I hate reporting stories like this, but it’s the sort of thing the Pagan public needs to know about — a news story about a criminal freak with a pagan angle.

Robin Fletcher, an Australian Wiccan, is set to be released from prison after serving 10 years for enticing 15 year old girls into sexual acts.  “Fletcher used hypnotism and mind-altering techniques to entice two 15-year-old girls into prostitution, sadomasochism and black magic… He dressed the girls in dog collars, bound them and flogged them with a horsewhip and paddle.”

Of course, his being Wiccan is the big news hook, but that’s not what is so troubling.  It is that he maintains that Wicca requires this of him as part of his religious practice, and it is a religious practice he seems unwilling to give up.

The Australian Pagan community was quick to resond.   I am pleased to say that the mainstream media treated the response with respect.  As printed by The Daily Telegraph:

[T]he Pagan Awareness Network Incorporated (PAN Inc) today said Fletcher did not represent the beliefs or practices of witches and other pagans and had used the pretext of a witchcraft initiation to carry out his “despicable” crimes.

“Every community has its predators,” PAN Victorian co-ordinator Marian Dalton said today.

“The pagan scene, sadly, is no exception.

“Fletcher doesn’t represent who we are or what we do any more than pedophile priests represent the values and teachings of Christian churches.”