Oh Pee-Wee, say it ain't so....

Damnit! Poor Pee Wee can't catch a break.

Dude could be great if he just kept his head on straight (kind of like a certain Rocket I know).

 

rockHEAD,

You do realize that it's the Enquirer that is saying it's kiddie p*rn, right?

I sure hope to hell that this is not true. I used to love Pee Wee's Playhouse, and all his Pee Wee movies...

 

I heard this story on the radio. Keep in mind that the only people "reporting" that child p*rn was found are with the National Enquirer.

I am not saying he is innocent, but if he was accused of having child p*rn, the police wouldcart off everything he owns to check if there are elements within them, so this still could just be a big mistake or overreaction.

That said, if it is true, then that would be a huge tragedy, as he had one of the greatest childrens shows on TV (won all sorts of awards). That would make everything he did in that arena have a more sinister hue.

 

The radio here said they confiscated his collection of "vintage erotica". I guess those poor, unfortunate police officers have to comb through the entire collection to look for the kiddie p*rn. Even if he is cleared of all this kiddie p*rn stuff, he has still had his name dragged through the mud again, which means we'll probably see less of him in movies again for a long while.

 

By Michael Holden,
Reuters
Wednesday, November 28, 2001; 10:48 AM

Detectives across the world arrested more than 130 people on Wednesday in an unprecedented global crackdown on child p*rnography, British police said.
Britain’s National Criminal Squad (NCS), which coordinated the probe, said it had been the world’s largest collaborative policing operation in any terms.

Officers from 20 countries — from Asia to Europe — took part in “Operation Landmark,” a 10-month investigation to target Internet users who accessed and traded in images of paedophilia.

The countries involved along with Britain were Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey and the United States.

NCS officers monitored the users of more than 30 Internet news sites carrying child p*rnography after Internet Service Provider, Demon Internet, allowed them to access its servers.

“The national crime squad has this morning coordinated the execution of 130 arrest and search warrants...across the world,” an NCS statement said.

Police gave no immediate details about the nature of the images or age and background of the children involved. Nor did they divulge anything about the arrests.

“We are able to show that those accessing these news groups carrying paedophilic images did so regularly and with purpose,” Detective Superintendent Peter Spindler of NCS said in the statement.

The initial findings were distributed to forces worldwide and meetings were then held at Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France, to coordinate the international action.

Police said thousands of new images of child abuse had been discovered and more than 10,000 people were found to have visited the Internet sites in a two-week period.

The number of suspects was whittled down to 440 people who had used the sites on more than 10 occasions, although officers said the list had to be reduced because many individuals had provided false names, Mickey Mouse among them.

“Those abusing the Internet have learnt from recent police successes how best to protect their true identities,” Spindler said.

David Kerr, chief executive of British-based Internet Watch Foundation, which monitors online activity, said it was tough balancing personal freedom for Internet users against the need for criminal investigations.

“What some members of the industry have talked about and would like to do is have ways of tracing people which shouldn’t be generally available so the trace could only be done if there is proper evidence of a crime,” he said.

Story Copyright © 2001, Reuters.

 

There's a really interesting case that I believe is still in the supreme court regarding child p*rn right now. The case in question revolves around whether or not computer-generated child p*rn should be illegal or not.

Child pornogrpahy is currently illegal not becuase the images themselves are illegal but because to take them an illegal act had to occur. This is not the case with computer-generated child p*rn, in which no actual child was hurt or exploted. Those who oppose the legalization of "virtual" child p*rn claim that it will be too difficult for police to prove that real child p*rn isn't simply very good virtual p*rn while those who argue for legalization do so under 1st amendment issues.

I looked it up on the internet becuase I first heard about this story many months ago when it was first slated and I wasn't sure about its progress. The NYTimes states on October 19 2001 that arguments were scheduled to begin in 2 weeks so presumably it's in trial right now. I don't know how long the case should take but I don't know how long most supreme court cases last so it's hard to make a guess.

It's a difficult question. I don't know enough about sex psychology to make an informed decision. I mean, if it were shown that pedophiles who used virtual p*rn to satisfy their desires were less likely to abuse actual children I would find it difficult to argue for the illegality of such images. Frankly, even if it were shown to increase abuse of children I would be leary of criminilizing virtual child p*rn becuase I am a very strong 1st amendment supporter. It's a tough issue. What do y'all think?

 

How sad if this is true. He was/is such a funny man. I never watched his latest game show but I saw him on late night talk shows a couple of times and he still has it. It's always a shame to see someone with such a gift for making people laugh have such a tragic downfall. Belushi, Farley, etc...

Here's hoping the report is innaccurate...

 

It appears that the fun isn't over with yet unfortunately. Actor Jeffrey Jones (the Dean on Fuerris Bueller's Day Off who chased Bueller around town), he also played Potter on Dr Dolittle 2 among other movies (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Jones,+Jeffrey) is also tied to the kid p*rnography. He says he is only an "acquaintance" of Pee-Wee/Paul Reuben and that he is also being blackmailed. This doesn't look good. Man Pee-Wee looks like he's screwed!