Child predators and the DEATH penalty: Robby Starbuck’s mission to STOP the war on children



Child predators are every parent's nightmare. Director and creator of “The War on Children,” Robby Starbuck, knows this all too well.

He also knows that the number of child predators is growing.

“We just had an operation here in Tennessee that was announced this morning,” Starbuck tells James Poulos of “Zero Hour.” “In this operation, they were able to come up with over a quarter million images of child sexual abuse. That’s stunning. In one operation, in one state.”

“They expect that number to grow,” he adds.

While most Americans can agree that child predators deserve harsh sentences, Starbuck wants to take it a step further, telling Poulos that there’s no incentive for these possessed individuals not to hurt children.

“The incentives not to do that, what are they exactly?” he asks. “One hundred years ago, if a man was caught raping a child, he wouldn’t be alive much longer. And that’s why, you know, we spearheaded here in Tennessee, a law change. And it was a law change made to ensure that we challenge bad precedent at the Supreme Court. And that was to give the death penalty to child rapists.”

While predators currently do not get the death penalty for raping a child, Starbuck believes that might be about to change.

“I believe the Supreme Court of today has a makeup where they’re going to do the sensible thing and affirm that you can in fact punish a heinous criminal like this with death instead of paying to keep them alive to the tune of millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars,” he tells Poulos.

“No society can survive if their incentives are all wrong,” he adds.

Starbuck isn’t alone in his assessment of where we’re at as a society and where we'll remain if we don't make a change. Poulos has also recognized the darkness.

“In some ways, it’s become a weirder and darker place, this country, than it has been in a long time,” he says.


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‘Quiet On Set’ Exposes How Pornography Inspired Abuse Of Nickelodeon Child Actors

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-17-at-2.33.16 PM-1200x675.png crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-17-at-2.33.16%5Cu202fPM-1200x675.png%22%7D" expand=1]The docuseries reveals a dark underbelly of abuse, grooming, pornography, and sexual assault in popular kids' TV shows of the '90s and 2000s.
'It was wrong': Former Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider apologizes for on-set behavior following new scathing docuseries

'It was wrong': Former Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider apologizes for on-set behavior following new scathing docuseries



Former Nickelodeon writer and producer Dan Schneider conducted an interview during which he apologized for inappropriate jokes and behavior while working for the kid-centric network.

Schneider, who has long been accused of wrongdoing while writing "All That" and "The Amanda Show" starring actress Amanda Bynes, was of particular focus in the new documentary series "Quiet on Set."

The series focused on misconduct and mistreatment of children who acted on Nickelodeon shows. While multiple Nickelodeon employees were revealed in the show to have been charged with sex crimes related to children, Schneider's alleged crimes only amounted to workplace harassment and gender discrimination.

Former female writers accused Schneider of paying them less than men and asking them for massages. The producer responded to these allegations in an interview with former Nickelodeon actor Boogie, who was on the show "iCarly," a kid sitcom created by Schneider.

"It was wrong," Schneider said about the massages. "It was wrong that I ever put anybody in that position. It was the wrong thing to do. I’d never do it today. I'm embarrassed that I did it then. I apologize to anybody that I ever put in that situation. Additionally, I apologize to the people who were walking around video village, or wherever they happened, because there were lots of people there who witnessed it who also may have felt uncomfortable, so I owe them an apology as well."

As for the writers' salaries, two female staff members claimed they were forced to split a salary, with one saying her job was threatened when she complained to her union.

Schneider said he had "nothing to do with paying writers."

"I've never made a writer's deal, and of all the writers I've been in a writers' room with, I never even knew how much most of them were getting paid," he added.

Schneider also responded to allegations that jokes he put into his shows were too inappropriate for a children's program.

"All these jokes that you're speaking of that the show covered over the past two nights — every one of those jokes was written for a kid audience, because kids thought they were funny," Schneider explained. He also suggested cutting out scenes if people thought they were inappropriate.

"Now, we have some adults looking back at them 20 years later through their lens, and they're looking at them, and they’re saying, 'You know, I don’t think that's appropriate for a kids show.' I have no problem with that. If that's how anyone feels, let's cut those jokes out of the show, just like I would have done 20 years ago."

One scene that has been widely criticized on the internet starred popular actress and singer Ariana Grande. The scene from the show "Victorious" included the actress sucking on her own toe, attempting to "juice a potato," sticking a finger in her mouth, and pouring water on her face while she was upside down.

Grande was just 16 years old at the time, according to the Independent. Schneider did not directly address this scene.

Strangely, the day before Schneider's interview was released, one of his representatives spoke to Variety and took a different approach to the controversy.

"Everything that happened on the shows Dan ran was carefully scrutinized by dozens of involved adults, and approved by the network. If there was an actual problem with the scenes that some people, now years later are 'sexualizing,' they would be taken down, but they are not, they are aired constantly all over the world today still, enjoyed by both kids and parents," the unnamed person stated.

"Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" is available on HBO Max.

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Former Nickelodeon star Jenette McCurdy says children's cable network offered $300,000 in 'hush money' not to reveal offers of unwanted massages and underage alcohol



Former Nickelodeon star Jennette McCurdy claimed that the children's cable TV network offered her $300,000 in "hush money" so that she would not go public with damning accusations.

McCurdy was a Nickelodeon standout actress from 2007 until 2014 – when she was the star of the massively successful "iCarly" TV show and then "Sam & Cat." During that time, McCurdy said that she was the victim of an alleged abuser that she only refers to as "The Creator."

McCurdy asserted that "The Creator" pressured her to drink alcohol when she was only 18 years old.

In her upcoming memoir, McCurdy wrote that "The Creator" was "mean-spirited, controlling, and terrifying" and prone to make "grown men and women cry with his insults and degradation," according to Deadline.

McCurdy accused "The Creator" of giving unsolicited and inappropriate shoulder massages.

"My shoulders do have a lot of knots in them, but I don’t want The Creator to be the one rubbing them out," she wrote. "I want to say something, to tell him to stop, but I’m so scared of offending him."

She also claimed that she was "photographed in a bikini during a wardrobe fitting."

The childhood actress accused Nickelodeon of offering her $300,000 in "hush money."

When "Sam & Cat" was canceled, her agent informed her that Nickelodeon was "offering [her] $300,000, which she should "think of it like a thank-you gift."

She said one of her managers told her, "They're giving you $300,000 and the only thing they want you to do is never talk publicly about your experience at Nickelodeon."

McCurdy claimed that the "hush money" was "specifically related to The Creator."

The actress who played the character Sam Puckett on "iCarly" rejected the offer despite her team contending that it was "free money." McCurdy fired back, "No it's not. This isn’t free money. This feels to me like hush money…I’m not taking hush money."

"What the f**k? Nickelodeon is offering me $300,000 in hush money to not talk publicly about my experience on the show? My personal experience of The Creator’s abuse? This is a network with shows made for children,” McCurdy stated in her book. "Shouldn’t they have some sort of moral compass? Shouldn’t they at least try to report to some sort of ethical standard?"

"I lean back against the headboard of my bed and cross my legs out in front of me," she added. "I extend my arms behind my head and rest them there in a gesture of pride. Who else would have the moral strength? I just turned down $300,000."

Dan Schneider was the award-winning producer of "iCarly" and "Sam & Cat."

After 20 years, Nickelodeon and Schneider parted ways in 2018 despite him producing some of Nickelodeon's most beloved TV shows.

Deadline reported last year, "At the time, Nickelodeon was the highest-rated network on basic cable, and Schneider was the most successful producer in children’s television, with a resume that included the creation and production of such hit shows as 'iCarly,' 'Drake & Josh,' 'Victorious,' 'Kenan & Kel,' and 'Henry Danger.'"

The New York Times interviewed Schneider in 2021, and asked him about allegations that he sexualized child actors.

Schneider denied ever sexualizing child actors and called the accusations "ridiculous."

"The comedy was totally innocent," Schneider told the New York Times.

"I couldn’t, and I wouldn’t have the long-term friendships and continued loyalty from so many reputable people if I’d mistreated my actors of any age, especially minors," Schneider told the newspaper.

An investigation of workplace abuse allegations against Schneider by Nickelodeon's parent company, ViacomCBS, found that there was never any sexual misconduct.

In her new book, McCurdy also claimed that she was exploited – including by her own mother.

"My whole childhood and adolescence were very exploited," McCurdy told the New York Times. "There were cases where people had the best intentions and maybe didn’t know what they were doing. And also cases where they did — they knew exactly what they were doing."

McCurdy, 30, said that her mother "failed to protect her" when she was a child.

When McCurdy informed her mother that she was being exploited, Debra McCurdy allegedly replied that this "was the price of showbiz success."

"Everyone wants what you have," the mother allegedly told her daughter.

The Nickelodeon star had a tumultuous relationship with her mother. McCurdy's book is titled "I’m Glad My Mom Died."

Debra McCurdy died of breast cancer on Sept. 20, 2013.