The most recent episode of SVU S26 E7 had an interesting subplot regarding pedophiles. In a previous episode, the ADA accosts a man for looking at his 9 year old daughter as they are walking down the street. The man also was looking at some other nearby girls on the street. The ADA demands he produce ID. “Are you a cop” “what do you think?” So the guy shows ID. The ADA then has him checked out and finds out he’s a teacher and he was fired from another school because some girls accused him of looking at him “creepily”. The ADA then makes a fuss at the current school, causing the guy to lose his job. When the Capt. of SVU asks him about innocent until proven guilty, he says “What if it was your son? What would you have done?” “The same thing.” Later the guy comes to them, admits he has a problem, but has never touched any minors nor looked at CP. They arrange to get him into a support group.
At first, I thought, well somebody realizes that not all pedophiles are molesters. Then it occurred to me that they causally assume that he will offend if not treated. Plus, I would say in real life, this guy would have a potential lawsuit for improper firings from the schools and harassment from the DA’s office. A cop can’t just walk up to you and demand ID and a DA even less so. This is not Nazi Germany, and the police are not the Gestapo, Stasi, KGB or whatever idea they have. There are SCOTUS rulings on that. They got him fired for looking at girls on the street. Which is not illegal even if he was “creepy”. The School Boards, principals and the County of New York DA’s office ought to have been sued, since there was no actual evidence. An ADA who behaved in such a fashion, using his office to look into this guy and cause him to be fired, should be disbarred for unethical actions and misuse of authority. The producers of this show, Dick Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television should get a letter from Prostasia to point out the inequities of this portrayal of pedophilia. Not to mention the outrageous violations of people’s rights. @terminus @Gilian