MovieChat Forums > Witch Hunt (2008) Discussion > why does this movie defend child moleste...

why does this movie defend child molesters?


One of the defendants, Grant Gene Self, had a long history of child molestation.

"http://www.bakersfield.com/619/story/122888.html
Ruling puts man back in hospital"


Stoll's son has continued to say he was molested by Stoll

"http://www.bakersfield.com/862/story/100201.html
Prosecutor's fire makes her either loved or loathed"

I am tired of movies that defend child molesters.

Children can't defend themselves. Maybe it is time for movies to start doing this.


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They were all falsely accused and later cleared. Hence the title 'Witch Hunt'. My friend saw this movie at the film festival. The way they treated these families was deplorable.

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[deleted]

Not sure if you have all the facts because I haven't seen this movie yet, but from my understanding it defends those falsely accused.
BTW, there are plenty of movies and media stories about abused children. The problem is, the media often distorts the truth to gain ratings and innocent people suffer, including children.
Most sexual abuse is committed by people well known to the victim, not by strangers and most of it goes unreported (source : Department Of Justice).

The only effective way to combat sexual abuse is to end the witch hunts and start focusing on where it really takes place.

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I saw a documentary covering a similar topic. Sad.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/capturing-the-friedmans/

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More info about "Friedans." It is unforgettable.

Truth is often more harrowing than fiction, but it is a desperately elusive entity; even in a case such as the one explored in this disturbing but mesmerizing documentary, for which first-time filmmaker Andrew Jarecki enjoyed remarkable access to his subjects. Even Jarecki, who persuaded the family of accused child molesters Arnold and Jesse Friedman to cooperate with him, cannot decide whether the two are guilty, and his film raises as many questions as answers.

Capturing the Friedmans deals with the middle-class Long Island family torn apart in 1987 by child-molestation charges filed after a police raid uncovered kiddie porn apparently belonging to dad Arnold, a respected high school science teacher. He and his 18-year-old son, Jesse, were subsequently accused of molesting dozens of young boys, and their travails are painstakingly documented in this videotaped compilation, which even includes family footage recorded by another Friedman son, David.

We see strategy sessions between Arnold and his attorneys, conflicting testimony from alleged victims, posturing by police investigators and legal teams, and even the heartrending family farewells taped the night...

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Your comment is exactly what this film is about. It is a perfect plan to get a lot of convictions and make the law enforcement and district attorney look like they are cleaning up the streets. If someone is accused of being a child molester they are guilty until proven innocent.

Stoll's son continues to say he was molested even though he admits to not remembering it ever taking place. All the other children whose testimony put Stoll in prison now as adults admit to being interrogated and told what to say by the police and social workers, they were repeatedly asked the same question for hours until the gave the answer the police wanted.

Stoll's son being forced into therapy at a very young age for the molestation that never took place indoctrinated him in to believing what he was told happened.

If you want to see a documentary that defends children about an Actual Child Molester I recommend Deliver us Us from Evil. It is the exact opposite of this film about a known child molester that was never convicted of anything and to this day walks free all because he was a catholic priest.

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I am a mother of a 47 yr. old man who has served 2 1/2 of a three year prison sentence for being one day late in changing his address on the sex-offender registry. He was falsely accused of sexual abuse over 13 years ago by a child of 8 who lived with 3 criminal uncles (one a convicted pedaphile) and a mother and older sister who were prostitutes and drug addicts. The mother and sister are now dead. My son never had more than a traffic ticket when this happened. He got connected with this family because he was mentally ill, naïve and moved into one of Baltimore's worst neighborhoods. He became friendly with the older sister of this child . He was much too trusting about people. Ken is a 100% service-connected veteran.

He was an easy scapegoat. There was no evidence except her word against his. But his attorney was terrible, never told us this was a felony and never told us a lot more he could have. There was an overly aggressive states attorney who told our lawyer that my son "looked weird". Ken would have been a poor witness because of his mental illness and his appearance. He took an alford plea. This, it turns out, was a very big mistake, even though for many years it seemed right. Ken's lawyer did not want to go to trial; he made that clear with his anger when I suggested we think about the plea.
Ken served his 4 yrs. probation and lived quietly until he moved into one of Baltimore's wealthy neighborhoods. His life changed radically. His name and face became a media firestorm because of the AGAIN false accusations of people saying they saw him at or near the local school. These charges were all dropped for lack of evidence and there was actually proof that he was not in the car people said they saw him in and he never owned a camera, another thing people said they saw him taking pictures of children. In the initial and then latest search warrant, absolutely not one iota of anything was found in his apartment. But, his life is ruined. Our family is in great pain and fear every day for his safety.
Please know that children need to be given polygraphs or better yet, the voice-testing (which would not harm them) when they accuse someone of this terrible crime. I worked for four years when I was younger in child abuse work and I did occasionally see a child who lied. It is horrific because most people won't be objective about this crime. These cases are not so simple and the registry is an abomination of civil rights to men (mostly) who are not dangerous people.

The girl who lied about my son finally told the truth two years ago. She gave a deposition to my son's attorney and she writes letters from prison begging my forgiveness and his. Why did she lie? She was jealous of the relationship my son had with her older sister who she was very attached to. And her grandmother and a nosy, neighborhood watchwoman thought my son looked "weird". The district attorney used that same word about him to his attorney. He was phobic about dentists so had very bad teeth and also severe skin problems. Mentally ill people often don't take care of themselves. This girl looked the victim and my son Looked guilty but it was just the opposite. He was a lamb among wolves. The girl is in prison now for prostitution and drugs like her mother and sister before her. And my son is still on the registry. His appeal was denied. It seems that it's very easy for people to believe the guilt if someone is accused in these cases. But the states attorneys and many others find it hard to believe when someone who lied finally tells the truth in these cases.

The innocent people (and not dangerous ones) need to be separated from those who are guilty and truly dangerous. Even if someone is accused of murder, most people will have some willingness to reserve judgement about their guilt. Not so with child sexual abuse. When I worked in abuse work years ago, I would never believe this nightmare could happen to my son. I have now learned there are too many mothers and families who have had to go through this agony.

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I am a mother of a 47 yr. old man who has served 2 1/2 of a three year prison sentence for being one day late in changing his address on the sex-offender registry. He was falsely accused of sexual abuse over 13 years ago by a child of 8 who lived with 3 criminal uncles (one a convicted pedaphile) and a mother and older sister who were prostitutes and drug addicts. The mother and sister are now dead. My son never had more than a traffic ticket when this happened. He got connected with this family because he was mentally ill, naïve and moved into one of Baltimore's worst neighborhoods. He became friendly with the older sister of this child . He was much too trusting about people. Ken is a 100% service-connected veteran.

He was an easy scapegoat. There was no evidence except her word against his. But his attorney was terrible, never told us this was a felony and never told us a lot more he could have. There was an overly aggressive states attorney who told our lawyer that my son "looked weird". Ken would have been a poor witness because of his mental illness and his appearance. He took an alford plea. This, it turns out, was a very big mistake, even though for many years it seemed right. Ken's lawyer did not want to go to trial; he made that clear with his anger when I suggested we think about the plea.
Ken served his 4 yrs. probation and lived quietly until he moved into one of Baltimore's wealthy neighborhoods. His life changed radically. His name and face became a media firestorm because of the AGAIN false accusations of people saying they saw him at or near the local school. These charges were all dropped for lack of evidence and there was actually proof that he was not in the car people said they saw him in and he never owned a camera, another thing people said they saw him taking pictures of children. In the initial and then latest search warrant, absolutely not one iota of anything was found in his apartment. But, his life is ruined. Our family is in great pain and fear every day for his safety.
Please know that children need to be given polygraphs or better yet, the voice-testing (which would not harm them) when they accuse someone of this terrible crime. I worked for four years when I was younger in child abuse work and I did occasionally see a child who lied. It is horrific because most people won't be objective about this crime. These cases are not so simple and the registry is an abomination of civil rights to men (mostly) who are not dangerous people.

The girl who lied about my son finally told the truth two years ago. She gave a deposition to my son's attorney and she writes letters from prison begging my forgiveness and his. Why did she lie? She was jealous of the relationship my son had with her older sister who she was very attached to. And her grandmother and a nosy, neighborhood watchwoman thought my son looked "weird". The district attorney used that same word about him to his attorney. He was phobic about dentists so had very bad teeth and also severe skin problems. Mentally ill people often don't take care of themselves. This girl looked the victim and my son Looked guilty but it was just the opposite. He was a lamb among wolves. The girl is in prison now for prostitution and drugs like her mother and sister before her. And my son is still on the registry. His appeal was denied. It seems that it's very easy for people to believe the guilt if someone is accused in these cases. But the states attorneys and many others find it hard to believe when someone who lied finally tells the truth in these cases.

The innocent people (and not dangerous ones) need to be separated from those who are guilty and truly dangerous. Even if someone is accused of murder, most people will have some willingness to reserve judgement about their guilt. Not so with child sexual abuse. When I worked in abuse work years ago, I would never believe this nightmare could happen to my son. I have now learned there are too many mothers and families who have had to go through this agony.

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[deleted]

In no way does this film defend child molesters. I think what it demonstrates is that Law Enforcement and Social Service Agencies can foster a climate of hysteria which can allow citizens to trade a free and unbiased legal system for the illusion of Safety. In the commentary to the film, we find that when Child and Family Service personnel were told by the children that 'nothing happened', the impressionable children were badgered and bullied until they agreed that something 'had happened'. What is truly terrifying is that given those conditions, this travesty could happen to any citizen of the US--even YOU!!!!

Excuse My Dust...

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Why argue with someone who is either a child or an incredibly stupid person? I take it that they never heard of McMartin or other cases where the accusations were so outrageous that no one ever said "Hold on a minute." There have seen several movies made about this topic, one of the more interesting is the one with William Defoe about the alleged "Satanic sexual abuse" where there was not one trace of physical evidence of any thing even occurring. I believe the girls were brainwashed and believe it themselves, the "expert witness" was someone who wrote a book about satanism and I do not see how that makes him an expert. They were just shooting blind.

The guy is still in jail too, I think the movie is "Secret Sins...or something to that effect. John Shea was in it too.

I don't think it would do any good to argue with gimmeluv2 because obviously they just either are so extremely stupid, fanatical or just came out of the cave and saw the moon for the first time.

You can't fix stupid.

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Forgotten sins William Devane not Dafoe, I was searching for it but couldn't find anything William Dafoe and John Shea starred in together.

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gimmeluv2, Neither of those links work. I get 404 errors for both.

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