA said, "I get very concerned when we start hearing people who want to convert this country into a safe place for children...."

SafeLibraries.org - Are Children Safe in Public Libraries?

[phoenix0468]

"I am adult. I want available what I need to see."

Well, if she needs to see playboy, or watch porn on the internet, she can do it in the privacy of her own home. It's not fit for a public library, much less for the safety of children. I think you've pretty much convinced me with this one plan, thanks for the ping.

[cyborg]

http://www.ulc.org/

[plan2succeed.org]

np

[sure_fine]

thanks for the pings, plan2succeed.org

[highlander_UW]

I didn't sign up for this ping list. Please remove me. Thanks

[plan2succeed.org]

np, and thank you.

[j_tull]

Cuyahoga County Bill Mason said Distasio was arrested after he wanted to write a blog for the Lakewood Library....

Outrage at the facts of this case aside, I am wondering what ever happened to editing in this country. Apparently, there is an official Bill Mason in Cuyahoga County.

[BostonianRightist]

Was the boy a consenting member of his religious "ministry"?

Didn't think so. Anything short of a stoning is unjust.

[darkangel82]

Bill Mason is the Cuyahoga County prosecutor, who will be making sure that this (deleted) gets life.

[BenLurkin]

With an old rope.

[Mojave]

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 next Libertarian Party candidate for President?