Judge revises pedophile order

LOS ANGELES – A judge on Friday ordered self-described pedophile Jack McClellan to stay at least 10 yards from places where children congregate, including schools, playgrounds and child care centers.

Superior Court Judge Melvin Sandvig issued a permanent injunction narrowing his initial order earlier this month that had barred McClellan from coming within 30 feet of any person under 18 anywhere in California.

The new order also prohibits McClellan from contacting, videotaping or photographing children without written consent from a guardian or parent.

The injunction allows civil action against McClellan if it is violated. A three-year restraining order carrying the same restrictions was also issued and given to all law enforcement agencies in the state.

As he left the hearing, McClellan told reporters, “I don’t know what I’m going to do, now.”

McClellan, 45, came to the attention of authorities for a Web site where he posted photos of children in public places and discussed how he liked to stake out parks, public libraries, fast-food restaurants and other areas where little girls congregated.

McClellan maintained he launched the site as a form of therapy and wouldn’t do anything illegal. He has never been charged with molestation. His Internet service provider has taken down his Web site.

The orders issued by Sandvig bar McClellan from publishing any image of a child without parental permission. He has been unemployed and living out of his car since arriving in Southern California this summer from Washington, where he lived.

He received a police escort Friday into the courthouse after arriving in the parking lot and donning a shirt in his car.

Sandvig did not give reasons for revising his initial order but indicated he was aware of concerns about its constitutionality. “Minor children are a group that do need extra protection because they can’t be watched 24-7,” the judge said.

McClellan was released from jail Tuesday after prosecutors dropped a criminal case accusing him of violating the initial order.

Prosecutors could not pursue the case after they determined the order was invalid because the judge failed to schedule and give McClellan proper notice of a hearing required to argue its merits.

McClellan was arrested Aug. 13 for investigation of violating the order when he was found near a child care center at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Civil libertarians and others had argued that the original sweeping restraining order had virtually barred McClellan from the state by forbidding him from going near any child.