NAMBLA Updates & Comments (North American Man/Boy Love Association) September 13, 2000: Curleys not the first to accuse NAMBLA. By Ryan Thompson, Chronicle Staff A parent and police in California also blame the group The Curley family does not stand alone when blaming the North American Man/Boy Love Association for crimes committed against children. A California mother and California police point their fingers in the same direction, connecting various NAMBLA members to numerous sex crimes - including links to a Thai sex orphanage and a pedophile survival manual. "NAMBLA is hiding very carefully under the First Amendment, while at the same time offering comfort and support to those men who are convicted sex offenders," said California-resident SOC-UM, whose boy was repeatedly molested by a man police say is a NAMBLA member. Recently, the Curley family from Cambridge filed a $200 million federal lawsuit against NAMBLA, alleging that the group is partly responsible for their 10-year-old's abduction and murder in 1997. Charles Jaynes, one of the two men convicted in the killing, was a member of NAMBLA. "Charles Jaynes was just one of those foot soldiers doing what NAMBLA told him to do," said Larry Frisoli, the Curleys' attorney. "Our position is that Jeffrey Curley is just one of thousands of victims." The American Civil Liberties Union has agreed to represent the group, which publicly advocates for changes in the age of consent laws. The ACLU has said it took the case to protect NAMBLA's First Amendment rights and because NAMBLA should not be held responsible for the actions of members. NAMBLA members contacted for this story did not return calls for comment. A self-professed NAMBLA member from Massachusetts, who would only identify himself as Socrates, defended the group. Contact between the man and the Chronicle was facilitated by an employee at the American Friends Service Committee in Cambridge, who verified that Socrates is indeed a NAMBLA member. Socrates said that Jaynes is not representative of what the group is all about. "He never attended any meetings or met any members," Socrates said. "If he had, [Jeffrey Curley's murder] may not have happened." Socrates said that if NAMBLA members had met Jaynes and found out he was stalking Jeffery Curley, they would have dealt with it and tried to prevent it. Much like the organization itself has always said, Socrates said that the group does not advocate rape or murder, but only believes in consensual man-boy sex. "I don't think that any type of coercion or seduction is right," Socrates said. According to him, most NAMBLA members insist that the boys are in control, and that simple touching should not be compared with murder and mayhem. Socrates said that he thinks that boys are capable of consenting to these relationships and are not being manipulated. Although NAMBLA does not establish a minimum age that is appropriate for man-boy love, Socrates said that he thinks that a 6-year-old is too young, but that certain things may be appropriate with a 10-year-old. The majority of boys involved in man-boy relationships are adolescents, according to him. Mahoney's son, Brian, was 10 years old when he was first molested by his next-door neighbor, Jonathan Tampico. Police said that Tampico was a NAMBLA member and was arrested in 1989 and charged with numerous crimes related to the sexual conduct with Brian that occurred from 1984 to 1986. He pled guilty to lewd and lascivious acts against a child under the age of 14, and was sentenced to six years in prison. "Unfortunately, I moved next door to a pedophile," Mahoney said. "Tampico told Brian to keep it a secret." According to Mahoney, it wasn't until an imprisoned NAMBLA member told police about Tampico and several other alleged pedophiles in the area that Brian's story finally came out. Officer David Goodness of the Fremont, Calif., police said the informant gave up numerous names of people he said were NAMBLA members and actively molesting boys. It was this information that started the huge investigation in the Bay Area and led to the arrest of Tampico and several others. According to Tim Painter, a NAMBLA expert and an inspector for the Alameda County District Attorney's office, officers found a copy of a pedophile safety manual when they raided Tampico's home. Painter headed up the investigation when he was a police officer. Painter said that "The Survival Manual: The Man's Guide to Staying Safe in Man/Boy Sexual Relationships," was written by NAMBLA member David Groat and was in the process of being edited by Tampico. The book was not published by NAMBLA, and Painter said that it was never completed. Socrates said that he has never heard of the book. "Not only has NAMBLA not published it," Socrates said. "We don't even know about it." According to Socrates, Groat "has lived a perfectly exemplary life for many years." Groat was a member of the steering committee for NAMBLA, the governing body of the organization, according to police. "I have written this guide to educate boy-lovers ... on how to handle attacks and problems in their lives, and how to escape torture and imprisonment," the book states. "Its goal, as big as it seems, is to save American boy-lovers from experiencing these destructive attacks, and to ensure that man/boy love continues its existence for generations to come." The book deals with various safety issues for those engaged in sex with young boys - including where to have sex and how to stay secretive. The book reveals personal sexual experiences with boys in detail. The book mostly focuses on how to elude and escape the law, and details police and FBI procedures. "Never forget that sex lasts only for a little while, but prison may last forever," the book states. Another phrase in the book, which was crossed out in the editing process, said, "there are no differences between us; we are all the same; we are boy-lovers." The book also instructs boy-lovers on how to survive prison and how to live safely in another country after becoming a fugitive. The book suggests not going to countries where there are high amounts of "sex tourism," such as in Thailand. He said that Groat and a NAMBLA associate, Mark Morgan, were actually imprisoned for more than a year in Thailand. They were running an orphanage in Bangkok that was basically a front for a child pornography and sex operation, Painter said. Sgt. Bob Nalett, supervisor of the sexual assault unit for the San Jose police, was also involved in several NAMBLA-related cases. Nalett said that he investigated NAMBLA member Joe Powers, who is listed as a defendant in the Curley lawsuit and pled guilty to having sexual conduct with a minor in the past and served time in prison. "Mark Morgan ran this orphanage - basically nicknamed 'Club Ped,'" Nalett said. "If you went there, he would provide you with a young boy." According to Painter, approximately 15 to 20 NAMBLA members and associates frequented the Bangkok orphanage. Pedophiles would fly into Toronto bringing back child pornography on undeveloped film and reassembled videotapes, he said. They unwound the videos, and then rolled the tape up backwards, so that when it was played, no footage would appear, he said. Painter said that Tampico, who was paid well at his job as a nuclear physicist working on the missile defense initiative commonly known as Star Wars, lived like a pauper because all his money went to fund frequent traveling to Bangkok. In fact, Tampico was arrested for the sex crimes he committed against Brian on a plane that was returning from Thailand - just as soon as the plane reached U.S. airspace. After serving two-and-a-half years in prison, Tampico was let out on parole in the Fremont area. Tampico was then arrested for violating his parole when he attended a children's choir competition. During that same time, Goodness was in the process of building a case against Tampico involving child pornography. Goodness said he found 52 containers of child pornography and pedophile material - much of it NAMBLA related - in a storage locker that Tampico rented under a false name. Tampico was sharing the locker with about 15 other people, who Goodness said are either NAMBLA members or associates. The large stash of pedophile material included more than 50,000 photos and 500 videos, according to Mahoney. Goodness said that he also found original photos of the pictures that appear in the NAMBLA Bulletin, the group's publication, as well as the printing templates used for the magazine. However, Tampico was released from prison on a technicality before the child pornography-related charges could be brought up against him. He disappeared and remained a fugitive for about six years. It wasn't until "America's Most Wanted" aired an episode about Tampico that he was captured in July 1998 in College Station, Texas. He was convicted of possessing, receiving and distributing child pornography on Feb. 14, 2000, and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. "He didn't even show any remorse," Goodness said. The two men responsible for Curley's kidnapping and murder, Jaynes, of Brockton, and Salvatore Sicari, of Cambridge, were sentenced to life in prison in 1998. Jaynes was convicted of second-degree murder and will be eligible for parole after 15 years. Sicari was convicted of first-degree murder and will not be eligible for parole. Last month, a jury awarded the Curley family $328 million in a wrongful death suit against Jaynes and Sicari - although the Curleys probably won't receive any money from the two imprisoned convicts who have no source of income. Frisoli said that he expects the Curleys to be awarded damages in the billion-dollar range in the lawsuit against NAMBLA. | Back |