commentary by Patrick H. Moore
Since the early days of All Things Crime Blog, I’ve been on the soapbox telling all and sundry to beware of child molesters and pedophiles. Now, I’m not sure whether to be pleased or appalled, but it turns out that an English family-oriented amusement park called Puxton Park has a strictly enforced policy that does not allow single men or women into the park. At all! Stay away!
Anyone who has been following the English Paedophile Sweepstakes is aware that pedophilia is apparently a huge problem in Merrie Olde England – perhaps even larger than it is here in the U.S. Still, never did I suspect that paedophobia would reach such heights that singles would be completely banned from a public commercial venture that primarily caters to children.
A married father of three named Matthew Richards, who had previously visited the park with one of his grandchildren, found this out the hard way on Thursday when he arrived alone to see the falconry exhibit and was turned away at the gate.
Tina Rowe of The Western Gazette writes:
A bird enthusiast made a 25-mile trip to see a falconry display at a family leisure park only to be told that single adults are banned – for fear of paedophiles.
Married man Matthew Richards, 54, a father of three grown-up children, was staggered by the rule at award-winning Puxton Park, a family-oriented leisure attraction near Weston-super-Mare.
Matthew was understandably miffed and stated:
“I was frankly amazed. I was told the rule applies to single men, and women, for the protection of children.
“I couldn’t see anything about the rule on the brochure which I picked up at another attraction.
“We have taken one of our grandchildren there before, and I saw that the falconry was there and thought it would be interesting to go back and see the displays.
“They are advertising adult memberships as gifts so I can’t understand it.”
Is it somewhat odd that Matthew is making such a big deal out of this? After all, aren’t virtually any precautions, no matter how stringent and seemingly draconian, well worth it if it results in even one innocent child being protected against the soul-destroying assault of a paedophile? And I’m certainly not suggesting that there is anything wrong or unnatural about Matthew; rather, if I was in his shoes, I would simply chalk it up as one more liberty lost because the “bad people” have the habit of spoiling things for everybody else.
On the other hand, Matthew did drive 25 miles to see the falconry display so his disappointment is certainly understandable.
As a child-themed park, Puxton Park has many attractions that appeal particularly to young children, including its adventure park for youngsters aged four years and upwards.
When questioned, Puxton Park claimed the rule was “in line with all other parks”.
Wait a minute! Just how bad is the plague of the paedophiles in Merrie Olde England. For better or worse, it’s almost inconceivable that American theme parks would have rules of this nature.
Here’s what Alistair Mead (love those English names), the managing director of the park, had to say:
“There is a lot in the headlines about paedophiles and things that are going on with children.
“We have done our research and in line with all other parks we don’t let single men or women in.”
“We make it quite clear that if people want to go to the falconry they have to get a prior appointment, and we would take them down to the falconry centre.
“It is in the leaflet. I think if I did a survey of 100 of our customers they would agree that we are doing the right thing.”
So that’s the $64 million dollar question… If a survey of 100 customers was carried out, would they agree that discretion is the better part of valor in this instance and that the rule is a good one?
Now the fact of the matter is that although the “no singles” rule is stated on Puxton’s website, it is buried at the end of a long list of prices and is not apparent on the Home Page or even in the “Rules of Admission” section which gives helpful information such as washing your hands after touching the animals, especially before eating.
The buried statement reads as follows:
“We are sorry but we are unable to let single men or women without children into the park.
“If you are here to meet someone let one of our reception staff know and they will happily do a tannoy announcement asking them to come and meet you.”
Matthew Richards, however, is not giving up easily. “I almost feel discriminated against. I could understand it if it was for the attractions that young children only enjoy, but the falconry is of interest to all.”
True. But as they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Or in the case of protecting a young child from molestation, an ounce of prevention is worth 20 tons of cure.
To wit: Just today, Rachelle Blidner of the New York Daily News reports:
Just today in Merrie Olde Michigan (oh God, not Michigan again), John Balyo, the former Christian radio host of WCSG in Grand Rapids (oh God, not another Christian paedophile) was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison for raping an 11 year old boy.
With the help of a twisted man named Ronald Lee Moser, age 42, whom he paid to set him up with the child, Pastor John persuaded the child to perform oral sex on him in a motel room Ugh! A veritable lover’s tryst. (This apparently all took place at a Christian music festival. Ah, ye generation of vipers.)
* * * * *
So in a world gone so wrong that paedophiles appear to be almost omnipresent, is their really anything wrong with taking extreme measures to protect the children like they are in the British child-oriented amusement parks?
And just for the moment, think about the numbers. I have no idea how many kids come to Puxton Park on a daily basis so let’s just guess conservatively that 1,000 little children come there daily during the summer months. Puxton is a big park with lots of attractions.
If 1,000 little ones come there, I would estimate that anywhere from 10 to 30 paedophiles would probably be there shadowing them if they were allowed in the gates. And of those 10 to 30, sooner or later one or more would succeed in catching a parent napping and spiriting off one of the children. Am I wrong? Possibly. I admit that I could be way off.
But as I said earlier, when it comes to paedophilia, an ounce of prevention is worth 20 tons of cure.