Dutch pedophiles form political party

Several self-avowed pedophiles founded a political party in the Netherlands on Wednesday, but it was unclear whether the party has more than a handful of members. The Charity, Freedom and Diversity party said its central campaign platform will be lowering the age of consent in the Netherlands from 16 to 12. "Forbidding children from sex only makes them more curious," party president Martijn [Marthijn] Uittenbogaard told The Associated Press. [Treasurer Ad van den Berg said this.] [...]

Uittenbogaard declined to give membership figures. The party still has to register with the government to be recognized as a political party. He acknowledged his ideas are loathed by most Dutch people. "A lot of people are against us and that's not strange but that doesn't worry us very much because we know we also have a lot of support," he said. Pollster Maurice de Hond dismissed the Netherlands' newest political arrival. "No one will vote for this party. Maybe they will get a thousand voters but not the 60,000 needed to get a parliamentary seat," he said. [...]

Party secretary Norbert de Jonge told local media that he had been a target of hate e-mails and phone calls since Tuesday. "They think its a joke," he said, "but we're dead serious." The party will also follow an anti-immigration policy and oppose religious elementary schools. It endorses broadcasting pornographic material on daytime television, and allowing children as young as 12 to feature in porn films.

source: Article 'Dutch Pedophiles Form Political Party' by Bruce Mutsvairo; www.wtop.com/?nid=456&sid=807765; WTOP (Associated Press); 31 May 2006