Tim Tate on the making of the Franklin Scandal documentary Conspiracy of Silence

Many of you may be aware of the explosive documentary 'Conspiracy of Silence', which was produced by a prestigious British television company in the mid 1990s but was subsequently squashed a few days before it was to air on the Discovery Channel. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it.



The documentary is about a pedophile ring based out of Lincoln, Nebraska that was run out of a boy's orphanage and which pandered underage boys to rich and influential businessmen and politicians - including reputable Republicans. Senator John DeCamp represented a few of the victims of the ring in court and accumulated vast amounts of evidence. At the behest of DeCamp's best friend, former CIA director William Colby, Senator DeCamp wrote and published an account of the best of the evidence, all of which could be proven in a court of law, in a book called 'The Franklin Cover-Up'. William Colby was in a position to know personally about the in-depth aspects of the pedophile ring, since there were even more covert operations associated with it - up to and including sexual blackmail and mind control experiments by the military and intelligence agencies.

Needless to say, a lot of power and effort has gone into covering this story up. The court investigation into all of this itself was manipulated, and to this day people wishing to discredit the conspiracy cite the findings of the jury that the allegations of sexual abuse by the many victims were all "a carefully crafted hoax". You will come to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a much larger conspiracy by reading Senator DeCamp's book 'The Franklin Cover-Up' and/or watching the 'Conspiracy of Silence' documentary (which had to be leaked onto the internet by the director using a rough draft copy, since the master tapes were destroyed).

In late spring of 2013, the director of this documentary, Tim Tate, broke his own silence on what happened with the film which he thought he would win awards for. He published a tell-all account of 'Conspiracy of Silence' on a blog:

Tim Tate on the making of 'Conspiracy of Silence'

The commissioning editor for Discovery was a sharp and highly-focussed woman called Tomi Landis. She met with the team at Yorkshire TV’s Leeds studios in mid-1993: each of us was to pitch her an idea which would be good for the new strand. I pitched Conspiracy of Silence.

I had been alerted to the story by a freelance journalist in Los Angeles who I had met on an independent documentary I had previously made (for Channel 4) about the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. Andy Boehm had done some work on that story and we had struck up a friendship during the Kennedy filming. He had also written about the abuse and prostitution of children in – and from – Boys Town in Nebraska all the way to the steps of the Capitol in Washington DC. One key fact stood out: a young woman, Alisha Owens, had recently been sentenced to a jail terms of between 9 and 27 years for naming her alleged abuser in court. Andy thought it merited further investigation: so did I.

Tomi Landis’ reaction to my pitch was electric and immediate. “it’s got everything – it’s got politics, it’s got pedophilia – it’s just perfect.” The film was commissioned immediately – the only one to be given the green-light in that first meeting.

In the summer of 1993, Andy Boehm (hired as a researcher), YTV director Nick Gray and I arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska. We spent weeks tracking down and talking to all those with knowledge of the story. Lawyer John De Camp was the first and key port of call; abuse victim (also De Camp’s client) Paul Bonacci was vital. But the vital missing piece of the jigsaw was Troy Boner.

We need – for those who don’t know the story – to back track a moment.

Boys Town – situated in the heart of Nebraska, itself the heart of the United States – has been America’s favourite (Catholic) charity since it was immortalised in a Hollywood movie starring Spencer Tracy. The oft-played pop hit “He Ain’t Heavy” owes its title to a statue in the centre of Boys Town: it shows a boy carrying another on his shoulders with the carved legend “He ain’t heavy, Father, he’s m’brother”. It’s not just a home for deprived or at risk youth, but an incorporated town and indeed a diocese in its own right.

In the late 1980s young boys and girls in Boys Town tried to disclose that they were being sexually abused and prostituted by one of Nebraska’s most prominent figures. Larry King was, in fact, the rising black star in the Republic Party nationwide. Ostensibly the manager of a relatively small credit union in Omaha, Nebraska, he was the Republicans’ answer to the (then) perceived Democratic threat of black politicians like Andrew Jackson. King was handed the high-profile slot singing the National Anthem at the Republican National Convention in 1988.

But according to teenagers in Boys Town (where he was a frequent visitor) King was also a sexual predator who abused and pimped them at parties to which they were taken. More troubling still (as if that wasn’t enough) some of these boys and girls had reported being flown to Washington DC and prostituted at parties held in King’s house on the city’s exclusive ‘Embassy Row’. They had claimed that politicians from both parties had been present.

corsair00
Many of you may be aware of the explosive documentary 'Conspiracy of Silence', which was produced by a prestigious British television company in the mid 1990s but was subsequently squashed a few days before it was to air on the Discovery Channel. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it.

A conspiracy to squash the exposure of a conspiracy. I like to think THIS is the reason ATS has been so successful and is able to flourish.

S&F

reply to post by Snarl


Yeah, it's a pretty interesting story. For good reason it doesn't ever go too far. For starters, most people can't really wrap their minds around it - and would rather not try! Also, I think it probably does step on a few toes, if it were ever to go too far. Thankfully only a small amount of people really know about it. Am I itching to scream it from the rooftops? Not necessarily. But I do love me a good conspiracy - and this one takes the cake!

I rember the other year in the uk when the jimmy savile case was exposed, part of the investigation led right up to claims of abuse from people in the prime ministers office, but that was all quietly droped.

reply to post by crazyewok


Wicket, there you are! Crazy ewok...

Yes, the recent UK sex scandals are what reminded me of Tim Tate and 'Conspiracy of Silence'. I actually emailed him in March of 2013 and suggested that it was a propitious time to bring his information out of the woodwork, and potentially to the media. Or just on some random little blog online, which also works...

crazyewok
I rember the other year in the uk when the jimmy savile case was exposed, part of the investigation led right up to claims of abuse from people in the prime ministers office, but that was all quietly droped.

edit on 4-12-2013 by crazyewok because: (no reason given)

I don't know much about the Nebraska case, even though I knew someone who heavily protested it (we never talked about it and I didn't know he was there protesting until many years later). Didn't even know it was centered on Boy's Town. But persistent worldwide allegations of people-in-high-places liking little boys didn't grab the general publics' attention until the Catholic Church scandal (the cover ups of their homegrown monsters), which makes past events like the Nebraska incidents at least interesting enough for them to take another look at. I'll watch the video while my friend (pictured below) readies the popcorn.

Aleister

crazyewok
I rember the other year in the uk when the jimmy savile case was exposed, part of the investigation led right up to claims of abuse from people in the prime ministers office, but that was all quietly droped.

edit on 4-12-2013 by crazyewok because: (no reason given)

I don't know much about the Nebraska case, even though I knew someone who heavily protested it (we never talked about it and I didn't know he was there protesting until many years later). Didn't even know it was centered on Boy's Town. But persistent worldwide allegations of people-in-high-places liking little boys didn't grab the general publics' attention until the Catholic Church scandal (the cover ups of their homegrown monsters), which makes past events like the Nebraska incidents at least interesting enough for them to take another look at. I'll watch the video while my friend (pictured below) readies the popcorn.

edit on 4-12-2013 by Aleister because: (no reason given)

edit on 4-12-2013 by Aleister because: (no reason given)

The Catholic Church at it again!

Jimmy Saville also had close link's to the Catholic Church in Scotland. He also had link's to Glasgow Celtic football club. Celtic Football club covered up Pedophilia in their club when Jim Torbett was jailed for sexually molesting young boys playing for Celtic Boys Club. One of these players was Alan Brazil who went on to play for Man Utd and Scotland.

Anna Smith (Daily Record reporter) fronted an Daily Record investigation team and in 1998 they reported in the newspaper that Jock Stein (Then Celtic manager) and the Celtic board (Mostly The Kelly family) knew of the abuse but decided to cover it up to keep the good name of the club!!! Kevin Kelly (Then Celtic chairman) had close connections with Jim Torbett having been involved in no less than three companies with him. they where close friends. When Torbett was released from prison Kelly resumed relationships with him.

Frank Cairney was another employee at Celtic Boys club and in 1996 the daily Record printed confessions from more ex Celtic Boys clubs players that testified they where also abused by Frank Cairney apparently Celtic director Jack McGinn approached the family's of the molested boys (the fact of abuse had reached them) and pleaded with them to let Celtic deal with the matter. They agreed and the abuse was swept under the carpet.

It's pretty evident that this is scandal that was covered up as much as it could be, Glasgow Celtic have still not been held accountable to this day!


news.bbc.co.uk...
www.heraldscotland.com...
www.dailyrecord.co.uk...
jumboformercelticboys.blogspot.co.uk...

Well, this is undoubtedly a worldwide phenomenon:



Same type of story from the Netherlands.

This only begs a question from my inquisitive mind.

If this is so prevalent in society, particularly for the powerful who can get away with whatever they want, is this not indicative of there being a possibility of homosexual repression at the onset of puberty, and therefore a type of arrested development? I mean, don't get me wrong, I do not condone sex with minors, but we have to start thinking about this differently if we are seeing it crop up in every country since time immemorial. If the victims are teenagers, I am not seeing this as strictly pedophilia either - it is considered hebephilia. And if they were willing, they are not victims. Either way, our society needs to start addressing these issues in a mature way, divorced from the witch hunt conservative mindset.

I think we can all agree that there have been many famous and important artists and authors and philosophers throughout history who have had an attraction to pubescent boys. The powerful and corrupt take advantage of minors, but there are many others who I feel are distinctly victimized by this sexuality and society's negative view of it. Nothing is either black or white either, that is called a "thinking error" - so we need to be clear on what I am saying. Human beings are all vulnerable to sexual desires. And remember one important thing: Not that long ago homosexuality itself was illegal and considered a mental illness. Whatever you repress you become obsessed with...

If that is controversial, you're welcome!

reply to post by corsair00


Makes no difference if some guys are attracted to young boys or young girls. In each country there is a set rule in society that up to a certain age the person is a juvenile, and hitting on them is illegal. As it should be, imnho, owing to the influence older people can have on very young kids whose brain hasn't totally wired up yet. That's why an age on consent is agreed to by each governmental unit of territory. To protect the children which, in this case, is well intentioned concern encoded into laws which I would guess will be kept in place for a long long time.

I've heard of kid love groups who want to lower the age of consent to eight or something, and that looks insane to me. Will it look insane to people in 100 years? I hope so.

reply to post by Aleister


You can look into NAMBLA in the US and if you follow the boy's town far enough, you run into michael aquino and satanism and the presidio in san francisco.

Happy1
reply to post by Aleister

 

You can look into NAMBLA in the US and if you follow the boy's town far enough, you run into michael aquino and satanism and the presidio in san francisco.

I don't think I'll be doing that, for personal reasons. I don't doubt it either. It's just a mindset I don't have and don't want to dive into. Will read this thread though, and watch the video at some point.

and i you look at all the players in all this most are on high salaries and can easy phone a call girl to get what they want if they are not getting enough attention at home .

sad thing is their is as many women on the sex register as men ? i have been told me thinks their is vampires around ??

reply to post by Aleister


Yes, and many countries, including Western ones like Canada, had 14 as the legal age of consent. Even up until several years ago, before the Conservatives took office. And that is the point I am making. The huge majority of the so-called "pedophile" scandals always seem to involve young teenage boys. I am making a distinction here between pedophilia and hebephilia - or actually, homosexuality. It is not popular to challenge the status quo, I understand that, but let's be real here. It is obviously an issue and I think it needs to be addressed by our society, or we will continue to see all sorts of these scandals. Decrease the taboo and the "They are all evil monsters" and you will actually decrease the real evil monsters. Stereotypes and fear mongering and repression only CREATES the monsters. Is that not perfectly obvious?

reply to post by corsair00


Am I understanding you correctly? Are you pro 14 year old boys having non-consensual sex with adult males and that would be ok?

Are you saying raping 14 years is ok?

corsair00
reply to post by Aleister

 

Yes, and many countries, including Western ones like Canada, had 14 as the legal age of consent. Even up until several years ago, before the Conservatives took office. And that is the point I am making. The huge majority of the so-called "pedophile" scandals always seem to involve young teenage boys. I am making a distinction here between pedophilia and hebephilia - or actually, homosexuality. It is not popular to challenge the status quo, I understand that, but let's be real here. It is obviously an issue and I think it needs to be addressed by our society, or we will continue to see all sorts of these scandals. Decrease the taboo and the "They are all evil monsters" and you will actually decrease the real evil monsters. Stereotypes and fear mongering and repression only CREATES the monsters. Is that not perfectly obvious?

No. I guess I draw a line at 50 year old men hitting on 14 year old children. Sure, they've hit puberty, but their brains aren't wired-up yet, and that 50 year old can throw a wrench into the kids entire life. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but, ah, let them grow up first? Ya think?

OK, I'm out of this thread. Enjoy this sideshow, I'm off to find others.

reply to post by Happy1


No, of course you're not understanding me correctly. I never said anything about non-consensual sex or rape. Yes, the 'Conspiracy of Silence' documentary is all about rape and corruption. But read carefully everything I said above and you will find logic and reason in approaching the epidemic of sexual perversions rampant in our society. I am highlighting the fact that the majority of the sex crimes we hear about on the news and in these conspiracy theories etc are always about gay men and young teenage boys. Yes, often there is pedophilia and sex abuse of preteens. But the Catholic priests, the Michael Jacksons, the Lawrence Kings etc etc all seem to be men "hung up" or stuck at the age of puberty. I am calling this arrested development. I am calling this sexual repression caused by decades of homophobia. I am calling this a sickness that has been caused by Christian guilt and shame from pastors and church leaders denouncing homosexuality as a sin and the recent past history of being gay labelled as mental illness and being illegal. It is only in the past decade or so that the issue of homosexuality has itself come out of the closet - and even that is still an issue. I am saying that a small percentage of men who are gay and who do not deal with that issue appropriately in their early years become psychologically fixated on this age of puberty. That's what it is and it is entirely fair and valid for me to point it out. And for your information, reputable forensic psychologists like Dr. Jesse Bering agree with me.

Here is an easy argument. Catholic priests = celibacy. Catholic priests = predominant sexual abuse with altar boys. It's not hard to see that. Teenagers going through puberty have a sexuality. But if a teenager takes a naked picture of him or herself and shares it with a boyfriend or girlfriend, that is called distribution of child pornography. This is insanity. I am saying that our society needs to revamp our understanding and laws associated with adolescent sexuality, so as to allow them to be able to explore it on their own without evolving in a secretive and pathological way - or by being a criminal. I am talking about prevention of sexual perversion. I am not talking about allowing sexual perverts now to have sex with teens. Anyways, by age 16 a person is mature enough and aware enough of their own sexuality to make their own decisions. In some rare cases it could be even younger, as evidenced in the laws of many countries where 14 is legal age of consent.

Child rapers should be executed in a slow, painful, public spectacle.

reply to post by corsair00


I read The Franklin Cover-Up about a year or two ago. Great book, important read.

If interested you can read it for free here on PDF:

www.whale.to...

reply to post by fullmontyspython


Id say make a huge arena filled camera, booby traps and weapons and dump a hundred in at a time and watch then fight it out to the last man, the winner getting to live a life sentance in prison.

Id call it the pedogames

reply to post by crazyewok


That is something we should bring to fruition.
I think we should allow people to participate in a lottery that the winner of is allowed to hunt pedophiles down on an abandoned island with the weapons of his choice.