Ohio Man Claims Right To Have Sex With Boys

Admitted pedophile says children can consent:

CLEVELAND -- It was probably not a defense the court had heard before.

A suburban Cleveland man accused of sexually assaulting nine disabled boys told a judge Wednesday that his apartment was a religious sanctuary where smoking marijuana and having sex with children are sacred rituals protected by civil rights laws.

The admitted pedophile offered a surprising defense Wednesday to 74 charges of rape, drugs and pandering obscenity to minors.

Appearing in an Ohio court for a pretrial hearing, Phillip Distasio, 34, of Rocky River, Ohio, said he was a pedophile.

He told the judge, "I'm a pedophile. I've been a pedophile for 20 years. The only reason I'm charged with rape is that no one believes a child can consent to sex. The role of my ministry is to get these cases out of the courtrooms."

Distasio, a self-professed pagan friar, is representing himself on 74 charges. He said he's the leader of a church called Arcadian Fields Ministries, and that some of his congregants are among the victims in his case.

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Distasio was arrested on charges he molested two disabled boys he was tutoring at his home. He's also accused of raping seven other autistic children at a Cleveland school for special-needs students, The Plain Dealer reported. All but one of the boys was under 13, which carries a mandatory life-in-prison sentence if he is convicted, the paper reported.

Police said they found journals at Distasio's apartment in which he described his illegal activities, along with child pornography and videotapes of him engaged in sex with boys, The Plain Dealer reported

"Not all pedophilia is bad, and sex [with boys] can be healthy," Distasio told the court.

My Comments:
Once your society deems one brand of sexual deviancy acceptable - nay, constitutionally protected, it's only a matter of time before other deviants will seek constitutional protection for their piece of the action.


UPDATE
Regular Guy Paul also provides his usual erudite commentary on this case (Thoughts of a Regular Guy: "Santorum Right Again"):

I seem to recall Senator Rick Santorum predicting this when the sodomy case, Lawrence v. Texas was decided. He took quite a bit of flack for it, too.

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We're told by abortion adovates that 13 year-old-girls -- and younger -- can consent to an abortion. If that is granted, why should not boys of similar ages be able to consent to sodomy? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?

And he's a pedophile. If we can't condemn homosexuals, who claim to be "born that way," why should we comdemn pedophiles, who claim to be "born that way"? Our society is so pedophilia-phobic!