Publicity-Hound Pedophile May Walk Free

A California man who wrote about his sexual obsession with young girls on his website could soon be out of jail, the LA Times reports. Jack McClellan is incarcerated for violating a restraining order, but its sweeping terms are unlikely to hold up in court, experts say, highlighting the difficulty of dealing with pedophiles who haven't been caught molesting children.

Washington state cops say they monitored McClellan but couldn't act because his behavior did not violate any laws. The current restraining order bars him from coming within 10 feet of any child in California; he is being held on $150,000 bail. "Obviously, he is not a good person," said one professor. "Preventive detention, however, is not part of the law." (More Jack McClellan stories.)