Is Media Ignoring Boy?s Murder Case Because Suspects Are Gay?

ABC News ^ | 4/13/2003 | ABC News Staff

[JesseHousman]

A 13-year-old boy in Arkansas dies after a horrific sexual crime but much of the national media ignore the story. Conservative columnists and other critics think they know why — because the boy's accused killers are gay.

"[The media] doesn't want the public to think about homosexuality and pedophilia and torture and the murder of children," says Don Feder, a conservative columnist at the Boston Herald. The boy, Jesse Dirkhising, was bound, drugged, tortured and raped for five hours before he died in 1999.

Last month, a jury convicted Joshua Brown, 23, of rape and murder. Brown was sentenced to life in prison without parole, the maximum sentence. Brown's lover, Davis Carpenter, 39, goes on trial next month.

But the case received little attention in the national media. Critics say that is evidence of pro-gay bias, noting that news organizations gave extensive coverage to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man who was hung on a fence post by two straight men and left to die.

Protesters outside Brown's trial in Bentonville, Ark. held signs that read, "Pro-Gay Media Shame." Conservative and anti-gay groups have made the same argument for months on their Web sites and in their publications.

Their argument was given more weight when it was embraced by one of the country's most provocative gay writers, Andrew Sullivan, in The New Republic.

Sullivan compared media coverage of the two cases, and found what he described as a "staggering" discrepancy. He concluded that the media "hyped" the Shepard case to build support for the inclusion of gays under federal hate crime protection, and ignored the Dirkhising case for fear of feeding anti-gay prejudice.

"I think there is clearly evidence that many in the media decided we're not going to go there because we know it will feed anti-gay prejudice," Sullivan told ABCNEWS.

Editors at the television networks and major newspapers have responded that they covered the Shepard crime because it was part of a national issue — hate crime legislation.

"For a crime story or a murder story, even a horrific and sad one like [that of] Jesse Dirkhising, to be covered by the national press, I think there has to be an issue of larger social significance attached to it," says Martha Moore, a media reporter for USA Today.

Editors say that while it may seem cold, countless rapes and murders — gay and straight — regularly go unreported in the national media because they are not part of a larger issue.

Editors also say that the horrific details of the Dirkhising case made it hard to report.

According to an account Brown gave police after his arrest, he and Carpenter had tied Dirkhising to a bed with duct tape as part of a "game." Then they gave Dirkhising an enema of urine that they had dosed with amitriptyline, an antidepressant and a sedative.

Jesse was gagged with a pair of dirty underwear while Brown raped the boy and Carpenter directed the scene, according to Brown's account. The boy died of suffocation, which Brown said was an accident.

Brown told police he was acting on instructions that Carpenter wrote and drew for him on a pad of paper. Prosecutors plan to use the notes and diagrams as evidence at Carpenter's trial.

Another charge prosecutors intend to make at Carpenter's trial is that the men were planning on other rapes. Prosecutors intend to to submit handwritten short stories that police found in Carpenter's apartment, which were explicit writings envisioning future rapes and tortures, mentioning one local girl by name.

[Maelstrom]

According to the Kinsey Report, the boy enjoyed it.

[sharktrager]

Sorry, while I abhore homosexuality, calling them all potential murderers is exactly the same as when NOW refers to all men as potential rapists. It may be technically accurate, it is sensationalistic and greatly overstates the case.

[Saundra Duffy]

What else is new? MAJOR BUMP!!!

[eleni121]

You haven't heard about this???

Many have not heard about this, so it is helpful to repost and remind.

Good job Jesse!

[shhrubbery!]

Here's another one you probably didn't hear about from the lamestream media:

Jeffrey Curley

[I]n East Cambridge, Massachusetts, ten year old Jeffrey Curley was lured into a car by two young men who promised him $50 and a new bicycle.

The criminals, Salvatore Sicari and his homosexual lover, Charles Jaynes, mechanics and petty thieves, had spent months soliciting Jeffrey's trust.

Once they had him in the car, Jaynes reportedly tried to force sex on Jeffrey.

When the child resisted his 300 pound black assailant, Jaynes sat on and suffocated him with a gasoline-soaked rag.

Sicari and Jaynes then drove to New Hampshire where Jaynes abused the boy's body before putting it in a barrel with concrete and dumping it into a river in Southern Maine. --source

[In Charles Jaynes's apartment, a]long with general NAMBLA materials, Cambridge police found a manual titled "Rape and Escape" published by the pedophile organization.

"The book literally details how pedophiles can lure, befriend, and rape a child, then avoid detection and prosecution," Aiken said.

According to trial records, the killers of Jeffrey Curley followed one of the [NAMBLA} manual’s suggestions. The men stole Jeffrey’s bicycle, befriended him as they helped in a fruitless search, then offered to buy Jeffrey a new bike.

The men were on the way to the store with Jeffrey when they offered him money for sexual favors. As Jeffrey rebuffed them, they resorted to force, eventually suffocating the boy. The men then raped the corpse. --source

[gunnedah]

You have the right to disagree. I have not just read this item, I have a copy filed somewhere when it first happened.
Also call me anti-gay, that makes me think you are pro-gay, so be it.
All we see in the news are special rights and that is OK to, but if you only see one side that is no more than brainwashing by the media.Any time a gay is beat up, harrassed or addressed it continually stays in the headlines.I have personally seen the destruction brought on by this lifestyle and I refuse to stay quite or hide. I will voice an opposing view of this lifestyle every time I get a chance.You never see movies of those like Jesse Dirhising but you see those from the gay persuasion.
I try not to print any opinions on here that I have not learned from my lifes experiences.
The problem is most victims have become weary and in most cases they have no one to defend them and are to ashamed to tell the story.

[tdadams]

Also call me anti-gay, that makes me think you are pro-gay

I'm pro-mind-your-own-business. I'm anti-anti-gay crusader.

I have personally seen the destruction brought on by this lifestyle and I refuse to stay quite or hide. I will voice an opposing view of this lifestyle every time I get a chance.

You're so valiant. Just don't break your arm patting yourself on the back.

[vaudine]

The case and the story is old, but the outcome of the trial is new, and I, for one, am glad to know the outcome. I only wish these two could suffer the torture they meted out.Also news to me is the bit about the "stories" written to show plans, visions, desires of further rapes.

My grandmother had an old saying that is succinct and to the point vis-a-vis the homo agenda:"Enough is enough, and too much is nasty." Well, to me, their agenda has been nasty all along, and it is getting even nastier. They intend to be in our faces at church, on the news, on tv programs, in movies, and most awfully--at school with our children, who are being brainwashed into believing that these perverts are a maligned minority--misunderstood, poor victims of a hateful, homophobic society. I am sick of it, when actually the median income for homos is far above that for other citizens, let alone victim classes such as blacks and hispanics. They have money, media, influence at all levels--enough to coarsen the culture and make black white.

vaudine

vaudine

[PISANO]

So the torture and rape of a straight BOY by queer MEN, who PLAN on adding MORE torture and rape of straight BOYS to their resume, is NOT a hate crime NOR part of a larger SOCIAL issue?? Crazy friggin media!

[vaudine]

I find this/these stories horrifying, not tiresome. As for posting every egregious act of the homo zealots, we are already 2 or 3 decades behind their flourishing agenda. Ignoring it has come to the pass we are at with the churches, "entertainment" programs, media, etc.

It is all of a piece with taking any mention of God out of the public square--the tearing of the traditional fabric of our society.

If a sculpture of two naked men copulating had been placed in the Montgomery courthouse lobby, anyone want to bet it would have been removed as obscene, unnatural, an affront to society. I don't think so! It would be "art" and untouchable, in case removal would insult that most sensitive group--homosexuals.

vaudine

[Maelstrom]

See...the gays won't mind their own business.

THEY insist on sticking their noses into our childrens' affairs.

Should they back the hell off and jump back into the closet, it's likely the defense of innocent children and impressionable adolescents as expressed in opposition to homosexuality will rescind a bit.

[LiteKeeper]

INTREP

[John O]

Thanks Jesse.

It is important to always keep the name of JESSE DIRKHISING alive even though the 'homosexuals killed him.

It is also important to note that this rape/murder was committed by a supposedly monogamous 'homosexual' couple.

Ed, One for the list.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Is Media Ignoring Boy's Murder Case Because Suspects Are Gay?

At the time they ignored it because the suspects were gay. Now they're just ignoring it because it's old.

[Tall_Texan]

That is indeed what they are and they deserve to be smeared again and again. They are, in fact, potential killers who have murdered thousands over the years for the sake of extreme perversion.

Dean Corll
John Wayne Gacy
Jeffrey Dahmer

If homosexual rape/torture/murder were an isolated incident, it might be true that this case is blown out of proportion. But it's not the first time young boys ahve been raped by homosexuals nor the last, and it won't be the last time such behavior sometimes leads to murder.

No, all homosexuals are not like this but their attraction to underaged boys and their proselytizing to underaged youth are, at this point, beyond question.

If anything, I think more parents would be worried that their son could become Jesse than could become Matthew.

[JesseHousman]

It's good that you posted this regarding young Curley.

To imagine the horror of the last minutes of this young life is just too much!

I just read the following blurb from recent history:

In July 1998, in their Psychological Bulletin, the APA published "A Meta-Analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples."

The authors did no research of their own. They used 59 earlier "studies" (two dozen of which were never published or given peer review) to develop the goofy conclusion that unforced sex between an adult and a child may not be a harmful experience but a "positive" one.

The North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) considered the study "good news." Their web site proclaims that "sex does not pose the danger to minors claimed by police, prosecutors and prudes crusading against man/boy love."

Apparently, the current mayors of San Francisco and New York City agree. Why else would they choose to march in "homosexual pride" parades, along with a self-identified group of proud and practicing pedophiles.

...not be a harmful experience but a "positive" one...

Are they saying that since little Jeffrey wouldn't give permission for them to sodomize him, then it's okay to kill and abuse his corpse?These degenerates must be eliminated from society unstead of placing them on a pedestal to be admired for their digusting, useless lives.

If a sicko torures a cat and kills it, the media is up in arms and you'll read it forever. But to continue to make an issue about crimes like these that cry to Heaven for vengeance and we're told "time to move along. There's nothing more to see here." Like sheep we mosey along and then, damnit, it happens again and again!

[<1/1,000,000th%]

The conviction is new. Took 4 years for the one guy's trial and the other guy's trial hasn't even started yet.

[JesseHousman]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) calls a $200-million lawsuit against the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) a "witch hunt."

The suit is being brought by the family of slain 10-year-old Jeffrey Curley, who was molested and murdered by two men. Police found NAMBLA materials in the home of one of those men, Charles Jaynes.

Attorneys for Robert and Barbara Curley, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, have asked a federal judge to let them sue NAMBLA under Rico laws, which target criminal conspiracies.

NAMBLA is a "criminal" organization "that exists to train pedophiles to rape children," according to the suit.

The Curley lawsuit also demands the names of all NAMBLA members.

"That, more than anything, shows the purpose of this suit and why it should be dismissed," ACLU attorney John Reinstein told the court in his petition to have the case dismissed.

The ACLU is also petitioning the court to gag the attorneys of both sides in an effort to keep the case out of the press.

"I am amazed at the irony of the ACLU, the self-proclaimed guardians of free speech, calling for a gag order," Steve Aiken, director of communications for the Traditional Values Coalition, told C&F Report. The Traditional Values Coalition is helping to fund the Curley lawsuit.

"The ACLU and other defenders of NAMBLA do not want the public to hear the truth about NAMBLA and the role it played in the death of Jeffrey Curley," he added.

Along with general NAMBLA materials, Cambridge police found a manual titled "Rape and Escape" published by the pedophile organization.

"The book literally details how pedophiles can lure, befriend, and rape a child, then avoid detection and prosecution," Aiken said.

According to trial records, the killers of Jeffrey Curley followed one of the manual’s suggestions. The men stole Jeffrey’s bicycle, befriended him as they helped in a fruitless search, then offered to buy Jeffrey a new bike.

The men were on the way to the store with Jeffrey when they offered him money for sexual favors. As Jeffrey rebuffed them, they resorted to force, eventually suffocating the boy. The men then raped the corpse.

Since the death of his son, Robert Curley has been grappling with the inconsistency of his so-called "gay friendly" hometown. Community leaders have virtually ignored the family’s loss. The city of Cambridge has several markers and memorials to murdered homosexuals. Sen. Edward Kennedy(D), despite his vocal outrage at the death of Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard, has declined to comment about the death of Jeffrey Curley.

[JesseHousman]

Jeffrey Curley, 10 years young, RAPED by TWO GAY MEN and MURDERED.

Oct. 10, 1997

By MARTIN FINUCANE, Associated Press

BOSTON (May 16, 2000 8:23 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - The parents of a 10-year-old boy who was killed by two men after he resisted their
sexual advances filed a $200 million lawsuit Tuesday against the North American Man/Boy Love Association, claiming one of the killers was incited by the group.

Barbara and Robert Curley allege that NAMBLA "encourages its members to
rape male children." Their wrongful death suit filed in federal court also
claims that "NAMBLA serves as a conduit for an underground network of
pedophiles in the United States."

Jeffrey Curley was killed on Oct. 1, 1997. Salvatore Sicari was convicted
of first-degree murder in the case, while Charles Jaynes was convicted of
second-degree murder and kidnapping.

Prosecutors said the two young men were sexually obsessed with the boy,
lured him from his Cambridge neighborhood with the promise of a new bike
and then smothered him with a gasoline-soaked rag when he resisted their
sexual advances.

The lawsuit alleges that Jaynes joined NAMBLA in the fall of 1996, read the
group's publication and Web site and "became obsessed with having sex with
and raping young male children."

The message box at the North American Man/Boy Love Association phone
listing in New York City was full late Tuesday. The message said the
organization "speaks out against societal repression and celebrates the
joys of men and boys in love." ((men having GAY sex with children))

The lawsuit also names an Internet provider, Verio Inc., of Englewood,
Colo., saying it has violated its own policies by hosting the NAMBLA Web
site and is providing an international communication system for pedophiles.

A spokeswoman said the company hadn't reviewed the lawsuit and couldn't
comment.

[JesseHousman]

ACLUM Agrees to Represent Nambla in
Freedom of Speech Case


The ACLU of Massachusetts has agreed to represent the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) in a civil lawsuit brought in U.S. District Court by the family of Jeffrey Curley.

The suit, an action for wrongful death and for civil rights violations, alleges that NAMBLA is responsible for the kidnapping, rape and murder of the 10-year-old boy by Charles Jaynes and Salvatore Sicari because its publications and the material which appeared on its Internet site "urged the general public to illegally rape male children." The plaintiffs claim that Jaynes and become a member of NAMBLA approximately one year prior to the murder and that, as a result of reading its publications and the material on its web site, "became obsessed with having sex with and raping young male children."

NAMBLA, which takes the position that sexual relationships between men and boys can be appropriate and should be legal, is considered to be one of the most controversial organizations in the United States.

ACLUM Executive Director John Roberts described the concerns which prompted ACLUM to take on NAMBLA’s defense. "While we join with all others in deploring the heinous crimes committed against Jeffrey Curley, two people have been convicted of his murder and are serving life sentences. The Curley lawsuit seeks millions of dollars in damages against NAMBLA because one of the murderers allegedly looked at the organization’s publications and web site prior to committing the crimes. There was nothing in those publications or web site which advocated or incited the commission of any illegal acts, including murder or rape."

The web site contained materials that advocated for legislative change of age-of-consent laws concerning sex between adults and adolescents and included statements by various writers, including Allen Ginsburg and Camille Paglia, references to academic journals about sexuality, some fiction and poetry, and a clear statement against coercive sex or breaking the law. NAMBLA’s publications, principally the NAMBLA Bulletin, contain the same types of material, interspersed with eroticized depictions of young boys.

ACLUM Legal Director John Reinstein, who is one of the lawyers representing NAMBLA in the suit, acknowledged that "I think it is fair to say that most people disagree with NAMBLA and that many would find its publications offensive. Regardless of whether people agree with or abhor NAMBLA’s views, holding the organization responsible for crimes committed by others who read their materials would gravely endanger important First Amendment freedoms."

Reinstein maintains that in "Brandenburg v. Ohio", the Supreme Court has made it clear that a speech or publication is protected under the First Amendment unless it is ‘directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action.’ NAMBLA’s materials are simply not in this category. While NAMBLA may extol conduct which is currently illegal, its materials fall far short of speech that may be prohibited. If that rule were to be changed to allow a suit like this one, it would introduce a regime of conformity to majority rule that would threaten the very right to dissent."

While intent on pressing their suit against NAMBLA, the Curley family has acknowledged ACLU’s concerns. In a Boston Globe article which appeared shortly after the ACLU entered the case, Jeffrey Curley’s father, Bob Curley, is quoted as saying that he harbors no ill feelings toward the ACLU for defending the case. "I really do have respect for them (ACLU)", said Curley. "They are very consistent in whom they defend. It takes a lot of nerve to defend the groups they have over the years. They have a lot of courage."

A legal brief filed in the case can be read online at:

NAMBLALegalBrief
ACLU statement on defending free speech of unpopular organizations