The
question of the day, therefore, is whether Dr. Thomas L. Philpott, of the University of Texas at Austin, really killed himself.
Well, the
university is on record; here’s
what they say:
Thomas Lee
Philpott–associate professor of history, fiery Catholic moralist and polemical
leftist, and charismatic and much-honored teacher–ended his life on October 9,
1991, in Austin, Texas, after a yearlong illness. He was 49.
OK—so why
think that Philpott was murdered?
Well, justly-named Paranoia Magazine has this to say about Philpott, who took part in a 1981
documentary called Boys for Sale.
Here’s an excerpt from the
magazine:
Boys for Sale
depicts the pervasive practice of sex with boys in Houston, Texas—yet another
dark tale of government and local authorities failing to live up to their
electorates’ expectation that they will protect our most vulnerable citizens.
Frank Morrow hosts a show in which Dr. Tom Philpott, history professor at the
University of Texas, details the issues concerning the prostitution of boys and
the power structure behind it that helps to promote and profit from the
business.
Boys for
Sale is mirrored in the later documentary The Conspiracy of Silence (1995),
which concentrates on Omaha in the same years. Sadly, on October 9, 1991—soon
after his interview was aired—49-year-old Dr. Philpott was “suicided” and
investigations into what was happening in Houston came to a halt—much like what
happened to “Baer boys” just before the Franklin Credit Union investigations
began, though I don’t think that Dr. Philpott decided to wrap plastic around
his face like the boys around here had done to them.
Well, I had
watched The
Conspiracy of Silence,
and the tale it told was not hard to swallow but hard to gulp. In essence, it
alleges that rich and powerful people in Omaha, Nebraska,
sexually abused boys from the legendary Boys Town (located
nearby) and that the investigation had been covered up. Oh, and that the trail
went all the way up to the White House. (At the time, George H. W. Bush was in
office, if I recall correctly.)
In both Boys
for Sale and The
Conspiracy of Silence,
similar charges are made. The perpetrators are powerful, straight men who form
alliances to trade boys, and to crush anyone rash enough to investigate and ask
questions. Philpott claims that he got a shotgun blasted though his car
windshield, as well as through the living room window. The professor also
claims, at one point, that Robin Lloyd, another person who had stuck his
nose into a place where it wasn’t much wanted, suffered a highly suspicious
accident.
OK—so is
any of this true?
According
to one study—no. Here
are the findings from a 2008 study on prostitution of minors in New York
City issued by the Department of Justice:
- Nearly half the kids—about 45 percent—were boys.
- Only 10 percent were involved with a "market facilitator" (e.g., a pimp).
- About 45 percent got into the "business" through friends.
- More than 90 percent were U.S.-born (56 percent were New York City natives).
- On average, they started hooking at age 15.
- Most serviced men—preferably white and wealthy.
- Most deals were struck on the street.
- Almost 70 percent of the kids said they'd sought assistance at a youth-service agency at least once.
- Nearly all the youths—95 percent—said they exchanged sex for money because it was the surest way to support themselves.
OK—if all
of that is true, then we may have to rethink the notion of human trafficking
that most of us have in our minds: a runaway girl falls into the hands of a
pimp, who beats her and abuses her and forces her to bring home her “quota.”
Now then—how
many kids are out there? Well, according
to the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children, there were about 800,000 kids
reported missing in 1999. As well, the Internet
Crimes Against Children (ICAC) noted a 1,000% increase in complaints of
child sex trafficking from 2004 to 2008.
I don’t
know about you, but something about all these numbers is seriously screwy.
800,000 reports of missing kids? That’s an enormous amount of kids. And a
1,000% increase in child sex trafficking in just four years?
We got a
problem, guys. And it seems clear—however “sexy” the image of a teenage girl
being lured and controlled by her pimp could be to any of you, the reality is
most likely different. Oh, and as for a vast hidden network of pedophiles? Nah—don’t
think so.
But we have
a large number of kids on the street—kids that nobody will or even can hire.
And they’re all hungry, they all need shelter. We’ve gotta find a way to get
help to these kids. And then, maybe it’s time to rethink the idea of arresting johns and putting their names…
…on the
front page of the local newspaper!
