Fox News has taken its support of sex crimes against children to a new level in this recent post about a Florida woman who has “changed her life around completely since the conviction.”
The woman is former middle school teacher Debra Lafave, and the conviction was for having sex with a 14-year-old boy.
Fox News was one of several news organizations that picked up this story from People, but the post represents Fox’s ongoing endorsement of Roy Moore, a former Alabama state judge and current Republican nominee for U.S. Senate.
Last week, the Washington Post reported that Moore pursued four teenagers ranging in ages from 14 to 18 while he was an assistant district attorney in his early 30s. One of the women told the Post that he molested her when she was 14 years old.
After that article ran, things got weird. A fifth woman came forward alleging Moore had sexually assaulted her when she was 16, and the New Yorker reported that the candidate had been banned from a mall, a place where he cruised for teenage girls. Both Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan said Moore should step out of the race.
None of that is the weird part, which is this: Not only has Moore not stepped down, he has used the accusations as a fundraising opportunity, while far-right pundits and media organizations like Fox News have fallen over themselves to downplay the allegations as being false or not that bad.
This somehow created a chain reaction that has involved smashed Keurigs and a reporter’s comparison of Moore’s alleged crimes to stealing a lawnmower.
So, here we are. It’s 2017, and in this alternative universe that we call home, we can’t all agree that sex crimes against minors are bad and that allegations like this should disqualify a person from holding public office – especially one as revered as the Senate.
It’s a great time to ask ourselves as a country why some people deserve second, third or fourth chances, despite behavior that appears to constitute serial crimes against children, while others get prison sentences for lesser offenses. But for now, let’s stick to this: Should convicted sex offenders be the subject of admiration and the central character in positive news stories right this very moment?
There is much to be said on this topic, and it’s not cut and dry. This episode of the investigative podcast In the Dark gets into the challenges sex offenders face just trying to find a place to live, suggesting it can be nightmare to move on after such a conviction. But for now, let’s just think about this news item and the timing of it.
In 2005, Lafave pleaded guilty to two counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a person under 16 after what Fox News’ headline described as a “sex romp” with a 14-year-old student 10 years her junior. But after being sentenced to house arrest and probation, Lafave “changed her life around completely.”
Fox News’ source for information on this transformation – “source” singular, because there’s only one – is an interview that a supposed friend of Lafave, Joe Zuniga, did with People. Zuniga is also the author of “Debra Lafave: A Crown of Beauty for Ashes.”
“She’s a completely different person (from) when she was 24,” Zuniga told People. “She has grown up a lot. She has become a Christian, and she’s a great mom. She recently got married, and she just ignores the media. She knows it will always be there, but she focuses on her life now. It’s very normal.”
But why did People and the other news orgs that picked up this story get into this now? Why should a positive story about a sex offender pop up right this very moment, as this Moore drama continues to simmer? Nothing with Lafave appears to have changed, and the release of Zuniga’s book isn’t recent.
But Lafave does offer Moore an opportunity, as it continues to reduce the crime of sex with minors to nothing more than a fleeting moment you can recover from, a chance to turn your life around or a “sex romp.” Unlike Moore, Lafave is an attractive blonde woman who was somewhat closer in age to her victim, perhaps making her a more sympathetic character.
Like Moore, she’s a married, Christian parent. What could sync up more with American values? Especially during a time when those values trump the shame that should follow grown adults who have sex with minors.
Contact Mollie Bryant at 405-990-0988 or bryant@bigiftrue.org. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.