During the course of my career as an attorney and judge, spanning five decades, I have witnessed events most individuals would never experience. Without any question the most revolting, repulsive and vile of which are matters involving the sexual assault of children.

The recent debate concerning the release of the Epstein files exposed at least two glaring facts about the vast majority of Republicans serving in Congress — they are mindless, spineless puppets under the control of the master puppeteer, President Donald Trump, evidenced by needing his permission for them to vote for transparency and the release of the Epstein files. Second, they harbor a callous disregard for victims of sexual assault and particularly children who have been ravaged at the hands of pedophiles.

The vast majority of Republicans in Congress shielded Trump from possible involvement by pretending to claim they were shielding innocent victims from further harm through the possible release of their names. Once the puppet master gave them permission to vote for the release of the files not only did their concerns disappear, but it has been reported the Trump DOJ released the names of many victims without first redacting their names from the files. Of course, the completely inept administration has issued its standard conspiracy spin, blaming others as it has every time it proves its gross incompetence — Exhibit A being the Comey-Willis indictment fiasco.

One must remember the Trump administration merely reflects its leader’s chronicled misogynistic disrespect for women regardless of age. His own words were used to substantiate his behavior. The release of the Hollywood Access tape proved the Republican Party was willing to ignore the despicable behavior embraced and encouraged by the person they would nominate for and elect president.

Trump’s misogynistic behavior was not limited to adult females but extended to female children as well. He was the co-owner of the Miss Teen USA pageant for a number of years until 2015. Several of the women who participated in the pageant, some as young as 15 years old, reported Trump walked into their dressing room while they were undressing and said, “Don’t worry ladies, I’ve seen it all before.”

Trump was subsequently sued by E. Jean Carroll for sexual assault and defamation based on allegations of sexual assault against Trump. After a nine-day trial, a jury determined Trump did, in fact, sexually assault and defame Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages. The verdict has been affirmed on appeal.

Much of what has been reported in this article has been extensively covered by the media. It is indisputable both Jeffrey Epstein and his confederate Ghislaine Maxwell were deeply involved in recruiting and subjecting minor girls to sex trafficking. Both were criminally convicted of such charges. Trump now chooses to treat Maxwell as a celebrity rather than the pedophile she is.

What is utterly inexplicable is the dismissive attitude of most Republican members of Congress concerning the severity of the rampant sexual assaults and particularly those involving children.
Of particular concern is the recent attempt by Megyn Kelly, a far-right political commentator, and former Fox News hostess who seemingly attempted to quantify the severity of sexual assault on children based on age. By the way, Kelly graduated from Albany Law School in 1995 and should be conversant in the nuances of the law surrounding sexual assaults on children.

It is a crime for an adult to have sex with a child under a certain age yet Kelly had this to say concerning Epstein’s pedophiliac behavior, “He wasn’t into the barely legal type, like, he liked 15 year old girls,” and then offered a lame and disgusting defense for Epstein by continuing, “I’m not trying to make an excuse for this, I’m just giving you facts — that he wasn’t into like, 8 year olds. But he liked the very young teen types that could pass for even younger than they were, but would look legal to a passer-by.” It is clear Kelly either ditched Criminal Law class 101 or was sleeping when the discussion on consent concerning children was discussed. Perhaps the fact Kelly purportedly received a $20 million settlement from Fox News for her sexist treatment by Roger Ailes has softened her views on child sexual assault.

It is reprehensible to suggest certain acts of sexual assault on CHILDREN are less egregious than others and can be quantified. Yet, the Trump sycophants believe he has allowed them to do just that by virtue of his lifetime disrespect for and marginalization of women.

Unfortunately, with the exception of a few principled Republicans in Congress, the rest will continue to sacrifice their integrity and morality in exchange for a pat on the back by a convicted felon and sexual predator.

Dennis Maes served 24 years as a 10th Judicial District judge in Pueblo and was chief judge for 17 of those years. He previously served as director of Pueblo County Legal Services, Inc.; as a public defender and as an attorney in private practice.