Carol Vorderman
Carol Vorderman MBE, (born 24 December 1960, Bedford, UK) known mainly for her television work, has at times sought to further her career by pursuing an anti-pedophilia agenda, based mainly on internet scaremongering and support for policies that isolate and restrict young people.
Character
Vorderman's frequent railing against pedophiles needs to be viewed in context. For example, she is already known to endorse a debt consolidation firm. More recently, the divorced celebrity's relationships with multiple men have been a talking point in the media, because of her age. This seeming relaxation of Vorderman's personal standards has been accompanied by the sudden tailing off of her outbursts against minor attracted people.
Outbursts against pedophiles since 2001
In 2001, Vorderman agreed to publicise a campaign by the NSPCC, also showing disgust that a convicted sex offender should be allowed to participate in a game show that she hosted:
- "The bosses refused to broadcast it and quite rightly so. That programme should not have been shown."[1]
A series of "vitriolic" attacks documented by sycophant ZDNet News in 2001 is particularly revealing:
- "Pulling no punches, the broadcaster, who recently teamed up with Trevor McDonald to highlight the dangers of chatrooms, attacked the government's plan to give schoolchildren their own email address. "This is utterly incomprehensible," she said. "It is an open invitation for paedophiles to track children at school." [...] Vorderman has become a campaigner against online paedophiles since making a documentary about the issue last year for the ITV show Tonight with Trevor McDonald. The issue of child pornography on the Internet has long haunted the industry."[2]
It is not surprising to find that Vorderman is also in support of prison sentences similar in length to those used against internet offenders in America:
- "A MAN who used the internet to lure a girl of 13 to his home for sex could be out of jail in five months after judges halved his five-year sentence. [...] The broadcaster Carol Vorderman, who has exposed the ease with which paedophiles can find victims in uncontrolled internet chat rooms, said: "It is an absolute disgrace. Five years wasn't enough in the first place.""
Similarly, Vorderman came out in support of the News of the World's campaign for a Sarah's Law which would expand disclosure of information about sex offenders:
- "The world of sex offenders is such a disturbing area. There is no logic with these paedophiles, its an obsession and they cannot be cured. They commit such horrendous crimes, they really are horrible. Parents HAVE to be able to protect their children, and Sarahs Law allows parents to have the information to do that."
Support for Thames Valley Police
Of the many "anti-pedophile" projects Vorderman has taken part in, one of the most notable involves a collaboration with Thames Valley Police to produce a demonstrative video on "internet safety" in school.[3]
Lack of understanding
Vorderman is one of the many public campaigners who effectively target anyone with a sexual preference for children because of beliefs they hold about "child sexual abuse" - a necessarily distinct topic. Thus, any attempt to bring Vorderman to account for the ideas she promotes should be targeted at these flawed beliefs.