Barbara Ochoa
Barbara W. Ochoa (stage name Petra Luna) is a struggling American vocal artist, known mainly for basing her musical career around a pious, self-declared "war on [sexual] abuse". Most of Ochoa's public-relations activity is conducted through the social networking website, MySpace - where thanks to a zealous and insistent fan base, her material and anti-abuse campaigns are given some recognition and respect. Within this on-line world, Ochoa uses image manipulation to construct herself as a fantastical, winged, cult-figure; an empowerer and warrior against child abuse. She sometimes publishes videos on YouTube, injecting herself in to a graphically-enhanced, newsroom-type setting, and making emotional pronouncements on familiar, sexual-abuse related subjects.
Other failures of note
Attempt to shut down Puellula
In April, 2007, Ochoa embarked on a brief and unsuccessful campaign (Operationshutdownpuellula.com) to "ban" Puellula, a legitimate website belonging to a self-identifying pedophile. Ochoa and the site's creator, AP were even interviewed on the KTRH Radio station, the former arguing that the latter was violating the first amendment - effectively a "constitutional" argument against freedom of expression. After discovering that there was no mechanism by which a website could simply be "banned", with Puellula going voluntarily offline, Ochoa retired her campaign. Operationshutdownpuellula.com was modified to suit Ochoa's publicity needs, adding to existing suspicions as to her true motives for starting such a campaign.
KTRH Interviews on banning Puellula
- AP: Media:AP.mp3
- Ochoa: Media:Petraluna.mp3
Jan Kruska dispute and lawsuit
Ochoa has been involved in a long-running on-line campaign of harassment against Jan Kruska. Whilst in her twenties, Kruska had a consensual sexual relationship with a boy in his mid-teens, who since the relationship ended, has always recalled his encounters positively. Kruska was forced to register as a sex offender because of this. After using the sites jankruska.com and jankruska.net in her campaign to harass and shame Kruska, Ochoa was named in the (Filed January 10, 2008) lawsuit Kruska v. Perverted Justice Foundation Incorporated.org et al alongside a host of her allies.
Ochoa soon after agreed to a March 14, 2008, media head-to-head with her most recent chosen enemy, only this time on National Television. Interviewed by John Stossel for ABC's 20/20 documentary on the age of consent, Ochoa asserted that compulsory registration for the older parties in consensual encounters such as Kruska's was a "necessary evil", and that Kruska deserved to be "harassed" by her. Ochoa's performance on 20/20 is likely to have alienated her from any producer who is sympathetic to her stated aims. It is perhaps likely that the producers of 20/20 selected her case because they were aware (from her performances on-line) of her poor judgement and general incompetence in front of a camera.