Can You Spot the Bogus Headline?

INCORRECT!

“Pedophilia” is a clinical diagnosis regarding an attraction to pre-pubescent children. An attraction to post-pubescent children (teenagers) is technically called “hebephilia.” In either case, the mere attraction (if not acted upon) is not against the law and, therefore, no one can be convicted of a law that doesn’t exist. This man could be more accurately referred to as a convicted child-molester.

Source: https://nypost.com/2020/07/03/convicted-pedophile-serving-1000-year-sentence-gets-parole/

INCORRECT!

The article reads:

“Roberto A., who is a registered sex offender, is wanted after deputies went to his house during a home verification check and found that he was no longer living there, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office officials said.”

Surprise! He is “wanted” for failure to change his address, not robbery, as most would assume by the placement of the video of a completely different person and story between the headline and the actual story!

Source: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/crime/2020/07/24/el-paso-deputies-searching-wanted-sex-offender/5505701002/

INCORRECT!

This headline seems pretty straightforward, at least until you read the accompanying article. That’s when you learn the fact that the alleged abductor, Carl K., is the child’s biological father.  Surprise!  And even more interesting is the fact that we are told nothing about his custodial rights or lack thereof.  We are simply left to assume that he is the non-custodial parent and perhaps even make the further, unwarranted assumption that sex offenders in general do not deserve custodial rights to their own children.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/sex-offender-caught-after-swiping-7-month-old-girl-from-mother-in-virginia

INCORRECT!

The article in this instance is about a single error on a single registrant’s paperwork. At the time of his registration in 2018, the registrant (a 19-year old high school student) failed to disclose where he was attending high school. That story is very different from the headline’s implication that the registry is full of errors.

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/project-baltimore/errors-on-sex-offender-registry-raise-concerns

INCORRECT!

Overwhelmingly, news articles about women (and particularly school teachers) who are charged with sexual battery or sexual assault against minors characterize that criminal behavior as “having sex.”  Articles about men who commit the same crime typically use words like rape, sexual assault, or molestation in the headline. Many states subscribed in the not-so-distant past to the myth that a female could not rape or sexually assault a male, regardless of age difference or circumstances, and prosecutions of women prior to the 1980s were rare.

Source: https://weartv.com/news/local/navarre-high-school-teacher-arrested-for-having-sex-with-student

INCORRECT!

The 12-year-old boy was found safe and police say he was never in danger at all. The incident began when two unknown male suspects stole a vehicle from the Cleveland woman, who – believing the police would not give her stolen vehicle report the priority it deserved – decided to claim that her 12-year old son was in the vehicle when it was stolen.

Initial report: https://www.wkyc.com/video/news/crime/amber-alert-cleveland-police-searching-for-missing-12-year-old-boy/95-6059e1eb-1b83-4636-9c2a-4187fbf05d2e

Hoax report: https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/crime/police-car-stolen-in-cleveland-with-12-year-old-boy-inside-search-under-way/95-3184c063-f073-486c-81ba-a44ffe9f8fb6

INCORRECT!

The Mayor of Baltimore spread false rumors in December 2019 about kidnappers prowling the city in white vans, citing postings he saw on Facebook. No such incidents ever occurred, according to police. Still, the media covered it as actual news.

Source: https://www.wgbh.org/news/national-news/2019/12/06/the-hoax-about-kidnappers-in-white-vans-is-back

INCORRECT!

Each time OffenderWatch, a billion dollar corporate mainstay of the prison-industrial complex lands a new government contract, they issue a press release like this one and the press almost always prints it word-for-word. It’s free advertising for OffenderWatch, not public safety news.

Source: https://www.govtech.com/computing/Maryland-Becomes-Part-of-Larger-Sex-Offender-Registry-Network.html

INCORRECT!

The Great Falls Tribune reports the man pleaded guilty to one count of sexual abuse after detectives found illicit photographs on his cell phone and laptop. He also pleaded guilty to lying to authorities, for which he served a six-month sentence. The article even implies “he may never spend a single day in prison” even though he spent over a year in jail awaiting sentencing and will likely be on probation and the sex offense registry for life. This is how the media stokes the public’s outrage - by implying that the perpetrators of crime suffer no consequences for their actions.

Source: https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2020/07/20/great-falls-man-sentenced-sexual-abuse-children/3287821001/

INCORRECT!

Let’s start with the fact that the New York Post is a tabloid notorious for misleading fear-mongering and sensationalistic reporting. According to the article, an individual is suing this man (who is a college admissions tutor) under the New York’s Child Victims Act, which opened a legal window to revive old sex-abuse cases. He wants a court to force the man to “fully disclose” his history of sexual abuse against children to the people he currently tutors. It ignores the fact that this person is already on the sex offense registry. Wasn’t that what the registry was supposed to be for?

Source: https://nypost.com/2020/07/25/convicted-bronx-pedophile-working-with-kids-in-virginia-lawsuit/