Tutor says sex assaults are sacred ritual {WARNING!: this is REALLY SICK!}

[eppur_se_muova]

'I am a pedophile,' says man acting as own lawyer

Thursday, August 3, 2006; Posted: 11:58 a.m. EDT (15:58 GMT)

CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) -- A man accused of sexually assaulting nine boys with physical or mental disabilities told a judge that having sex with children is a sacred ritual protected by civil rights laws.

Phillip Distasio, who said he is the leader of a church called Arcadian Fields Ministries, represented himself at his pretrial hearing Wednesday. He is charged with 74 counts including rape, pandering obscenity to minors and corrupting another with drugs.

"I'm a pedophile. I've been a pedophile for 20 years," he said in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Wednesday. "The only reason I'm charged with rape is that no one believes a child can consent to sex. The role of my ministry is to get these cases out of the courtrooms."

Distasio said some of his congregants are among the victims in this case. Distacio is accused of molesting two disabled boys he tutored at his home and raping seven autistic boys at a Cleveland school for special-needs students where he was a teacher's aide. All but one of the victims were under 13.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/03/sex.ritual.ap/index.html

Normally, I'm pretty dismissive towards people babbling nonsense about religion, but this guy is clearly trying to use freedom of religion as nothing but a contrived shield for criminal activity. I wouldn't believe for a nanosecond that his real religious beliefs have anything to do with his crimes -- and on that basis I don't believe a guilty verdict would erode the Bill of Rights any. But this is a very dangerous game. Even his court-appointed lawyer wouldn't go along with this "defense".