News Release
For Immediate Release: February 23, 2017
Contact: Diane Gramley 1.814.271.9078
Arrest of Hazleton Man Points to Danger of Gender Identity Laws
(Harrisburg) — Yesterday a Hazleton man turned himself into the police after allegedly filming women and children in the women’s restroom at his place of employment. This situation raises several issues including the danger of adding “gender identity or expression” to Pennsylvania’s anti-discrimination law — the Human Relations Act. For years the American Family Association (AFA of PA), a statewide pro-decency organization, has condemned the addition of such language.
“Juan Prieto allegedly hid and filmed women and children through a ceiling in the women’s restroom at the pizza shop where he worked. If bills such as those being proposed by Senator Patrick Browne, Senator Lawrence Farnese and State Representative Dan Frankel were to become law, then all Mr. Prieto would have to do is claim to be a woman and he could legally access the women’s restroom. This would place women and children in even greater danger and should never be considered by an elected body on any level,” commented Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA.
Six examples that illustrate there are people who will abuse ‘gender identity’ laws and policies:
- In 2009, a sex offender named Richard Rendler was arrested for wearing fake breasts and a wig while loitering in a women’s restroom in a Campbell, California, shopping center. Rendler had previously been arrested on charges of child molestation and indecent exposure.
- In 2010, Berkeley police arrested Gregorio Hernandez. Hernandez had disguised himself as a woman on two separate occasions to get inside a UC Berkeley locker room. Once in the locker room, Hernandez allegedly used his cell phone to photograph women.
- In 2013, Jason Pomare was arrested for cross-dressing in order to gain access to the women’s restroom at a Macy’s department store in Palmdale, California. Pomare snuck a video camera in to secretly videotape women while they used the restroom.
- In 2014, Christopher Hambrook—who faked being a transgender person named Jessica—was jailed in Toronto, Canada. Hambrook preyed on women at two Toronto shelters, and had previously preyed on other women and girls as young as 5 years old to as old as 53. Hambrook’s case in particular shows the importance of protecting the privacy and safety of some of our most vulnerable citizens: the homeless and others who seek emergency shelter. And yet, the Obama administration recently proposed a rule that would impose a “gender identity” mandate here as well.
- In 2015, two spying instances were recorded in Virginia—one at a mall and one at a Wal-Mart. Both instances involved a man in women’s clothing who used a mirror and camera to take pictures of a mother and her 5-year-old daughter and a 53-year-old woman while they were in neighboring restroom stalls. The suspect wore a pink shirt and a long wig to present himself as a woman.
- In 2016, a man used a women’s locker room at a public swimming pool in Washington state to undress in front of young girls who were changing for swim practice. When Seattle Parks and Recreation staff asked him to leave, the man claimed that “the law has changed and I have a right to be here.” The man was apparently referring to a Washington state rule that allows individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. However, the man made no attempt to present as a woman.
Two other issues that play a part in the Prieto story are his possible illegal status and the part pornography may have played in his alleged crime. For many users of adult pornography there is a progression to child porn after they can no longer attain the ‘high’ they experienced previously with the sole use of adult porn.
Dr. Victor B. Cline in “Pornography’s Effects on Adults and Children”: As a clinical psychologist, I have treated…approximately 350 sex addicts, sex offenders, or other individuals (96% male) with sexual illnesses. This includes…compulsive sexual acting-out, plus such things as child molestation, exhibitionism, voyeurism, sadomasochism, fetishism, and rape. With several exceptions, pornography has been a major or minor contributor or facilitator in the acquisition of their deviation or sexual addiction…
From a December 2, 2007 Houston Chronicle article “Waging the war on child porn” by P.O’Hare:
Child pornography arrests have surged in recent years because of the easy access and anonymity that Web surfing offers. Sitting at computers in the privacy of their homes, people sometimes take chances they normally wouldn’t take or act on impulses they previously might have resisted, attorneys and police officers say… Much like drug abusers constantly in search of a new high, some men reported building up such a “tolerance effect” to adult pornography that they needed something new to achieve the same thrill, said a local clinical psychologist who treats sexual offenders…
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