Court documents claim group's Web site, literature incited slaying

By The Associated Press

04.12.01

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BOSTON — The North American Man/Boy Love Association does more than promote pedophilia — it trains members on how to have sex with children, according to new affidavits filed yesterday in a federal lawsuit.

The sworn statements are part of the $200 million lawsuit against NAMBLA by the family of Jeffrey Curley, a 10-year-old Cambridge boy who was killed by two men in 1997 after he resisted their advances.

The family claims NAMBLA and its Web site incited the men to molest and murder the boy. One of two men convicted in the murder, Charles Jaynes, 25, allegedly viewed the group's Web site shortly before the murder, and also had NAMBLA publications.

In a prepared statement issued yesterday, NAMBLA said the new affidavits show "utterly no convincing link between NAMBLA and the violent acts of (the convicted men)."

"By trying to make NAMBLA responsible for a crime that it finds odious and had nothing to do with, the suit is an attack on the rights of anyone to express unpopular ideas," the group said.

But the Curley family's lawyer, Lawrence Frisoli, said the affidavits prove the group is helping people have sex with children.

"Our case against them is getting stronger," Frisoli said.

NAMBLA disagreed. "The only contact NAMBLA had with Jaynes was to make available publications that are available to any member of the public, publications which do not advocate rape or violence," the group said.

"NAMBLA is no more to blame for Jaynes' actions than the fact that he watched crime reports on the TV news or attended meetings, as indicated in Frisoli's filings today, of Boston Area Gay and Lesbian Youth."

Yesterday's filings were in response to a motion by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, which is defending NAMBLA, to dismiss the lawsuit.

"Many people don't like NAMBLA's message, but that doesn't mean they can be held liable for money damages," John Reinstein, the groups' attorney, told The Boston Herald.

In a statement released last August, the ACLU said it was defending the group because its activities were protected by freedom of speech and freedom of association.

"Under the First Amendment, there are no illegal ideas. Those who commit illegal acts can be punished for wrongful conduct, but the expression of even offensive ideas is protected by our constitution."

In one of the affidavits filed yesterday, W.H. "Mike" Nichols, the founder of Monterey, Calif.-based Better A Millstone Inc., which gathers information on child-sex predators and pornographers, described the NAMBLA as "a quasi school for training its members on how to profile children." He also said the group teaches how to gain the confidence of children and how to have sex with children without being detected by parents or police, his affidavit said.

Nichols has attended NAMBLA meetings and worked with the FBI to investigate the group, according to the document.

In another affidavit, Fairfax County, Va., police Detective Thomas Polhemus described how he became a member of NAMBLA's steering committee as part of his investigation. A member offered to arrange for Polhemus to have sex with a young boy, he said.

Polhemus also said that at a NAMBLA meeting, one member told the others how he became a department store Santa Claus in order to get young boys to sit on his lap while he was sexually aroused.

A third affidavit from the mother of a boy allegedly molested by a high-level NAMBLA member said that the man had a copy of "The Survival Manual: The Man's Guide to Staying Safe in Man/Boy Sexual Relationships" with him when he was arrested.

Curley died after Jaynes, of Brockton and Manchester, N.H., and Salvatore Sicari, of Cambridge, lured him into a car, then killed him by holding a gas-soaked rag to his mouth after he resisted their sexual advances. They dumped his body in a Maine river.

Sicari was convicted of first-degree murder; Jaynes was convicted of second-degree murder. Both are serving life sentences.

Update

ACLU asks federal judge to dismiss case against man-boy sex group
Lawyers defending North American Man/Boy Love Association say its publications, Web site are protected speech.  07.18.01

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ACLU to defend group against charges its Web site incited murder
Lawsuit claims man convicted of killing Massachusetts boy was influenced by group that advocates sex between men, boys.  08.31.00