In an exclusive report released Wednesday, the UK’s Daily Mail reveals that the publication has reviewed court records of several sexual predators who had “infiltrated” the children’s cable television network Nickelodeon. At least five were convicted child molesters, while two others were accused of sexual abuse.
Nickelodeon employed or worked with five child molesters as well as two others accused of pedophilia, court records show.
Child safety activists claim the channel was infiltrated by predators who saw the power it gave them as a way to get close to their victims.
Two of the offenders were highlighted in a new HBO documentary about alleged child abuse at the channel.
But legal records show that convicted and accused pedophiles’ prior involvement with the channel was far more extensive.
Nickelodeon says it has since improved its safeguards.
We can hope, although Nickelodeon has not provided any details.
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The report does not hesitate to name names.
Molesters include Jason Handy, a Nickelodeon production assistant who had sexual contact with a nine-year-old girl; and Ezell Channel, hired as a production assistant at the cable channel after a child sex offense conviction, then arrested for sexually assaulting an underage teen at the studio.
Marty Weiss, a talent manager who placed clients on top Nickelodeon shows, was later convicted for ‘lewd acts’ with a 12-year-old male client.
And Cody Longo, late star of TeenNick 2012 show Hollywood Heights, was accused of sexual assault of a 9-year-old girl in Colorado in 2019 and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge two years later.
There is an apocryphal story from the Depression when someone supposedly asked the notorious bandit Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd why he robbed banks. “Because,” Floyd supposedly replied, “…that’s where the money is.” There is a certain twisted logic to that, and it applies as well to Nickelodeon; one would expect child molesters to be drawn to a company that employs children. That would necessitate a rigorous screening process, including a background check at the very least; and one would expect the one rule that any hiring authority in the company would have would be “convicted child molesters and pedophiles need not apply.”
Evidently, that isn’t often the case.
Gabe Hoffman, a child safety activist, previously exposed child molesters who worked at Nickelodeon and other Hollywood studios in his 2014 documentary An Open Secret.
He told DailyMail.com the problem persists.
‘Convicted pedophiles still get hired in Hollywood today,’ he said. ‘Sex offenders worked with children at Nickelodeon, and unless the industry makes changes, more children in Hollywood will end up getting abused.’
This doesn’t seem like a difficult problem to deal with, at least in large part; most of the pedophiles and sexual predators named in this report had previous convictions–something that should have been revealed by the simple expedient of a background check. Most of them were also likely on the local sex offender registry. This isn’t rocket science; these people shouldn’t be all that hard to screen out, and yet, we keep seeing these stories.
Last Wednesday, my colleague Brittany Sheehan provided our VIP members with a review of the documentary “Quiet on the Set,” which documented the patterns of child abuse and pedophilia at Nickelodeon. For more coverage of this and other sensitive topics, consider upgrading to a VIP account. VIP status will open a plethora of stories and podcasts here at RedState, as well as all of our sister sites in Townhall Media: PJ Media, Twitchy, Hot Air, Bearing Arms, and Townhall.com. Use promo code SAVEAMERICA for a 50 percent discount, and thank you in advance for your readership.
