Anticipating Revelations from the Epstein Files
The Epstein files are scheduled to be released soon. It was reported earlier in the year that Kash Patel had dispatched hundreds of federal agents to examine them in an effort to minimize the reportedly hundreds of times President Trump’s name was mentioned. Just how heavily redacted any released files will be is an open question. Without regard to which narratives will be redacted, who will be named, and what kind of coverups may ensue, the following are perspectives from one who has gained expertise in the area of pedophilia as both a social services professional and as a seminary-trained follower of Christ.
It appears that some MAGA Apologists will be running interference before the files are released, preparing the public for any revelations that may surface. First out of the blocks is Megyn Kelly, formerly of Fox and NBC, now working for SiriusXM. Megyn herself has been the victim of the President’s bullying (“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever,” he famously quipped in August of 2015 in response to an interview he deemed too confrontational). She has also spoken of being sexually harassed by her former boss, Roger Ailes. In this light, it is even more remarkable that she seems to minimize the seriousness of predatory activity involving young teenagers.
Regarding Epstein, she remarks how “…he wasn’t into, like, 8-year-olds. But he liked the very young, teen types who could pass for even younger than they were but would look legal to a passerby.” Then she notes that nobody alleges that Epstein was raping or selling women in the five-to fourteen-year-old age bracket. Imagine our relief! She acknowledged how Epstein’s activities were still salacious: “I’m not trying to make an excuse for this, I’m just giving you facts — that he wasn’t into, like, 8-year-olds.” In actuality, though, her remarks are more than marginally troubling. Judging by the timing of the interview, damage control is being pre-emptively implemented before the big story breaks.
Tragic Outcomes
Last April, Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre took her own life. My research points to suicide being exponentially higher among victims of abuse and those who have been trafficked than among the general population. Those who have survived childhood abuses from predatorial pedophiles may view early death as the best option available to them. Nothing guarantees that they will ever experience lives they feel are worth living, even after years of therapy. I submit that we should possess zero-tolerance policies towards pedophiles and other predators, both personally, nationally, and globally. I am not necessarily eager to disclose this, but the truth is that I know a significant number of pedophiles.
Working with Offenders
I have been to concerts and ball games with men who have been convicted of sex crimes. I have sat with them in church services. Earlier this year, I had one of them in my home to watch the Super Bowl. Before you react, keep in mind that we don’t always choose the tasks given to us; Sometimes we seek them out, and other times they find us. I have worked for eight years helping people who have been released from prison. Before that, I spent three years as a full-time jail counselor. I did not choose, nor do I desire, to spend almost half of my vocational resources counseling and planning for the successful reintegration of sex criminals into my community. I was hoping to work with more “normal” criminals—you know, with the honest drug dealers, robbers, arsonists, wife beaters, and murderers living among us. Plenty of these populate my caseload as well– kind of as a bonus, I suppose.
Serving pedophile criminals is not my calling. I am still running from this aspect of my Christian service, and I am currently transitioning to a ministry where I will primarily work with victims, with whom I am more invested. Many victims also victimize. If one begins working with those who have been victimized, they will typically find themselves working with both constituencies. Over the years, I estimate I have met nearly fifteen hundred sex criminals, primarily pedophiles. I estimate that I meet perhaps 150 new ones each year.
There are two primary reasons that, as a re-entry specialist, I have become acquainted with so many sex criminals and particularly with those who have perpetrated crimes against children. The first reason is that few people in our community will work with them due to stigma, though zoning and funding issues are also factors. When their crimes are discovered, social service providers often send them away. The second reason is that those who have committed similar offenses have told my clients that I will treat them humanely, perhaps no differently from any other person made in God’s image. I am not sure if that assessment is correct, but I hope it is close to the truth.
A Diversity of Circumstances
It is important to state that not all of these criminals are cut from the same cloth. A percentage of them have not placed their hands on any children, having only engaged in electronic crimes often propositioning children online or those whom they believe to be children. Some of these crimes are truly victimless, as the perpetrators only manage to contact adults who have successfully drawn them into a sting. Others involve a commonplace dilemma in which a man is in his twenties and sleeping with an underage girl who is compliant. Still, a parent rightfully lodges a complaint, and the man is arrested. Still other men honestly don’t know the age of someone they met at a party, substance abuse occurs, poor choices are made, and consent may become muddled. But consent is not a viable defense if the child is under eighteen; The offense is still statutory rape.
The most significant portion of the men whom I assist are those who have committed family crimes. They have usually molested their children, stepchildren, or their paramour’s children. This is especially egregious because, when a high degree of trust was placed in them, they spectacularly failed in their responsibilities. As a jail counselor, I counseled numerous women who also similarly offended. In my current work, I have only seen male offenders, and most of them are remorseful. I don’t respond well to those who are flippant or who blame children for falsely accusing them. One of the key things to understand here is that few of my clients are people who jumped out of the bushes and grabbed a stranger. Generally speaking, they perceived a situation in which a child in their household was vulnerable, and exploitation came easily. Most of them pose no danger to your families, as they will never live in your households. All of them—I reiterate, all of them—have done inexcusable things, and I am appreciative that they have been punished and have often been rehabilitated.
Justifiable Social Stigma
In prison, they are frequently bullied, they usually get beaten and are sometimes raped. When they return to the community, they are always hated, and society will not forgive them, even though they have served lengthy sentences. My biggest job-related struggle is finding shelter for them, since they are on lifetime housing restrictions. I am always compelled to ask those in my community who express disdain for them: “Would you rather know where they are, so the police can appropriately monitor them, or would you rather they fall back into the margins, jobless and friendless, where they are more likely to return to criminal activity?” It is consistent with public interest to see that they are properly housed, working in productive jobs that meet their financial needs and, yes, going to church so that those who don’t know Christ may be transformed, and those who have already decided to follow Christ can be discipled.
Many community partners and citizens deliver arguments to me about this population being “…the worst of the worst”, which in their minds gives them a rationale to discriminate against them. I’m not sure if this is true, as my academic discipline connected me to literature on genocides, to people who derive pleasure from torturing others, and to those who kidnap and traffic others for profit. However, I don’t think this is really a productive argument to pursue.
Hating the Sin
I hate pedophilia with a passion; Perhaps with more passion than most, since I see and hear about these crimes with such frequency. I have never become indifferent to the horrors committed against children.
Do you know what else I despise with a similar intensity? My own sin. I know more about my own secret thoughts, my past misdeeds, and my inner rebellion against God’s designs than anyone else could possibly know, and it’s not a pretty spectacle. The more I hear about the Jeffrey Epsteins of the world, and about prominent individuals accusing others of being human scum, of calling people “Piggy,” “Libtard,” or “Cuck” because they challenge your ideas, the more I am reminded of our irreparably broken world.
We commit casual hate crimes, express misogynistic thoughts, engage in legal sexual sins, troll people who are different from us, claiming that we are “owning” the libs or the Nazis, and give the finger to those we hate in an ultimate expression of contempt. Someone in the community last week ranted about the “A-Rabs” invading, and they informed me of their contempt for “Sand N—ers” and other epithets I had never heard. I have been publicly mocked for having gotten a good education. Contempt has been directed toward me because I am a “Yankee” or for using unfamiliar words. I have had thousands of lustful, hateful, and unjust thoughts travel through my prefrontal cortex. Every single day I consider how utterly sinful the world is, and every day I recognize how I have participated in its toxicity.
Yes, children are especially vulnerable. It would be better if a person had a large millstone affixed to him and he was cast into the sea than that he should live to prey upon a child. All of us who have read the Gospels are aware of this. I must reiterate, as a professional familiar with the data, that many of the adults branded with the “pedophile” label have engaged in crimes more truncated than we are aware of, including “hands off” crimes. You wouldn’t know what these guys had done if someone hadn’t told you. Their offenses are repulsive, and evil, and often done in isolation.
How would you respond to being permanently labelled by your worst tendency even if it had been resolved years ago? How would society see you if the worst day of your life, when you had to reach upwards to scrape rock bottom, was the day on which you would be permanently branded?
Comfort with our Own Sin
I recognize many of us have slept around in the past. If this describes you, should you always be known as “The Whore” or “The Gigolo”? Some have stolen or embezzled when the opportunity presented itself; Should they be known as “The Thief”? Some have had substance abuse issues, especially when in our twenties. Should we always be considered the Junkie, or the Drunk? How about those, like several of my clients, who have caused the death of a young passenger in a motor vehicle due to carelessness or impairment? Do you think they deserve to permanently bear the moniker of “The Child Killer”?
Pedophilia is entirely evil, full stop, no debate required. We have established “ages of consent” for good reason. This varies across countries, from 14 (Germany, Italy, China, and others) to 15 (France, Mexico), 16 (England, Canada, Russia, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain), 17 (Ireland), and 18 (USA, India). I will refuse to debate with the Megyn Kellys of the world about whether it is AS BAD to prey upon a 15-year-old as a 5-year-old. Such activities are not only illegal, but also immoral and very, very harmful.
Navigating Self-Righteousness
If you or your child were victimized, I get it. Your anger is 100% justified. But if you are lashing out at someone you think occupies the lowest possible strata of society, I offer far less sympathy. My experiences have helped me to recognize how hating pedophiles makes us feel superior. In a jail cell once, an inmate whom I was counseling began reciting the normative, hateful rhetoric about another inmate accused of a child sex crime. After a few moments I asked him what he had done to put him there. I had read his rap sheet, so I knew he had recently beaten his wife to a pulp. He grew silent.
If you are genuinely interested in living as Jesus commanded, consider the following: 1) Remove the plank from your own eye. This may require time, self-reflection, and effort. 2) If the plank is out of your eye and you are still harboring irrational fears about the ‘pedos’—or the gays, or those battling addiction, or any group that you can easily demonize– then consider meditating upon the Great Commandment. Jesus once shocked his audience to the core by suggesting that a Samaritan is the very neighbor whom they have been commanded to love. To us, this would have sounded somewhat like Jesus telling us to love the producer of pornography, or the Muslim terrorist, or the pedophile.
As you reflect upon this, consider if you really deserve to hold a position of righteousness at the top of the pecking order, or if your judgments regarding your own righteousness are indeed premature.
Photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash
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