Fury and outrage over 'Late Late' paedophile interview

Monday September 11th 2006

A CONTROVERSIAL interview on the Late Late Show with a convicted paedophile has generated a flood of complaints and outraged both the ISPCC and the abuse support group One in Four.

One in Four is to lodge a formal complaint against the State broadcaster.

Hundreds of disgusted viewers reportedly rang RTE while the show was being aired on Friday night to register their anger.

One in Four founder Colm O'Gorman said they were appalled by the "grossly irresponsible, misguided and ill-considered" manner in which presenter RTE Pat Kenny handled his interview with American child molester Jake Goldenflame who sexually abused his daughter while she was a toddler.

He also took issue with RTE for having him on the show in the first place and called the decision to interview a comedian and male stripping act immediately after his slot "in appalling taste".

Paul Gilligan, executive director of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) said the interview only succeeded in sending out very damaging and potentially dangerous misinformation about sexual predators who prey on children.

"It distorted reality but when it's presented in a recovering alcoholic mode it almost normalises it," he said.

Mr Goldenflame - who served five years of a 10-year prison sentence for sexually abusing his daughter and teenage boys - claimed that committing incest upon the baby was "different" than paedophilia yet Mr Kenny did not challenge him on the bizarre claim.

Since his conviction, Mr Goldenflame has written a book on his sexual deviancy and has done the chat show rounds in America where he advocates the publication of sex abuse registers.

But Mr O'Gorman said RTE should never have allowed itself to be used as a soapbox for Mr Goldenflame's twisted views.

"Whilst One in Four believes an appropriate and balanced discussion which seeks to explore the perpetration of sexual violence against children has considerable merit, we do not believe the Late Late Show is an appropriate forum for such a discussion." He described the decision by RTE not to ensure a qualified therapist was on hand to counter Mr Goldenflame's distorted views as "grossly irresponsible".

And he added: "I know this will be a cause of great distress to victims of abuse and their families I am appalled and frankly, sickened by such thoughtless and ignorant disregard for the hurt that this is likely to cause many people. "One in Four wishes to refute any such suggestion that victims of child sexual abuse are likely to abuse children." The support group will be lodging complaints this week with the RTE Authority and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission.

"It adds nothing to the debate and from a child protection point of view, it was extremely unhelpful," said Mr Gilligan.

Allison Bray

? Irish Independent