Man attends local events
ZOE FRALEY
A Web site that is a virtual how-to for pedophiles and includes places to see young children in Whatcom County is back up after being shut down for more than a month.
Jack McClellan, 45, the Snohomish County resident and selfproclaimed pedophile behind the “Seattle Tacoma Everett Girl Love” Web site, relaunched it more than a week ago.
“I was kind of lying low for a few weeks, mulling things over,” McClellan said by phone. “I don’t know, it’s just kind of a free speech issue with me. I don’t feel like I should be censored if I’m out in the community doing legal things. I don’t see anything on (the site) where I’m encouraging anyone to do anything illegal. (The site) is going to be tamed down quite a bit.”
The site still features regional events McClellan has visited, reviewed and rated based on the presence of adolescent girls, whom McClellan refers to as “LGs.” Among the latest events: Holland Days in Lynden, the Procession of the Species in downtown Bellingham and Dirty Dan Days in Fairhaven.
After seeing Holland Days reviewed on McClellan’s site, Gary Vis, executive director of Lynden’s Chamber of Commerce, said he will be working with police to ensure the safety of children at local events.
“See, I have one of those ‘LGs’ in the Dutch performance (at
Holland Days); I have two of them,” said Vis, who has four children, three of whom are young girls. “He’s very fortunate that I have a good relationship with the law enforcement in our community because quite honestly, I have a seething anger that will be channeled appropriately.”
McClellan’s previous Web site was taken down March 28 after people complained to his Virginia-based Internet service provider, Network Solutions. His use of a false name for registration and his questionable content caused Network Solutions to suspend his site.
He has registered his new domain name, stegl.info, and found a new Internet service provider based outside of the U.S.
McClellan said he is confident that this time his site won’t get pulled.
“I don’t think I’ll have any problems with that; there’s some other pedophile sites on there,” he said. “My Web host is Epifora, which is kind of this notorious host; all they do is pedophiles.”
A representative at Montrealbased Epifora declined to comment.
Though McClellan no longer posts pictures of young girls on the site, he still compiles information and links to local calendars for child-friendly events throughout Western Washington.
“I’m not going to be zooming in on kids anymore; I kind of learned my lesson with that,” he said. “I’m sure it will still be controversial. I don’t think it will be nearly as controversial as it was.”
McClellan began attending family events again April 21. He said he understands that might make some parents nervous, but he believes he has a right to pursue his interests within the law. He does not see himself as a threat to children.
“I get kind of a high being around children, especially female children of course, and that satisfies me,” McClellan said. “It’s quite a high, a natural high and a rush. I go to several of these things every weekend; it’s the main thing in my life. I don’t have any children.”
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office does not have an active investigation of McClellan, but they are monitoring the situation, spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said. Bellingham police officers are also keeping an eye out for McClellan, especially at the upcoming Ski to Sea events. McClellan said he has attended the Ski to Sea carnival at Bellis Fair, though he would not say what his plans are for this year.
Because he hasn’t been arrested, police have not released a photo or description of Mc- Clellan.
“We try to think of events where kids or families might gather so we’ll be on the lookout for him,” said Bellingham Police Lt. Flo Simon. “If he shows up this weekend we’ll be looking at him and seeing if he has a camera and is taking pictures. I think he knows that here in Bellingham people don’t take kindly to his Web site.”
