Gays
involved
with
a
group
that
conducts
controversial
online
sting
operations
against
adult
men
who
solicit
sex
from
underage
teenagers
of
both
sexes
are
calling
on
the
gay
community
to
take
a
more
visible
stand
against
the
sexual
exploitation
of
children
and
teens.
Perverted
Justice,
the
group
some
have
criticized
as
vigilante,
participated
in
a
Nov.
4
nationwide
broadcast
of
the
weekly
program
“Dateline
NBC,”
which
used
hidden
cameras
to
show
men
arriving
at
a
house
in
Fairfax
County,
Va.,
for
what
they
believed
were
meetings
with
underage
teens
of
both
sexes
for
sexual
encounters.
Instead,
much
to
their
shock
and
horror,
they
were
greeted
by
“Dateline
NBC”
reporter
Chris
Hansen,
who
informed
them
that
the
“teens”
between
the
ages
of
12
and
15
with
whom
they
thought
they
were
about
to
have
a
sexual
tryst
were
actually
adults
members
of
a
group
called
Perverted
Justice.
Members
of
this
nationwide
Internet
group
say
they
train
for
and
carefully
carry
out
online
sting
operations
to
expose
men
seeking
out
underage
teens
for
sexual
encounters.
The
group’s
leaders
said
they
avoid
illegal
entrapment
by
waiting
for
the
adult
men
to
initiate
a
sexual
assignation.
Perverted
Justice
refers
successful
stings
to
local
law
enforcement
authorities,
who
often
prosecute
the
men
involved.
In
a
development
not
mentioned
in
the
“Dateline
NBC”
program,
two
gay
men
and
a
lesbian
are
among
the
group’s
32
volunteer
members
and
teen
“impersonators.”
“I
have
been
with
Perverted
Justice
two
and
a
half
years,
and
I
can
say
that
I’m
treated
with
respect
and
welcomed
with
open
arms,”
said
gay
Michigan
resident
Greg
Brainer.
Xavier
Von
Erck,
one
of
the
group’s
leaders,
said
Perverted
Justice
has
no
connection
to
religious
right
groups
and
considers
itself
non-sectarian.
Von
Erck,
who
is
not
gay,
said
the
organization
supports
equal
rights
for
all
people,
including
gays,
and
welcomes
all
who
supports
its
mission.
“We
don’t
consider
men
who
solicit
underage
males
to
be
part
of
the
gay
community,”
Von
Erck
said.
“If
you
go
for
a
13-year-old
or
a
12-year-old,
it’s
all
the
same,”
he
said.
Brainer
called
such
predatory
behavior
“outrageous”
and
“just
plain
wrong,”
and
said
he
is
hopeful
that
more
gay
men
and
lesbians
will
begin
to
speak
out
more
openly
against
such
behavior.
He
said
Perverted
Justice
members
don’t
link
adults
who
solicit
sex
with
underage
teens
with
the
gay
community,
and
the
gay
community
should
“get
over”
its
fears
about
being
tarnished
by
the
issue
of
pedophilia.
Von
Erck
said
the
group
turns
over
to
police
and
prosecutors
transcripts
of
e-mail
exchanges,
along
with
online
instant
message
conversations,
between
its
volunteer
members
who
pose
as
teens
and
adult
“predators.”
As
of
Nov.
12,
the
group
had
submitted
information
used
to
obtain
38
convictions
since
it
began
its
online
sting
operations
more
than
two
years
ago.
It
says
52
current
cases
are
pending
across
the
country,
with
many
of
the
adults
ensnared
by
the
group
awaiting
trial.
Jack
Drescher,
a
psychiatrist
in
private
practice
and
editor
of
the
Journal
of
Gay
&
Lesbian
Psychotherapy,
called
the
actions
exposed
by
Perverted
Justice
as
“predatory
behavior”
that
occurs
in
men
who
are
sexually
attracted
to
teenagers
of
either
sex,
or
both
sexes.
“This
has
nothing
to
do
with
being
gay
any
more
than
men
who
try
to
lure
girls
for
sex
has
do
to
with
heterosexuality,”
Drescher
said.
“This
is
not
typical
behavior
for
homosexuals
or
heterosexuals.”
But
Drescher
said
he
was
skeptical
about
whether
gay
groups
or
gay
leaders
should
feel
obligated
to
speak
out
on
the
subject.
“I
personally
deplore
this
type
of
behavior,”
he
said.
“But
which
members
of
the
community
should
speak
out
on
this?
It’s
like
saying,
‘Are
you
gay
people
moral
enough
to
speak
out
against
this
immoral
behavior?’”
Drescher
noted
that
gays
have
historically
been
subjected
to
condemnation
for
sexual
behavior
between
consenting
adults.
He
said
the
condemnation
is
often
politically
motivated.
“So
it’s
not
the
way
the
gay
community
automatically
thinks
—
to
issue
a
response
on
this
type
of
development,”
he
said.
 |
| ‘I
have
been
with
Perverted
Justice
two
and
a
half
years,
and
I
can
say
that
I’m
treated
with
respect
and
welcomed
with
open
arms,’
said
gay
Michigan
resident
Greg
Brainer,
who
volunteers
with
the
group
that
operates
controversial
online
sting
operations. |
|
Von
Erck
said
about
75
percent
of
the
adult
men
his
group
monitors
on
the
Internet
seek
out
female
teenagers,
with
the
remaining
25
percent
soliciting
sex
from
teen-age
boys.
“The
men
who
seek
out
boys
are
often
married”
to
women,
he
said.
Brainer,
38,
lesbian
volunteer
Del
Harvey,
23,
of
California;
and
a
25-year-old
gay
male
volunteer
named
Don,
who
declined
to
disclose
his
last
name,
each
participated
in
the
Fairfax
sting
operation
recorded
by
Dateline
NBC.
In
what
appears
as
a
well-honed
operation,
the
three
gay
volunteers
and
others
who
posed
as
teenagers
created
online
profiles
for
chat
rooms
set
up
mostly
for
teenagers.
In
most
cases,
the
chat
rooms
are
on
America
Online
and
Yahoo,
Brainer
said.
In
most
cases,
the
adult
“impersonators”
obtain
old
photos
of
teenagers
who
are
currently
adults
and
who
agree
to
contribute
their
photos
for
the
cause,
Brainer
said.
Once
the
adult
impersonators
enter
a
chat
room,
they
remain
passive
and
“wait”
to
see
if
anyone
establishes
contact
with
them.
In
the
case
of
the
Fairfax
operation,
about
18
adult
males
made
contact
with
the
“teens”
over
a
period
of
several
days.
Once
the
adults
solicited
the
“teens”
for
sex,
the
impersonators
expressed
varying
degrees
of
interest.
Eventually,
they
told
the
adult
suitors
their
parents
were
away
from
home
and
invited
the
adults
to
visit
them.
In
each
case,
according
to
NBC’s
Hansen,
...
