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Radford, Benjamin, Predator Panic - Reality Check on Sex Offenders skeptical; livescience.com, 16 May 2006
A close look at two widely-repeated claims about the threat posed by sex offenders reveals some surprising truths. [...] One tragic result of these myths is that the panic over sex offenders distracts the public from a far greater threat to children: parental abuse and neglect. The vast majority of crimes against children are committed not by released sex offenders, but instead by the victim's own family, church clergy, and family friends.

Ramadan, boys & more, Anonymous author
In my effort to learn more about Islam, I came across the following:
Puberty - Boys Puberty is known in Islamic law as al-bulugh, or Tamyeez, (coming of age as a man and woman). There are three signs of puberty (bulugh): [...] 

Ramshaw, Emily, Child sex bills raising concern; Victims' groups think death penalty, other ideas could backfire; The Dallas Morning News, January 4, 2007 
Texas lawmakers who want longer prison terms for sex offenders and possibly even the death penalty for repeat child molesters have run into unlikely opposition from victims' rights organizations and prosecutors. 
Opponents say many of the changes, proposed in bills filed for the upcoming Legislature, actually could make it harder to get convictions in jury trials and give sex offenders greater incentive to kill young victims. 
Other proposals, including increased electronic monitoring and further limits on where sex offenders may live, give the perception of safety but may actually prompt sex offenders to slip below the radar, opponents say. 

Ranganathan, Uma, Child Abuse In The Land Of Child Worshippers; desicritics.org; April 13, 2007 
How many of us grew up being able to talk frankly about how we felt about a whole lot of things, ranging from sex, to feelings of sadness or jealousy, just to name a few topics? Little by little our inner freedom begins to be curtailed, and the room in which we are allowed to move around mentally and emotionally, begins to get narrower by the day. We are often not even aware of the ways in which we are restricted. 
What does this have to do with child abuse? The same thing I guess, that it has to do with any kind of deviant behavior. After all what is deviant behavior if not the result of extreme ignorance, frustration and the result of neglect or repression? 

Rapoport, Paul; Kids need protection, but art isn't porn;  National Post, July 23, 2008 
The goal of protecting children should have no argument. But making children afraid of all nudity doesn't protect them. It makes them anxious, insecure and more susceptible to poor body image and other problems, including abuse.

Cfr: ABC.net, Australia, Indian study reveals widespread child abuse; April 9, 2007 

Ratajczak, Jim, Widespread ire over decision to arrest Folsom man; ACLU says Emmer's loitering charge a dose of overkill; Folsom Telegraph, April 1, 2008 
The 49-year-old Emmer was arrested at his house March 13 on suspicion of loitering where children gather after a woman's citizen's arrest warrant alleged Emmer had spoken to her two children at three different children's-themed events. [...]
One comment reads, "The notion that you can jail people just for talking, even to children, seems very much in tension with the First Amendment." Another asks, "Since when is it a crime to speak to children?"

Rayburn Yung, Corey, Utah Supreme Court Issues Interesting Decision About Underage Sex;  in Courts, Utah, July 17, 2007 
Court rejects as 'absurd' the sex crime (sexual contact with a child under 14) prosecution -- even in juvenile court -- of a 12- and a 13-year-old who had consensual sex with each other. 

Ree, Frank van, Intimate relationships between young people and adults; Are there criteria for a positive experience?
Both sexual abuse of children and consensual love relationships between young people and adults are found in all cultures and in all periods of history. Although research statistics show otherwise, at present the notion has taken hold in many countries that a difference in age inevitably results in damaging consequences. Some time ago, an extensive exchange of ideas took place in the newsletter published by the National Workgroup JORis (Younger-Older Relationships, intimacy, sexuality) of the Dutch Association for Sexual Reform (NVSH), about the criteria which an intimate relationship with a young person must meet in order to preclude harm at a later age, based on positions which had been formulated earlier by the Danish Pedophile Association. Remedial educationalist Dr. Frans Gieles took the position in this discussion that in the present situation adults should act with restraint in pedophile and ephebophile relationships, because they bear the responsibility also for the damage which social rejection (whether or not after the fact) can bring about. We asked the retired Dutch psychiatrist Dr. Frank van Ree about his view of this. Dr. Van Ree has written many publications and doesn't shy away from taking an independent position. As this article shows, he has passed on this way of thinking to his children as well.

Ree, Frank van,  Intime Beziehungen zwischen Jugendlichen und Erwachsenen; Gibt es Kriterien für einen guten Kontakt? KOINOS MAGAZINE #24 (1999/4)
Sowohl sexueller Mißbrauch von Kindern als auch freiwillige Liebesbeziehungen zwischen Jugendlichen und Erwachsenen kommen in allen Kulturen und zu allen Zeiten vor. Obwohl Forschungsergebnisse ein anderes Bild zeigen, hat sich zur Zeit in vielen Ländern die Meinung herausgebildet, daß ein Altersunterschied auf jeden Fall schädliche Folgen nach sich ziehen würde. Vor einiger Zeit fand im Nachrichtenbulletin der Nationalen Arbeitsgruppe JORis (Beziehungen, Intimität und Sexualität zwischen Jugendlichen und Älteren) der Niederländischen Vereinigung für sexuelle Reform (NVSH) ein umfassender Gedankenaustausch über die Kriterien statt, die eine intime Beziehung mit einem Jugendlichen erfüllen muß, damit Schäden im späteren Leben vermieden werden, und zwar auf der Grundlage von bereits früher von der Danish Pedophile Association aufgestellten Thesen. Der Heilpädagoge Dr. Frans Gieles vertrat dabei den Standpunkt, daß sich in der heutigen Realität Erwachsene bei pädophilen und ephebophilen Beziehungen sehr zurückhaltend verhalten sollten, weil sie auch die Verantwortung für Schäden tragen, die eine gesellschaftliche Ablehnung, sei es sofort oder im nachhinein, verursachen kann. Wir baten den pensionierten niederländischen Psychiater Dr. Frank van Ree um seine Sicht der Dinge. Van Ree hat viele Beiträge veröffentlicht und sich dabei nicht gescheut, eine unabhängige Einstellung an den Tag zu legen. Wie aus dem nachstehenden Beitrag hervorgeht, hat er es verstanden, diese Einstellung auch seinen Kindern mit auf den Weg zu geben.

Ree, Frank van, Abuse by Definition? The Taboo as Excuse, In: KOINOS # 25
In Koinos 24, psychiatrist Dr. Frank van Ree unfolded his point of view concerning intimate relationships between young people and adults and concerning criteria which distinguish good and damaging contacts. We have received a variety of positive reactions to that article. Van Ree became involved with this subject through his psychiatric practice as well as through his close personal contacts with Dr. Edward Brongersma, who passed away in 1998. It is a source of concern to him that society's view of pedophile and ephebophile relationships has become so simplistic. We asked him to make a new contribution taking a closer look at the ultimate taboo of our time.

Ree, Frank van, Grundsätzlich Missbrauch? Das Tabu als Entschuldigung, In: KOINOS # 25
In Koinos 24 hat der Psychiater Dr. Frank van Ree seine Ansicht über intime Beziehungen zwischen Jugendlichen und Erwachsenen sowie über Kriterien zur Unterscheidung von guten und schädlichen Kontakten dargelegt. Von mehreren Seiten haben wir positive Reaktionen auf diesen Artikel erhalten. Sowohl seine praktische psychiatrische Arbeit als auch seine engen persönlichen Kontakte zu dem 1998 verstorbenen Dr. Edward Brongersma haben Van Ree mit diesem Gegenstand in Berührung gebracht. Was ihm Sorge macht, ist der Umstand, dass das gesellschaftliche Bild von pädophilen und ephebophilen Beziehungen so undifferenziert geworden ist. Wir haben ihn gebeten, in einem neuen Beitrag auf das allerletzte Tabu unserer Zeit näher einzugehen.

Reed Ward, Paula,  

'Rare' obscenity case targets writings; U.S. prosecutes woman for explicit fiction posted on Internet; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 28, 2006 
Obscenity charges in the United States are relatively rare these days, and in cases involving the written word, they're extraordinarily so. But just last week, a Donora woman was arraigned in federal court on six counts of distributing obscenity over the Internet. 
 

Afraid of public trial, author to plead guilty in online obscenity case 
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 17, 2008 
She battled the federal government's allegations for more than a year and a half, but in the end, Karen Fletcher's mental health will win out over her principles. And First Amendment lawyers will lose a key chance to have a court determine whether text-only material can be considered obscene.
Ms. Fletcher has decided to plead guilty to six counts of distributing obscenity online stemming from fictional stories published on a members-only Web site.

Reeves, Tom, Immigrants and 'predators' deported - A part of: Mass Deportations Mostly Go Unnoticed; 63,000 and Counting, CounterPunch, 6-7 March 04  
This past July, Homeland Security announced a new initiative, Operation Predator, spearheaded by ICE. "Sexual predators, especially those who prey on children, will have the highest priority in terms of deportation." As of late February, 2004, Operation Predator claims to have detained nearly 2000 of these 'predators,' since last July alone 

Reid, Christine, 'Sexually Violent Predator' tag debated; Attorneys, offenders debate Colorado's use of 'sexually violent predator' designation; Daily Camera, March 8, 2008 
When the court finds a defendant to be a sexually violent predator, it is determined through the pre-sentence report the court gets at the time of sentencing. A sexually violent predator risk assessment is supposed to be part of that report, and the judge makes the determination after the prosecutor and defense attorney get a look at the report. 
A person being considered for parole from prison also can be administered the sexually violent risk assessment tool and labeled by the parole board before he or she is set free.

Reid, Tim, Kandahar sale del armario  - The Times de Londres , 12 de enero de 2002  

Nuestro corresponsal Tim Reid relata como la capital gay de Sur Asia quita de encima la censura del Talibán.  
Con la salida del Talibán del ex baluarte de mullah Omar, no es sólo las televisoras, las cometas y las rasuradoras que están volviendo a salir en la luz pública. También se han vuelto a ver hombres con sus "ashnas", o amantes: chicos jóvenes que han preparados para el sexo.

Reilly, Dan O., State of the Art: Talking with Jock Sturges, Dialogue, 07/01/1999, Controversial photographer Jock Sturges, whose photographs of naturists have elicited much debate. 

Religioustolerance.org, 42 MVMO [*] Court cases with allegations of multiple sexual & physical abuse [* Multi-Victim, Multi-Offender] 
We have studied over 40 Multi-Victim, Multi-Offender (MVMO) cases at 24 locations, mostly involving allegations of ritual abuse, since 1995. [... W]ith these ritual abuse cases, it seemed obvious to us that grave injustices had been done. [...] Hundreds of adults were convicted of ritual abuse of children, mostly during the 1980s and early 1990s. Almost all have had their cases revisited. Most convictions have been overturned because of what we now know [...]. 

A Relatively narrow debate, and no wonder, Source & author unknown, January 2001
A Plea for broad relationships.
I have read few words about the variety of relational roles that individuals occupy in the lives of those close to them, and fewer still about their connection to the children close to them. Where have all the aunts and uncles gone? It's as though we are again thinking of families as discrete sealed units, mother/child, or mother/father/child. Self-contained little bubbles of private fulfilment - or misery. [...]
I am conscious, writing this, of the malign edges that now constrain the understanding of relations between children and adults. Child prostitution and Internet paedophilia make alarmist news more readily than innocent friendship across generations. But the existence of the former does not rule out the possibility of the latter. Certainly it shouldn't. Children don't do well in cotton wool, and adults need children to rekindle - legitimately and effortlessly - their own imaginative lives. 

Reuters, Afghan boy dancers sexually abused by former warlords; November 18, 2007 
They are known as "bacha bereesh", boys without beards, teenage boys who dress up as girls and dance for male patrons at parties in northern Afghanistan.

Reynolds, Maura, Las costumbres homosexuales pocas veladas de Kandahar  -   Las restricciones en las relaciones con mujeres causaron una frecuencia mayor de relaciones entre hombres, dice un profesor  -  Los Angeles Times, 3 de abril de 2002  
Aunque raramente se admite, la frecuencia de sexo entre hombres afganos es un secreto abierto, uno de que la mayoría de visitantes observantes dan cuenta rápida. Irónicamente, es más común aquí en Kandahar, lo cual era el corazón del movimiento puritanito talibán. 
 

Rosario, Rubén, Talking to strangers can sometimes be a good thing for kids; 'Stranger danger' rule needs revising, expert says; 27 June 2005 - source unknown 
"Hard and fast rules like, 'Don't talk to strangers' can actually cause more harm," argues Jacobs, who works as program manager for a St. Paul-based foundation named after Minne-sota's best-known victim of a still unsolved stranger abduction, Jacob Wetterling.
"We used to teach stranger danger, but it can put kids more at risk," adds Jacobs, a public health specialist who conducts child safety presentations nationally on behalf of the foundation. "We have to get real with children about the facts and teach them how to navigate the world when adults they know aren't around."
[...] And there is no better illustration of it than the circumstances surrounding the recent case of an 11-year-old boy lost in the Utah woods for four days. Brennan Hawkins deliberately eluded a massive search and placed his life in further peril because of his fear of strangers.

Rosen, David - Quotes from
Sex Panic on Capitol Hill; Mark Foley and the Politics of Sex in America; Counterpunch 
Deviant sexual practice is not unfamiliar to American politics. The media seems especially captivated by Foley's peculiar sexual predilection -- his erotic fascination with adolescent youths. 
[...] We are watching the culture wars becoming the sex wars. 

Ross, Norrie, Parents knew of teen sex; 18feb05, Herald Sun News 
Judge Wilmoth said the boy's parents came to accept the positive aspects of the affair and became a friend and supporter of the woman. Both the boy and his mother wrote letters to Judge Wilmoth supporting the woman. [...] And the boy did not regard himself as a victim. 
[..] Mr Belcher said the boy's parents initially disapproved strongly of the relationship but changed after they saw the improvement in his behaviour. But the judge said the sentence had to send a message that the law protected the young from exploitation.

Rouvalis, Cristina, Men in tough spot with kids; Fear of sexual predators, who are usually male, raises suspicions;  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 12, 2008
In a society where pedophiles are outed and shamed as part of prime-time entertainment, it has come to this: Tony Taylor, a Pittsburgh father, says he wouldn't come to the aid of a crying child lost in the mall.

Rouvalis, Cristina, When predator is a woman, are rules relaxed? Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 16, 2008 
Is there is a double standard? Are female predators an under-reported danger or merely a titillating novelty?

Interview with
Ryder, Stephen: 

LIE Screenwriter  
L.I.E. Screenwriter: Homophobia Responsible for Conflation of Pedophile and Pederast 
There is an interesting interview at the Website Film Freak Central with the person who wrote the script for the recent U.S. movie "L.I.E.": [...] 
The movie depicts suburban adolescence and the relationship between a 15-year-old boy and the neighborhood pederast.

Interview with Stephen Ryder 

LIE film (Peter Herman)
The movie L.I.E. was reviewed in the NAMBLA Bulletin this past June.

Rind, Bruce, First Do No Harm: The Sexual Abuse Industry Book Review by Bruce Rind, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Temple University.
For anyone wishing to understand the modern day sex abuse hysteria in terms of its origins, characteristics, and consequences, one could do no better than to read Dr. Goodyear-Smith's book First Do No Harm: The Sexual Abuse Industry.

Robin: Theories of child porn's harm (with references)
[...] I want to examine these theories from a logical common sense approach.

Rosin, Hanna, Lust Busters, The perils of protecting adults from protecting children from sex, slate.mns.com, june 2002
Several years ago I got a taste of what Judith Levine's life is about to become now that she's written a book that has both the words "children" and "sex" in its title. Ignoring warnings from older and wiser friends, I wrote an essay for the New Republic about Chickenhawk, a documentary on the infamous North American Man-Boy Love Association. In it I argued, rather timidly, that the documentary was at least "worth seeing," as it portrayed this pedophile support group as a bunch of delusional, perverted, but basically harmless men. For weeks afterward I received bags of identical postcards saying something like, "Dear Miss Rosin, You are a danger to America's children"—part of a write-in campaign organized by Christian conservatives. The Weekly Standard ran two separate cover stories, "Pedophilia Chic" and "Pedophile Chic, Reconsidered," both featuring my piece as a prime example of a toxic new trend.