Injunction Sought for Admitted Pedophile

Legal Theory

Posted Aug 2, 2007, 10:37 am CST
By Martha Neil

Jack McClellan has never even been arrested for a child sex offense, let alone convicted. But the 45-year-old California man, who appears to live largely in his car in the Santa Monica area, publicly proclaims his attraction to children, saying that he might act on it if it were legal to do so. And that understandably puts local parents on edge.

Being a pedophile--that is to say, an adult who is sexually interested in children--isn't illegal in and of itself, so police can't charge McClellan with a crime. But now two Santa Clarita lawyers think they may have found a way to resolve the problem, at least in their own neighborhood, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The two attorneys have filed a state-court petition on behalf of their daughters, seeking an injunction requiring him to stay away from establishments likely to attract children. It is scheduled to be heard tomorrow in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

If the injunction isn't granted, not only McClellan and but others like him are going to be encouraged by all the publicity over the issue to come to the area to ogle children, says Richard Patterson, one of the two lawyers. "We're afraid it's going to be open season," he says of the situation, "especially since he has said he believes the Santa Clarita Valley is good for pedophiles—he was pleasantly surprised at how good it was for viewing little girls."

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