At the website Girl-Love Garden, pedophiles are on a "quest" for social acceptance of their sexual preferences and "the emancipation of girls of all ages and 'girl love,' in general."
As part of the website, the GirlChat Committee notes that "true emancipation" begins "neither in the polls nor in the world's courtrooms," but "in a child's sublime assent to becoming self actualized with the keen-eyed help of a loving mentor (gardener) who is willing to carefully fertilize and tend to the growth of the emotions, spirit and intellectual flora of the garden of a child's soul - in comparison with which everything else is small.
"We as girl lovers believe that statement to be axiomatic," the committee continues in its mission statement on the website. "Equally as axiomatic, perhaps, is the view that adults who are naturally, sensuously attracted to little girls and blossoming young women, in a similar vein, will achieve full emancipation only by clothing their souls with a childlike personality and agreeing to 'play safe' with each other and the good earth by consensus - as opposed to authoritarian decree."
Here visitors find "an oasis of shade" among the "refreshing waters of reason" where they are invited to "drink deeply of the exquisite delights to be found herein by Girl Lovers everywhere."
But "boylovers" need not feel left out. At Free Spirits, they learn that "boylovers have not chosen of their free will to become so."
"It is an attraction most discover within themselves at a very early age," the site explains. "Through no action of their own, they find themselves considered horrible and vile. Most people who are attracted to minors try to live good lives but find no encouragement from a society and a press that labels all people with that attraction, whatever they do or don't do, as evil monsters."
Developers of "BoyChat," the chat room at Free Spirits, admit it "is not a board in which well-meaning social workers firmly guide people the way they think they ought to go." BoyChat "is run by boylovers for boylovers. It encourages its posters to work freely through their own issues and questions."
Girl-Love Garden's GirlChat claims to be "committed to working vigorously to build our resource into a multi-lingual celebration of the exquisite delights of young girls and teenage women, and to further human rights and equality for all persons regardless of race, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age."
The operators of both the Free Spirits and Girl-Love Garden websites are free to express their views because of the anonymity of the Internet. There are many other online sites catering to "MAAs" (Minor-Attracted Adults, which some pedophiles prefer to call themselves) and claiming to advocate for the civil rights and acceptance of "the most underserved and misunderstood sexual minority remaining in today's human society," according to the Free Spirits mission statement.
Along with chat rooms, these sites include members' galleries where visitors may "Peruse a delightful section of members' Web Pages that provides personal, historical and literary insights for Girl Lovers - as well as a selection of wonderfully expressive poetry," a "Close Encounters Digest" - "a message board where both people who are attracted to boys and/or girls significantly younger than themselves and people who do not share that attraction could come to discuss all of the various issues related to emotional, romantic and sexual relationships between boys or girls and older people."
According to Barry Maddox, spokesperson for the FBI's Baltimore, Md., office, the sites are "totally legal." Maddox told CNSNews.com the sites come close to breaking the law but do not break it.
"They've done their homework," Maddox said.
Pornographic images, literature or any other sexually explicit content are nowhere to be found on these sites.
"Girl Moments," or stories describing an encounter with a female adolescent that are "tasteful," "well written and that are couched from a view that highlights friendships or other light-hearted encounters," are welcome at Girl-Love Garden, according to its frequently asked questions (FAQ) section. But it warns visitors not to "include details that evoke a prurient interest in sexual relations.
"Written materials that appear erotic or that advocate or counsel engaging in sexual activity with a minor constitutes a very serious offence" under the criminal codes of Canada, the U.S. and the United Kingdom, the FAQ warns, adding that "your material must be in full compliance with these laws so that when viewed with a prejudicial eye, they could not be seen as openly advocating, counseling, inducing, nor encouraging sexual intimacy with minors."
"We're only interested in those who act upon these impulses," Maddox said. While legal, he added, the sites "do make me sick to my stomach."
Ruben Rodriguez, director of the Exploited Children Unit at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, told CNSNews.com that while he "loves" the Internet, sites like Free Spirits and Girl-Love Garden "have turned sections of it into a sewer."
"Many of these pedophiles act out on their impulses," Rodriguez said. "These kinds of sites are not something I would welcome."
Rodriguez said all the disclaimers and attempts at de-stigmatizing the "deviant sexual behavior" of pedophiles online are "just excuses" for them to "sit in front of a monitor and masturbate." He expressed "disgust" at the notion of society accepting pedophiles as another minority group.
"I see us sometimes going down a different path," Rodriguez said. "I don't see it getting better, I see it getting worse...going in a direction sometimes that just drives me crazy."
Some MAAs claiming to be Christians say they have found comfort at a website called Philia (http://phila.ws), "which provides news and resources to religious support groups for adults who are attracted to minors." Philia, along with the Christian Boylove Forum (CBLF), are for those who "find themselves in the position of having no one to turn to who shares their faith as well as their sexual feelings.
"This (online message) board attempts to fill that gap by providing a friendly, safe place where we can be honest about our feelings and struggles with sexuality and faith, without fear of destructive criticism or harassment," the CBLF site states. "This is a place for mutual encouragement, support and advice as we seek to deal with our sexuality and society's reaction to it in responsible and healthy ways, to live out our lives with integrity and to express our faith in a way that honors God and demonstrates the love of Jesus Christ to all people."
Both sites are run by "Bach" - the screen name used to protect his identity - a boylover who related to CNSNews.com vie e-mail that he has never acted upon his feelings and that he found support through a Christian service agency with which he volunteered.
"I am in a committed relationship with another man and have found that I am able to gain some satisfaction with this compromise," Bach wrote. "We discussed the fact that many message boards didn't allow for a Christian boylover to explore his faith in the context of his sexuality. We were often confronted with boylovers who had a strong hatred for the church, and we were constantly defending ourselves. This was the impetus to form the Christian Boylove Forum."
From CBLF sprung "Christian Consultations," "an annual gathering to bring together Christians (and some non-Christians) who are willing to enter into dialogue about adult attraction to minors," according to the Philia website.
"We have had involvement at the Christian Consultation from various pastors, Christian service workers, members of...Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Persons," Bach stated in the e-mail to CNSNews.com. "The goal of these encounters was to provide a non-threatening place for dialogue ...to help break isolation and fear.
"I would hope that Christians could come to accept that minor-attracted adults are not monsters, not sex maniacs, not uncontrolled freaks, but folks who have to live their lives with a desire that is demonized by society and the media to an extent that they are fearful to speak of it to anyone," Bach explained.
Julie Posey, a self-described "cyber-crime fighter" runs the website Pedowatch.org. Posey's website claims that "since 1996, she has passed on hundreds of tips to law enforcement involving child sexual predators who use the Internet as a tool to gain access to children who are later sexually assaulted and in rare instances murdered."
Posey is also the author of They Call Me Kendra, which Pedowatch.org describes as an autobiography of "her life experiences as a sexually abused child and tells how she later became one of the nation's leading experts on child sexual predators."
Kendra was the onscreen name Posey used to trap sexual predators online. She told CNSNews.com that Christian Consultation sounded a lot like prison ministers who work with convicted pedophiles.
"They go into prisons and try to help the families," Posey said. "They say, 'Oh, what your loved one did isn't so wrong...he has a love for boys,' and they try to get them (the family) to accept it. But they're trying to get all of society to just accept it, and it's unacceptable to me."
Posey said sites like Free Spirits and Girl-Love Garden are "just working to make their stories sound good.
"I read the North American Man Boy Lovers Association's manifesto one time, and they were like 'sex is actually good for kids,'...well, I can tell you it's not," Posey said. "If society doesn't get a grip right now - and even right now it's going to be difficult, they are definitely going to have the same rights that we have."
Well if your husband was caught doing stuff he had no right doing then either
He is guilty himself,guilty by association
Or in the wrong place at the wrong time
But one way or another he did something
Cause he didnt get arrested for nothing,
But maybe he had been a pedophile for
How ever long & you just didnt know
Or see whatever signs but he is a pedophile that
Shouldnt be anywhere near any kids at all
For the rest of his life!!
Im not saying he is or he isnt cause I
Dont know the man but obviously he is
One or he,wouldnt be charged as one.
Well if your husband was caught doing stuff he had no right doing then either
He is guilty himself,guilty by association
Or in the wrong place at the wrong time
But one way or another he did something
Cause he didnt get arrested for nothing,
But maybe he had been a pedophile for
How ever long & you just didnt know
Or see whatever signs but he is a pedophile that
Shouldnt be anywhere near any kids at all
For the rest of his life!!
Im not saying he is or he isnt cause I
Dont know the man but obviously he is
One or he,wouldnt be charged as one.