Prometheus 6

Self-Described Pedophile Is Arrested Twice
By MICHAEL PARRISH

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 14 — A self-described pedophile who had bragged publicly that he had never been arrested was taken into custody twice this week on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, the authorities said Tuesday.

The man, Jack McClellan, was first detained by campus police Monday afternoon when he was spotted with a camera outside Franz Hall, which houses a small child-care program for children ages 3 months to 3 years that is run by the university’s psychology department.

Mr. McClellan, who has no known permanent address and appears to live out of his car, was charged with violating a restraining order banning him from coming closer than 10 yards to any minor in California.

He was then issued an order that prohibited him from stepping onto the campus for the next week, and released on his own recognizance following a consultation with the State Superior Court judge who issued the restraining order, on Aug. 3.

Later Monday, campus police saw a television news program in which Mr. McClellan was being interviewed live in a university parking lot, and they arrested him again, for violating the order barring him from campus.

At his arraignment on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Mr. McClellan pleaded not guilty to the charge of violating the Aug. 3 restraining order, a misdemeanor. He was ordered held on $150,000 bail and a pretrial hearing was set for Aug. 28. No charges were filed in connection with his returning to campus on Monday night.

Though Mr. McClellan says he has never acted on his impulses, he has proclaimed his interest in little girls, which he refers to as “L.G.’s,” on blogs and in interviews. The restraining order was issued at the request of two lawyers with young daughters living in the Santa Clarita Valley, near Los Angeles, where Mr. McClellan had been spotted.