Experts say sexual abuse of children in Hollywood is the norm

[savafan]

The one story I can recall hearing about was director Victor Salva (Powder, Jeepers Creepers 1 & 2) being found guilty of molesting his young star during the filming of the movie Clownhouse. Apparently, this goes much deeper, and like the recent College athletics scandals, is pretty much given a blind eye industry wide.

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment...g-experts-say/

If a spate of recent allegations proves true, Hollywood may have a hideous epidemic on its hands. The past two weeks have brought three separate reports of alleged child sexual abuse in the entertainment industry.

[Chip R]

We see all these child stars growing up and getting in trouble and it sure looks like sexual abuse may play a huge part in that.

[wolfboy]

Roman Polanski immediately came to mind when reading this article. Very sad. Even worse to me that someone like Corey Feldman refuses to identify his abuser. If this is an epidemic, I have to believe it only gets that way by continued silence.

[RedsBaron]

Originally Posted by wolfboy

Roman Polanski immediately came to mind when reading this article. Very sad. Even worse to me that someone like Corey Feldman refuses to identify his abuser. If this is an epidemic, I have to believe it only gets that way by continued silence.

The fact that Polanski had a number of defenders in the film industry certainly lends support to the idea that this may be an epidemic.

[izzy's dad]

This makes me so angry. What is wrong with these people?

[pedro]

And yet nowhere in the article does anyone say pedophilia is the "norm". Look, I get that there is very likely a problem with pedophilia among some folks in Hollywood but to call it the "norm" is a little misleading and extreme, don't you think?

[medford]

wow, hopefully not true, but could explain why so many child stars end up strung out. It also makes sense, since this is the only thing that some of them have, that they wouldn't speak out for fear of lossing everything. Kind of a viscious cycle, young kid, enjoying the sudden spotlight, gets setup with everything under the sun, often illicit, in order to keep the gravy train going, they stay silent in exchange for their dignity.

[medford]

Originally Posted by pedro

And yet nowhere in the article does anyone say pedophilia is the "norm". Look, I get that there is very likely a problem with pedophilia among some folks in Hollywood but to call it the "norm" is a little misleading and extreme, don't you think?

Might depend on the perspective, if the stories of the 2 coreys are true, from their perspective, it might be considered the 'norm' and why they didn't say anything about it at the time.

[pedro]

Originally Posted by medford

Might depend on the perspective, if the stories of the 2 coreys are true, from their perspective, it might be considered the 'norm' and why they didn't say anything about it at the time.

The "norm" to me implies that most children that are involved in the industry are sexually abused. I have no doubt that the problem is widespread and I agree it is an awful thing, but I don't see anyone saying that this is the case. I just don't think misleading and sensationalist headlines do anything to help solve the issue.

[wolfboy]

Originally Posted by pedro

And yet nowhere in the article does anyone say pedophilia is the "norm". Look, I get that there is very likely a problem with pedophilia among some folks in Hollywood but to call it the "norm" is a little misleading and extreme, don't you think?

Who said it was the "norm?"

[Bob Borkowski]

Originally Posted by wolfboy

Who said it was the "norm?"

I believe that Fox News changed the headline of this article. Originally the word 'norm' was used.

[The DARK]

I get a feeling that while it isn't really a regular occurrence so to speak, it's a sign of the fact that sexual abuse isn't just something that happens among lower-class families. All estimates point to millions of cases of abuse that goes unreported, but we tend to assume that it all happens out of sight and not in major industries like Hollywood or college football. We're starting to see a real wake-up call.

[medford]

Originally Posted by wolfboy

Who said it was the "norm?"

The title of the thread, though no where in the article does anyone say that its the norm.

pedro, I agree, and think its obvious that sexual abuse of children in hollywood isn't the 'norm', which is why I went with how a victim could consider it the "norm" as its the only world they know.

[savafan]

Originally Posted by Bob Borkowski

I believe that Fox News changed the headline of this article. Originally the word 'norm' was used.

They must have, because 'norm' was used in the headline yesterday.

[wolfboy]

Originally Posted by savafan

They must have, because 'norm' was used in the headline yesterday.

Ahh. Thanks. I looked back over the article and the comments here and couldn't find any mention of it. I must have missed the thread title as well. Yeah, pretty inflammatory to say it's the "norm."