The Pornography of Murder

Ariel Castro

In a Cleveland courtroom this past Friday, Ariel Castro pled guilty to 937 of the 977 charges against him, ranging from kidnapping to rape to aggravated murder to just about anything else you can think of, in connection with his holding and torturing three women as sexual prisoners for more than a decade. The plea bargain avoids a lengthy and costly trial for the people of Ohio and the possibility of a death sentence for the 53-year-old Castro, while keeping him behind bars for the remainder of his natural life.

Rightly calling Castro a “coward,” Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty stated that he had secured the approval of victims and their families before agreeing to the plea deal.

For his own part, Castro tried to explain himself to Judge Michael J. Russo by stating that, “my addiction to pornography and my sexual problem has taken a toll on my mind.”

That he has a “sexual problem,” there can be no doubt. But what about this addiction to pornography?

This same excuse was raised by prolific sexual predator and serial killer Theodore “Ted” Bundy when he was finally facing the Florida electric chair. It is almost a face-saving scenario – admitting to the crimes but explaining that pornography, especially violent and sadistic pornography, led and then compelled the offender to his life of horrible crime. The argument has become a favorite of various anti-pornography groups and is even creeping into the discussion of violent movies and video games and their formative relationship to the violence that plagues our society.

Pornography as an issue deserves its own discussion, but let us here just focus on violent and sadistic graphic material and literature as a prime influence on sexual predation and claims by individuals (“monsters” is actually a better term) like Bundy and Castro who chalk up their psychopathic behavior to pornography addiction.

Our basic response is: Nonsense!

But that needs a bit of clarification.

Going back for a moment to the topic of violent movies and video games, is it possible that mass slaughter on the screen can desensitize teens and young men to the impact of actual death?

Certainly.

Is it possible that the frequent playing of video games in which the object is to kill all of the enemy’s troops can make our young people less empathic to the suffering of others?

No question.

But will they turn ordinary teenaged boys into mass murderers? Will “Grand Theft Auto” turn them into homicidal car hijackers?

Definitely not!

This is not to say that someone who was already prone to violent impulses could not be encouraged or given ideas by playing these games that would then lead to acting out in real life. But they are not going to lead someone who does not already have this violent and/or predatory ideation to become an antisocial practitioner.

And the same is true of pornography. The overwhelming majority of normal men, and a fair number of normal women, can be aroused by pornography of various sorts. But that doesn’t make them into criminals. What made Ted Bundy and Ariel Castro addicted to sadomasochistic material is what was in their minds and makeup already, and no amount of chicken-and-egg sophistry is going to change that.

Yes, we are completely against child pornography. But a true pedophile doesn’t need it to get himself off sexually. All he has to do is  open to the children’s clothing section of the Macy’s catalogue and fantasize.

So don’t let anyone tell you that pornography creates monsters like Ariel Castro. Rather, it is just one more symptom of the monster he was already.

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