Professor behind Ontario's pro-gay sex education curriculum to plead guilty to child porn charges

Sometimes poor Walt just can't get a day off. I should know better than to see what's giving on the mojo wire, but it's good I did so today, otherwise I might have missed an item about University of Toronto Professor Benjamin Levin, the self-satisfied pervert pictured here.

I'd almost forgotten about Prof. Levin. He was last mentioned in this space eighteen months ago, after being charged with accessing child pornography, possessing child pornography, making child pornography, distributing child pornography, counselling to commit an indictable offence and agreeing to or arranging for a sexual offence against a child under 16. That's seven (count `em, 7) charges in all.

It wouldn't have been a big deal -- there are lots of paedophiles and kiddie porn lovers out there -- except for the fact that Prof. Levin once held the post of Deputy Minister of Education minister in Ontario's Liberal government, and was one of the chief architects of Ontario's proposed "modernized and improved" (read: pro-LGBT) sex education curriculum. See "Are perverts pushing Ontario's sex education curriculum? Could be!"

Following cries of outrage from old-fashioned (read: straight) parents, the new curriculum was quietly withdrawn "for further study", even before Prof. Levin embarrassed proud lesbian Kathleen Wynne, then the Minister of Education and latterly Premier of Ontario, by getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar... so to speak.

Prof. Levin denied the charges and was freed on bail, to be further dealt with according to the law at some time in the future... as far as possible into the future. He was relieved of his duties at the aptly-named Queen's Park, and dropped out of sight.

Fast forward to last November. Prof. Levin, still free on bail, has every reason to look pleased with himself when, following the surprising re-election of her very liberal government, Premier Wynne announces that the not-so-new sex education curriculum will be reintroduced. See "Pro-LGBT sex ed coming back to Ontario schools".

Vindication at last for Prof. Levin and the forces of progress, tolerance and so on. Unfortunately, his friends at the Pink Palace were unable to arrange for the charges against him to be dropped, and a trial date was set for March.

What to do? Today -- while Ontarians slumber through a wintry weekend -- Prof. Levin's lawyer announced (quietly) that his client plans to plead guilty to some of the child pornography-related charges against him, while others will be withdrawn. Which charges are which was not specified.

It is passing strange, Agent 3 tells me, for a guilty plea to be announced two months before the court date. And, he adds, it's also unusual for defence counsel to announce the withdrawal of charges. That would normally be for the Crown to do.

But Prof. Levin is not a normal person -- take that any way you like -- and the possibility of further embarrassment to Premier Wynne and the gay cause obviously cannot be countenanced. That's how things are in Canada's most progressive province.