Man Says Sex With Kids a Sacred Ritual

[DireStrike]

CLEVELAND -- A man accused of sexually assaulting nine boys with physical or mental disabilities told a judge that having sex with children is a sacred ritual protected by civil rights laws.<br><br>Phillip Distasio, who said he is the leader of a church called Arcadian Fields Ministries, represented himself at his pretrial hearing Wednesday. He is charged with 74 counts including rape, pandering obscenity to minors and corrupting another with drugs.<br><br>"I'm a pedophile. I've been a pedophile for 20 years," he said in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Wednesday. "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."<br><br>Distasio said some of his congregants are among the victims in this case. Distacio, of Rocky River, is accused of molesting two disabled boys he tutored at his home and raping seven autistic boys at a Cleveland school for special-needs students where he was a teacher's aide. All but one of the victims were under 13.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-tutor-charges,0,3924665.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines">www.newsday.com/news/nati...-headlines</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

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<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/psychology/pedophiles/3.html">www.crimelibrary.com/crim...les/3.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><br>Pedophiles<br><br><br>"...Pedophiles can be found at every social and economic level and can be established members of the community. Sadly, we have all read stories in local newspapers concerning members of clergy, respected businessmen and schoolteachers who were exposed as pedophiles or child molesters. In 1985, a Roman Catholic priest in Louisiana pleaded guilty to 33 charges of sexual abuse against 33 boys. He later admitted that he molested several dozen others. He was released in 1995 and later arrested again for the rape of a 12-year-old -girl. In one of America&#65533;s worst cases of clergy who molest parishioners, the Sante Fe diocese in New Mexico settled 165 sexual abuse cases in 1997. More than 20 priests were removed from their positions and civil settlements may exceed $50 million dollars. Incredibly, an archbishop involved in the case said he didn&#65533;t know that sexual abuse was a crime(6). But unlike this priest, the majority of pedophiles never cross that line into active child molestation. They mostly will remain quiet, keep to themselves and pursue their sexual interests at home."<br><br>"...They feel they are part of a special progressive movement and one day society will come to accept, what they see as, their sacred ritual of adult/child sex..." <p></p><i></i>