Authorities take note of Pedobear

Californian cops think Pedobear is a mascot used by pedophiles to signal their predilections: "Disguised as innocence, this underground community that would make victims of our children teasingly reaches out in to the light of day." [Gawker]

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ill lich

I am reminded of the “Mickey Mouse Acid” scares of the 70′s.
arikol

surely you meant to say “Keystone cops”?
Please
chroma

Look, I know that not everybody who posts a Pedobear image on the net is a pedophile, but on the other hand, I would definitely steer my kids away from a Pedobear cosplayer at Comic-Con handing out free candy.

It’s just good sense.
senorglory

PEDO-bear. A code that could seemingly never be cracked.
Sneakerhead

*Warning* Pedobear sighting: http://pimpmykicks.com/2010/09/08/pedobear-custom-nike-air-force-ones-af1s/
Anonymous

I live in SLO county, and it doesn’t surprise me one bit that they made something out of nothing. They have no real crime here yet seem to keep themselves busy spending unnecessary funds in making up crimes and turning people into criminals who are not so inclined to be such.

Hopefully when November elections come around Joe Cortez is the man we all elect for Sheriff, that way the corruption will end.

If you get a chance to see the upcoming HBO series called Boardwalk something or other, keep in mind it is an eerie similarity to whats going on at the main pier town in SLO county (Pismo Beach), only the names and looks of the characters have been changed to protect the guilty!
Anonymous

Let’s hope that Pedobear and the Mooninites don’t join forces.!
Anonymous

chroma,

sorry but you are doing “good sense” wrong.
Anonymous

California should visit /b/ more often. Old meme is old.
gths

so I guess the plans for a Pedobear theme park in Alamein are off…
- Anonymous
  
  Don’t worry, gths, the SLO PD don’t have juristiction in Egypt.
draconoth

i guess its time to start using pedopus now that there onto pedobear on the plus side pedopus has 8 tentacles to hand out candy with.
Brainspore

At least they were closer to the original intent of the meme than the Boston PD was with that mooninite thing.
Anonymous

recursive meme? An meme used to mock the paranoia about pedophilia becomes the paranoia.
- Anonymous
  
  Brilliant analysis :)
  
  IÂ´m just waiting for Oprah to pick up on it.
  But maybe sheÂ´s still recovering from being raped by over 9000 penisses.
  
  Is there no way for that Pedobear cosplayer to sue that Jim Jones person for slander?
Anonymous

Pedobear is realted to child pornography very much so….I mean thats THE POINT

Go to 4chan…see how it is used.

People like to ignore the fact a lot of child porn is posted on there, and those posts quite often are accompanied by this “meme”.

Ignorance to satisfy a false ideal is wrong.
Anonymous

“Recently, pedophiles have adopted the bear as a mascot.”

haha! recently.
funksg

The SLO police bulletin immediately refers to the PedoBear as “he” after stating that it started as an internet meme. Then they describe “an individual dressed in a PedoBear costume”, who then becomes the ACTUAL PedoBear, who then becomes MULTIPLE PedoBears. It almost seems like they believe in the existence of an amazing bear who has the power to morph into “human” forms and takes a sexual interest in children.
It’s interesting because lunatics who anthropomorphize and then believe in abstract concepts usually seem to have an unhealthy adoration of their creations, like Santa Claus or God. I have a feeling this aversion towards PedoBear could turn into *love* if it started bringing them presents or granting wishes. Which I hope it does.
Grey Devil

Way to fail there California law enforcement.
DWittSF

I hope they put out an APB for that Sammy Johns creep, too. He’s been abducting young girls in his Chevy Van since 1973.
DylanMorgan

People! Check knowyourmeme before saying dumb shit! Trust me!
Bliss

Cop: “This is called a roach. Addicts call it so because… it kind of looks like a roach..”

Fear and loathing in las Vegas (sorry, quoted from memory)
Anonymous

If The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department had been bothered to look up the Pedobear entry in Wikipedia, they would have seen that it says:

“The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff erroneously warned parents that the image had been adopted by pedophiles and sexual deviants.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedobear
(Just above ‘references’).
Anonymous

Pedobear Hats
http://www.catchkuma.com/products/kuma-pedobear-plush-hat
gobo

Dang, they learned my secret code! Darn those sheriffs. I’d better hide my candy and park the ol’ rape van in the garage until I can peel off the Pedobear stickers.
Anonymous

Scary when people with guns believe fictional things are real without any evidence at all.

Still feel safe?
TooGoodToCheck

wow. The best part of that article is the update – the LAPD know it’s a joke, and they still don’t get it.

I mean, how dumb would people have to be to self declare as being among the most vilified criminals on the planet? Does the LAPD really think anyone is that dumb?

Wait, wait, I just figured it out: the LAPD doesn’t engage in racial profiling – they just thought that criminals were color coding themselves.
- adamnvillani
  
  SLO County Sheriff’s Department. Not the LAPD. Different agencies. They’re almost 200 miles apart.
  - TooGoodToCheck
    
    well crap. My error there.
- billster
  
  No criminals color-code themselves in LA. That would be crazy! < >
Hagrid

This story just got more interesting.
A Fox news affiliate in Tulsa, OK (KOKI-TV, Fox23.com) is reporting that the individual dressed as Pedobear at the San Diego Comic Con was a “registered sex offender.” If this information is valid, then it is evidence that pedophiles have indeed started using the mascot. Is this true or not? Can anyone verify this info? http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Pedobear-The-New-Pedophile/jcdOrr1dzU2Pbv12JE4qZw.cspx
I just spoke to the reporter at Fox 23, Abbie Alford, and she said the info came from the Tulsa Police Department. I have called and left a message with the police department, but have not had my call returned yet.
- Hagrid
  
  The text has been removed from the article(I have a before screenshot), but here’s the video, allegation still in place:
  http://www.fox23.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?articleID=48625
girl mark

That kinda doesn’t sound like police language in that flyer.

?????
CfM

/r/ing pics of Pedobear running/hiding from the cops
Kerov

If you read the links to the material provided by the SLO Sheriff, the lovingly crafted 2-page PedoBear alert (1, 2) originated from an outfit called the “Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement / San Diego Task Force.”

So, this is not just a case of one rural county sheriff unironically putting out an APB for an Internet meme. The San Diego “SAFE” task force presumably sent this dire warning out to many California police departments.
BrotherPower

Ha. There’s been a big, well-executed stencil of pedobear on the door of a building at Valley Park in Hermosa Beach for (I think) going on a couple of years now. It almost looks like it belongs there, being so friendly and smiley and all. I keep waiting for the local authorities to get wise to it. It’ll make the papers then, I’m sure of it.
Anonymous

They woulda caught that Pedobear fellah but they were too busy chasing after the strangely talking cats that haz stollen cheezburgerz.
- mdh
  
  I see what you did there.
adonai

Awesome start to a Monday!
PJG

The flyer claims that once the person dressed as Pedobear at Comic Con was identified he was excluded from the family friendly event. Seriously? Does anyone know any more about whether this actually happened?
- JasonsRobot
  
  Yay! Get people informed to, scared of, and on the lookout for a situation which doesn’t exist!! How very Fox News-y or them.
  
  (and since when has the SD ComiCon been ‘family friendly’? It’s one of the most openly ‘R rated’, hetero-pervy, homo-erotic, fetishist events around… AND WE LOVE IT THAT WAY)
Anonymous

Those cops might have been abused a lot when they were kids. Hell, if they want to go after cartoon pedos, then go after Herbert or Peter Griffin for trying to comfort Connie DiMico in that one episode of Family Guy.

I posted a photo response to this. You can take a look at:
http://www.mangatherapy.com/post/1132280088/rant-on-pedobear-news

Calling Pedobear the official mascot of pedos is like calling Hamburgular the official mascot of thieves.
Halloween Jack

The true origins of Pedobear.
- Mr. Sleepy
  
  Interesting. Now we all know that the gay “pedal” bear is an American creation made to scare children whereas the chinese version was originally created just as a joke for for talk forums.
  
  Whoever created the Homosexual version must assume that all *”bears” (*slang jargon for big, hairy gay men) == perversion. This is simply incorrect and offensive to me. Yes, the image of the pedal-bear is “cute” but that is part of the sick joke: Children may be enticed and therefore conditioned to believe that all “bears” are dangerous, untrustworthy or out to get them. Shame, shame.
TEKNA2007

Once identified, the young man and his custome were excluded from the family friendly event.

Slave Leia was outraged! All 47 of her.

Fear the image of PedoBear!
Sork

This is the same thing as when police found out all burglars wore black eye masks and striped sweater, and all flashers wore long trench coats. It will just make the pedophiles harder to detect. Now let’s see if they also find out that all corporate criminals wear suits.
- Mr. Sleepy
  
  Don’t knock the trenchcoats , pal. They get the job done.
Anonymous

PEDOBEAR IS REAL. LOCK UP YOUR CHILDREN AND BE VIGILANT.
Anonymous

for G-d’s sake no one tell the poor police about predobear, they’ll soil themselves, then declare a state of emergency.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/dinoi/predo-bear-dj0
dolo54

I see a lot of kids with pedobear stickers on their beater hondas and what not here in socal. they can’t possibly believe that all those kids are pedophiles, can they? lol
Manga Therapy

I did a psychological analysis on the Internet’s favorite child-chasing bear. You can read it at: http://www.mangatherapy.com/post/1167215508/pedobear-psychology

I don’t think it will ever go away. As long as there is wackiness in the world, then Pedobear will be there to take part in it.
Anonymous

internet. serious business!
nemryn

I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure what the actual deal is with Pedobear, myself. It’s a bear that’s a pedophile, right?
EH

Signing in again…

It doesn’t matter whether law enforcement is being stupid and n00blar about pedobear, they’ll still use it to get stupid warrants and ruin peoples’ lives. You can count on that.
the philosopher

darn. i guess i will have to get rid of my pedobear poster! and he was really cute! but this poses a treat to pedophiles out there? if kids now know about the candy trick, and now this cute bear symbol, what will they use now? good ‘ole violence is my guess
Anonymous

Oh jesus christ, the ends peoples paranoia will drive them too.
Pedo bear is a mockery of pedophiles, its not used by actual pedophiles to signal anything, anyone who thinks that kind of crap hasn’t been on the internet for very long.
I’ll laugh my ass off when they freak out that it pops up on tons of childrens websites because everyone posts it like crazy. haha.
- glaborous immolate
  
  “Pedo bear is a mockery of pedophiles,”
  
  Not sure. Sometimes it seems its a mockery of the idea of pedophilia. Treating something serious as fodder for joking around.
  
  I think it shows a general coarsening of our world. Which is to be expected from things originating on 4chan
sapere_aude

In related news, police are now warning about a disturbing new trend known as “Face Palming”. Authorities believe that the “Face Palm” gesture may be a covert signal of some sort, similar to a gang sign. Originally it was suspected that the “Face Palm” gesture was associated with drug culture, as a means for drug users and dealers to identify each other. However, given the noticeable increase in “Face Palm” activity after the “Pedo Bear” story first broke, it is now believed that the gesture is also being used by child molesters as a means of warning their fellow pedophiles that they are in danger of being discovered. If you see anyone making the “Face Palm” gesture, especially after hearing the report about the “Pedo Bear”, you should immediately report it to your local police department or sheriff’s office, or to the child abuse hotline.
Anonymous

i dont buy it… pics in hex can be tracked… child porn (though vile) is easy fodor for big bro and the theft of intellectual property..

may I suggest mesh networking with user-run proxies?
Anonymous

At dolo54 #21

“they can’t possibly believe that all those kids are pedophiles”

Those same cops are thinking that these kids are sexting over their Mobile phones.
In the eyes of the law those kids are not only pedophiles they are producing CP for the purpose of distribution. Even if the photos are taken by themselves. Kids have landed in jail over this particular view in recent years.

So yes I can believe it.
Anonymous

Looks like he did get kicked out of the Pokemon booth and the day care center at Comic Con. The folks at the day care center were nice about it “No costumers, sorry”, but the Pokemon guy was a dick.
UncaScrooge

There’s only one way to deal with this news: Watch the pedophilia episode of Brass Eye on the YouTube once more.
Xopher

You know why you’re not safe in America? Because our police departments are led by bloody fucking idiots like these ones.

And EH is right. Every twenty years a new hysteria. In the 80s it was “satanic cult abuse,” which never happened, but did its victims get their records expunged? No, because that would be admitting that the prosecutors did something wrong. Which they did, but they have to be protected from the consequences of their actions, of course.

*fume*
proletariat

Santa Barbara NBC affiliate KSBY has picked up the story.
Hagrid

Here’s the completed story on Wikinews:
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Tulsa_media_erroneously_reports_San_Diego_Comic_Con_Pedobear_was_'registered_sex_offender‘
Anonymous

from the free ice cream people at burningman this year:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janet/4972205722/
2k

Dear God!
It’s Paedogeddon!!1!
- UncaScrooge
  
  Thanks, 2K!!
  - 2k
    
    are Your children safe?
    Mine ARE!
Anonymous

Lurk more!

…no, wait.
PTBartman

Well I heard that Pedobear was being used to raise money to build a Falafel stand a block and a half from ground zero and when they build it they’re going to put Obama’s birth certificate in the cornerstone so nobody can find it.
Hagrid

OK, Fox23.com has issued a text retraction ( http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Pedobear-The-New-Pedophile/jcdOrr1dzU2Pbv12JE4qZw.cspx ), saying that the Tulsa police made a mistake in identifying the man in the Pedobear costume at San Diego Comic Con as being a “registered sex offender.” However, the video making the allegation is still on the site, unedited ( http://www.fox23.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?articleID=48625 ).

This morning, Tulsa Police Sgt. James Adams called me, to let me know that, yes, it was a mistake, and it was his fault, not the news channel.

Now working on a story about this.