Grand Old Pedophiles
The Long and Well Documented History of the Republican Party Abusing Children
The judge's words hung heavy in the federal courtroom: "serial child molester." He wasn't describing some anonymous criminal. He was sentencing Dennis Hastert, once the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House, second in line to the presidency. Hastert admitted to sexually abusing boys whom he coached at Yorkville High School, victims as young as 14. The man who led the Republican Party's moral charge against President Clinton's sexual misconduct had structured bank withdrawals to hide $3.5 million in hush money payments to his victims.
Republicans seem to have a penchant for not just defending and electing child molesters, but also hiring them.
On July 31, 2025, President Trump stood in the Roosevelt Room announcing the revival of the Presidential Fitness Test for American schoolchildren. Beside him stood Lawrence Taylor, a registered sex offender who pleaded guilty in 2011 to sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute after paying for sex with a trafficked 16-year-old girl. Trump praised him, saying "There's nobody like him," an unintentionally accurate assessment given that Taylor now oversees youth fitness programs despite him not being allowed within 300 feet of a middle school. Taylor himself seemed confused about his appointment, telling the press, "I don't know why, I don't know what we're supposed to be doing, but I'm here to serve."
The visual of a convicted sex offender helping launch a federal program aimed at children crystallized a pattern extending far beyond one tone-deaf appointment. The Justice Department confirmed in May 2025 that Trump was mentioned by name multiple times in the Epstein files. Trump and Epstein were co-defendants in a lawsuit where Katie Johnson alleged they raped her when she was 13 years old at parties in 1994. This adds to the 26 women who have accused Trump of sexual assault and the civil judgment finding him liable for sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll.
The documented cases form an avalanche of evidence preserved in court documents, congressional records, and criminal convictions. Donald "Buz" Lukens of Ohio was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for having sex with a 16-year-old girl. Dan Crane of Illinois was convicted of having sex with a 17-year-old congressional page. Mark Foley of Florida resigned after sending sexually explicit messages to teenage congressional pages. Robert Packwood of Oregon resigned after 29 women came forward with claims of sexual harassment, abuse, and assault, his denials contradicted by his own diaries boasting of sexual conquests.
The state level reveals the pattern's breadth. RJ May, a South Carolina Republican, used the screen name "joebidennnn69" to distribute 220 files of child sexual abuse material involving toddlers. Each of his 10 charges carries 5 to 20 years in prison. He had previously stated on the House floor, "We as legislators have an obligation to ensure that our children have no harm done to them." Justin Eichorn, Minnesota Republican state senator, resigned after being charged with soliciting a minor for prostitution and faces the possibility of life in federal prison. Robert Preston Morris, Trump's former spiritual adviser and Texas megachurch pastor, surrendered to authorities on child sexual abuse charges stemming from allegations that he sexually abused a girl starting when she was 12 years old.
Roy Moore, the Alabama Republican, was accused by nine women of sexual misconduct when they were minors. Leigh Corfman told The Washington Post that Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 14 and he was 32. Jim Jordan of Ohio was accused of knowing about sexual abuse of wrestlers at Ohio State and doing nothing, yet Republicans chose to make him one of their most powerful members in Congress despite what investigators called an "unresolved cloud."
The numbers paint a stark picture: 147 lawmakers in 44 states have been accused of sexual harassment or misconduct since 2017. Between 2000 and 2018, 300,000 minors were legally married in the United States, with 60,000 of those marriages involving age differences that would otherwise constitute sex crimes. The vast majority, 78 percent, were girls married to adult men.
While these documented cases of abuse accumulate, Republican legislators actively block efforts to ban child marriage. As of August 2025, child marriage remains legal in 34 states, and resistance to change comes predominantly from Republicans. Missouri state Representative Dean Van Schoiack opposed banning marriage for 16 and 17-year-olds, calling it "government intrusion in people's lives." When asked what would be lost if minors couldn't get marriage permits, he replied, "Liberties that people currently have." Representatives Ben Baker and Mitch Boggs lead similar opposition efforts.
The argument that child marriage must be preserved to prevent abortion has gained currency among Republicans nationwide. Wyoming Republican lawmakers circulated a letter arguing that preventing children from marriage could discourage teen parents from raising children under one roof. New Hampshire state Representative Jess Edwards questioned whether raising the marriage age restricts "the freedom of marriage as a legitimate social option when we do this to people who are of a ripe fertile age."
Missouri state Senator Holly Thompson Rehder, herself married at 15, fights against her own Republican colleagues to ban child marriage. "I know firsthand. I was married at 15. My sister was married at 16. My cousin was married at 16," Rehder says. "I understand how a teenage girl being married off is harmful to her life." Yet she faces fierce opposition from within her own party. In Missouri alone, approximately 70 minors are entered into marriage every year under current law.
The financial infrastructure of abuse reveals systematic patterns. Dennis Hastert structured bank withdrawals to avoid detection while paying millions in hush money. When caught, he claimed to be the victim of extortion, attempting to frame the person he had molested years earlier. Blake Farenthold used $84,000 in taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment claim. The money trails are documented, traceable, and damning.
When Dennis Hastert faced sentencing for crimes related to serial child molestation, 41 letters of support arrived at the court. Tom DeLay, John T. Doolittle, David Dreier, Thomas W. Ewing, and Porter Goss, who also served as CIA director, all wrote on his behalf. The Chicago Tribune noted that DeLay and Doolittle "have had legal troubles of their own" stemming from corruption scandals, yet they wrote in support of a man who admitted to sexually abusing boys as young as 14.
Institutional protection repeats consistently. When Matt Gaetz faced investigation, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he wouldn't punish Gaetz or strip him of committee assignments unless charges were filed because Gaetz is "innocent until proven guilty," a standard notably not applied to Democrats facing similar allegations. McCarthy then quietly appointed Gaetz to the new GOP subcommittee on the "weaponization of the federal government."
Psychology and neuroscience offer disturbing insights into why this pattern persists. Research shows measurable brain changes in those with power: empathy regions show decreased activity on fMRI scans. Studies document that powerful men overestimate the sexual interest of others by an average of 62 percent. Subjects experience surges of dopamine when feeling powerful, creating what researchers term a "power high.”
The accountability gap persists with cruel consistency. Hastert served 13 months for financial crimes, not for molesting children, because statutes of limitation had expired. Matt Gaetz resigned from Congress just as the House Ethics Committee prepared to release its findings, then faced no criminal charges despite substantial evidence. Lawrence Taylor stands beside the President launching youth programs while maintaining his sex offender registration.
As of this moment in August 2025, RJ May awaits trial on 10 counts of distributing child sexual abuse material. Justin Eichorn faces federal prosecution with potential life imprisonment. Thirty-four states maintain laws allowing child marriage while Republican legislators block reform efforts. Missouri's child marriage ban faces critical votes with Dean Van Schoiack leading the opposition.
The same politicians who invoke protecting children to pass legislation targeting transgender youth or banning books maintain troubling silence about measures that would actually protect minors from documented harms. They argue that preventing child marriage represents government overreach while simultaneously expanding government power over medical decisions and school curricula.
Research shows that transparency and accountability can break these patterns. When subjects in experiments knew their actions would be public, abuse of power decreased by 73 percent. Yet the powerful protect the powerful, creating a system where serial child molesters receive character references from CIA directors and registered sex offenders receive presidential appointments.
The documentation exists in overwhelming detail. Court convictions, guilty pleas, ethics violations, congressional reports, criminal charges filed, and settlements paid create an undeniable record. Public records show a clear pattern: those who claim to protect children while enabling or committing documented abuse against them.
American democracy must find the moral courage to hold power accountable, even when that power wraps itself in the flag and claims divine authority. The children married at 14, 15, and 16 across America today cannot wait for powerful men to develop empathy. The teenage athletes abused by coaches who become congressmen deserve better than statutes of limitations that protect predators.
Judge Durkin said it best when sentencing Hastert: "Nothing is more stunning than having 'serial child molester' and 'speaker of the House' in the same sentence." Yet here we are in 2025, with a registered sex offender announcing youth fitness programs from the White House. The victims deserve nothing less than the truth, and action to match our claimed values.
The documented pattern is clear, the public records undeniable, and the conclusion inescapable: keep Republican politicians away from your children.
If you find this article interesting, check out my book
‘Conservatism: America’s Empathy Disorder”
https://a.co/d/dXdXn5J
Thank you for documenting this. Such a heavy topic and the lack of accountability is sickening.
These stories flow past in a blur when they happen. Seeing them pulled together in one piece is a genuine shock. Thanks! Whatabout dirt would be the only possible GOP "defense." None exists?