Mu Lowdown article by Jim Burton.

As I detailed in my previous Lowdown article, America has a strange fixation with punishing individuals for exhibiting what it considers to be unusual sexual proclivities. Often, this punishment follows many decades after an offender has served their sentence. The state also turns a blind-eye to registry-assisted murders, which are are now so common, another has transpired since I wrote my article last month. But this hysteria has also seemingly taken a hold of American parents who seek to punish their own children for what they believe to be sexual "deviancy".

Indeed, when their misguided beliefs about sexuality get the better of their emotions, some parents cross a line you can’t come back from. Full disclosure, and content warning, these six horrifying cases, five of them from America, show how hysteria around children's supposed asexuality, and twisted ideas of sexual “shame” have led moms and dads to kill their own kids. Put together in one place, so we never forget.

6. ROMINA ASHRAFI, beheaded for running away with her boyfriend (Iran, 2020)

Romina, 14, eloped with her boyfriend, 34. After police forcibly returned her to her violent father, Reza, he waited until she was asleep and then beheaded her with a farming sickle. The case created such uproar that Iran’s president called for a ban on what are described as honor killings.

5. JAYDEN LENESCAR — 4-year-old beaten to death for touching himself (Brooklyn, USA, 2009)

Steven Dadaille and his girlfriend Myrna Chenphang brutally beat 4-year-old Jayden for two days because he was caught touching his genitals. Their justification? They wanted to know who taught him. Jayden died from the assault.

4. Torture, hot water, FROZEN CHILD: A mother’s freak-show of indifference (USA, 2015)

"Inappropriate" doll-play led Mitchelle Blair to force one of her boys to confess; they had been "humping". Whether or not that was true, her punishments became more and more extreme. Stephen was beaten, choked, scalded. He died. Then Stoni. The bodies were hidden in a freezer. All over “sexual misbehavior.”

3. JAMAR PINKNEY Jr. — executed by his father for touching his sister (USA, 2009)

Jamar Jr., 15, admitted to touching a 3-year-old. Instead of managing the situation or seeking help, his father, Jamar Sr., forced him to strip, kicked, punched, pistol-whipped, then shot him dead in front of family. As the teen begged for mercy.

2. Gigi Jordan and her autistic son JUDE (USA, 2010)

In a bizarre tale of therapist-induced conspiratorialism closely mirroring the popular 1980s demonology of pedophiles, Jordan believed her ex-husbands were satanically abusing her son, and this caused his autism. Convinced that killing him was an act of "protection", she forced eight-year-old Jude to ingest a fatal cocktail of Ambien, Xanax, juice, and vodka.

1. RONNIE PARIS Jr. — "gay" toddler tortured to death (Florida, USA, 2005)

Three-year-old Ronnie Paris was convinced by his father to undergo a kind of forced “manhood” ritual. His dad, certain his son was gay, made him box, physically abused him repeatedly, hoping the child would somehow “snap out of it.” After years of abuse (including time in foster care, returned home), Ronnie died of brain injuries. His father was convicted of manslaughter.

A silent epidemic?

In the U.S., about 500 filicides (parents murdering children) happen each year. Most victims are under 6; many are infants. There are different motivations: sexual panic/shame; “honor”; psychiatric delusions; revenge; unwanted child; or “altruistic” motives. Not all cases are exactly like the ones above, but the sexual-oriented ones are especially concerning, as they often relate to beliefs we know are false.

So why does this keep on happening? Many parents believe sexual “misconduct” in children is shameful or sinful, and feel that the only way to rid shame is by punishment, up to death. Social, cultural or religious pressure can amplify these beliefs (honor systems, rigid and dogmatic gender norms). Lack of mental-health support may also be a factor; when the parent also holds delusions or paranoia, nobody intervenes.

Society can begin to heal by not stigmatizing discussion of sexual behaviour in kids, so parents might be less inclined to deal with it in secret.

But the brutal reality is that we will most probably see many more of these cases before we can say the problem has been well and truly put to bed.

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