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Popular interest

• Former House speaker Dennis Hastert indicted by federal grand jury

J. Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican speaker in the history of the U.S. House, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on charges that he violated banking laws in a bid to pay $3.5 million to an unnamed person to cover up “past misconduct.” (Paul Kane, Mike DeBonis and Mark Berman - The Washington Post, US)

• Operation Hydrant: an Inquisition for the 21st century

Police trawling for child-abuse cases is an affront to justice. (Frank Furedi - spiked, UK)

• Canada's biggest child porn case ends with conviction on 15 charges

Brian Way whose Queensway video business (Azov Films), where a 2011 police raid garnered 187,000 images and 8,000 videos, had international impact was convicted on 15/17 charges. (Robert Cribb - Toronto Star, Ca)

• It’s right that Lord Janner won’t be prosecuted

Demands to try Janner show how unhinged the child-sex panic has become. (Luke Gittos - spiked, UK)

• How ‘recovered memories’ fuelled the paedo panic

The UK justice system needs to face facts: 'recovered memories' simply aren't credible. (Barbara Hewson - spiked, UK)

• Pedophilia: Predisposition Or Perversion?

On Tuesday night, The Current hosted what their editor in chief referred to no fewer than three times as a “groundbreaking” discussion about the psychology of pedophilia. Thrilled just to be invited, Bwog’s own Editor in Chief Taylor Grasdalen attended to learn more. (BWOG)

• The Hampstead cult that wasn’t: the Satanic panic revisited

In the current climate, it’s all too easy for fantasists to be taken seriously. (Barbara Hewson - spiked, UK)

• This man is a pedophile, and proud of it

Meet the activist (Tom O'Carroll) whose life’s work is arguing that pedophilia is OK. (Corinne Purtill - Global Post, US)

• Cameron: a bad case of child exploitation

Why politicians love to pose as the grand protectors of children. (Ken McLaughlin - spiked, UK)

• Children's charity rejects Edathy money

The Child Protection Federation of Lower Saxony has rejected the €5,000 which ex-MP Sebastian Edathy was ordered to pay them for illegally downloading child pornography, saying they didn't want to endorse his escape from punishment. (The Local, de)

• German politician Edathy confesses in child pornography trial

In order to avoid a trial and possible imprisonment, Sebastian Edathy confessed in court to using his official work laptop to download pornographic videos and images of children from the Internet. Following Edathy's admission, the Verden District Court in the German state of Lower Saxony on Monday handed the former Social Democrats (SPD) deputy a fine of 5,000 euros ($5,600), bringing the trial to an end. (Deutsche Welle)

• Alleged child porn king admits he had illegal images but denies they were for sale

Brian Way of Azov Films is pleading not guilty to 17 counts of making, advertising, publishing, selling and distributing child pornography. He is not disputing that the vast majority of the images found in his home are child pornography, but that the images that were for sale by his company were not child pornography. (Christie Blatchford - National Post, CA)

• 5 Ways We Misunderstand Pedophilia (That Makes it Worse)

Pedophilia is almost a total mystery to modern science. We don't know what causes it, or how to prevent it, or how to cure it (short of a form of castration), because the moment a test subject admits they're a pedophile, they're ruined for life. Why would anyone ever come forward? Thus, society's insistence on taking the harshest possible position winds up exacerbating the problem. (Robert Evans et al. - Cracked , US)

• Pro-pedophile association loses EU court bid

The European Court of Human Rights rejected a complaint by pedophile advocacy association Martijn against the ban Dutch courts imposed on the group last year. The organization will remain prohibited, and the court will not hear the case, reported ANP. (Hanna Daych - NL Times, NL)