Prominent Toronto attorney Daniel Brodsky, known for his long career advocating for mentally-ill criminals as well as sexual deviants, is concerned about an organization as anonymous as anonymous can be.
It has his radar up.
The group is called Virtuous Pedophiles (VT,) which sounds rather creepy but claims to be a ‘safe haven’ for pedophiles who have managed to suppress their sexual impulses and have never harmed a child.
It has a website — virped.org — and a Twitter account — @virpeds — but it shares nothing.
No land address, not even a postal-box destination.
Reaching out for quick comment was impossible.
But if you are a ‘virtuous pedophile’, they want you to join.
This includes ‘virtuous pedophiles’ who are women, and apparently, they come in larger numbers than is presumed.
‘Virtuous Pedophiles’ wants contact from men and women who have fought off their urges to molest because, as even their world knows, few things are worse to a parent than discovering your child has fallen into the clutches of an active pedophile.
“If the VP Association actually succeeds in getting worried pedophiles hooked up with competent health professionals who are able to treat them so that crimes are not committed,” said Brodsky, “then it seems like a pretty good group doing important work.
“But I understand that the folks who host this online are anonymous to protect themselves from criticism or harm.
“That may be so, but I’m just suspicious of any anonymous clan for many reasons.
“One reason is that they likely can’t be held accountable If something goes wrong and another is it’s impossible to know if it’s actually legit.”
There are very few links on the VT website, and are difficult to find.
One is a profile of the founders, the first being Nick Devin, who claims to be in his mid-60s now and married with four adult children.
He boasts having advanced degrees from prestigious universities, a very good job, a lot of friends and respect in his community.
“I am also a pedophile,” he writes.
“I am sexually attracted to boys in the early stages of puberty (typically ages 12-14).
“(But) I’ve never touched a child in any way that could be considered remotely sexual, and am confident I never will.”
The other co-founder is Ethan Edwards, in his mid-50s and married for several years in Pennsylvania, has three daughters, and whose strongest attraction is to girls under four.
“I realized,” he wrote, “that if someone waved a magic wand and made it so a young girl would truly want to be sexual with me, and if her parents and the rest of the world agreed, and if it would not hurt her in the future — in that case, it was a prospect that aroused me more than adult women ever could.”
But no links to them.
Again, it’s 100% anonymous.
And the names of both founders, by the way, are fake.
All VP seems to promise on the other side of its website is access to a private members-only forum of 2,000 other ‘Virtuous Pedophiles.’
This, alone, has dangerous implications — considering a list of aid agencies is presented before any prospect needs to join.
So, is it really Virtuous Pedophiles or is it a how-to forum?
“I suppose it’s a very unsettling thought to know there are folks living in our own neighbourhoods who are struggling right now not to harm our kids, and they have been successful so far,” wrote lawyer Daniel Brodsky.
“I wonder how many? Maybe I don’t want to know?
“Then again, what if I do nothing and it’s my kid who’s harmed?”
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020
