“In the last 18 years I have helped play a role in juvenile justice reform, the toughening of our drunken driving laws, the creation of Virginia’s state of the art sex offender registry, instituting mandatory minimums for violent sex offenders, and many other positive reforms to strengthen our laws and take criminals off our streets.”

-Bob McDonnell July 23, 2009

Sounds pretty good. Much better than the Bob McDonnell who, in 1989, wanted a “government withdraw[al] from family intervention” and a “comprehensive scheme for transfer of family support functions from the public to private sector. Things like “child and elderly care, poverty, pornography, child abuse, and marriage support“*

So, which Bob McDonnell has occupied Richmond for the past two decades? When McDonnell wrote those words in 1989 he attended a university started by a far-right evangelist, Pat Robertson. A university whose law school dean, Herbert W. Titus, thought that women and men shouldn’t be equal, citing biblical scripture.

I’m pretty sure that when conservatives say “strict constructionist” they mean the Constitution, not Corinthians. But Bob McDonnell isn’t conservative, he’s a religious fundamentalist. Hence the nickname: Taliban Bob.

When Del. McDonnell was Chairman of the House Courts Committee, clergy didn’t have to report obvious sexual abuse. Bob McDonnell gave members of the clergy a legitimate reason to own and observe child pornography.

There are 3 instances that Chairman McDonnell either killed or voted against bills that would have added clergy to the list of people who have to report obvious child sexual abuse, along with teachers and social workers.

HB 1740, 2003,  comm. vote Jan. 31, 2003

SB 1011, 2003, comm. vote Feb. 17, 2003

SB 314, 2004, comm. vote Mar. 30, 2004

As chairman, Bob McDonnell (who’s Roman Catholic btw, you’d think he’d be more sensitive to these issues?) had jurisdiction over state child porn law between 2003 and 2005, but didn’t introduce an amendment to close a loophole allowing clergy to possess and view child porn.

Also as Chairman of the House Courts Committee, McDonnell introduced, sponsored, and passed a bill that re-authorized that loophole, found in Code of Virginia § 18.2-374.1:1**. Chairman McDonnell voted to report it out of committee, to the full House of Delegates:

HB 1058 (Chief Patron: Bob McDonnell), 2004, comm. vote Feb. 2, 2004

As a member, and eventually Chairman, of the House Courts Committee, Bob McDonnell voted on 12 other bills that re-authorized clergy to possess and view child pornography in Virginia, without ever amending clergy out of the list of authorized people.

SB 290, 1994, comm. vote March 3, 1994

HB 1481, 1999, comm. vote to report w/ amendments Feb. 3, 1999

HB 1580, 1999, comm. vote of no action/incorp., Feb. 3, 1999

HB 1620, 1999, comm. vote of no action/incorp., Feb. 3, 1999

HB 1731, 1999, comm. vote of no action/incorp., Feb. 3, 1999

HB 1757, 1999, comm. vote of no action/incorp., Feb. 3, 1999

HB 1760, 1999, comm. vote to report with substitute, Feb. 3, 1999

HB 1780, 1999, comm. vote of no action/incorp., Feb. 3, 1999

HB 2807, 2001, comm. vote to pass by indefinitely, Feb. 4, 2001

SB 1153, 2003, comm. vote to report, Feb. 5, 2003

HB 2190, 2003, comm. vote to incorp., Jan. 20, 2003

HB 2457, 2003, committee vote to report, Jan. 20, 2003

The clergy loophole was finally removed*** after Bob McDonnell resigned as Chairman of the House Courts Committee…. to become Attorney General.

Speaking of the devil… now that we’ve discussed Delegate Bob McDonnell’s record of protecting perverts in the name of God, Part 2 of Bob McDonnell: A Sexual Predator’s Dream Candidate will dissect Attorney General Bob McDonnell’s record of doing the same.

* The Republican Party’s Vision for the Family: The Compelling Issue of the Decade, by Robert F. McDonnell (p.63)

** The wording of this clergy exception was removed from this section of state law in 2007, the original can be found here: U.S. Secret Service Forward Edge compilation of Virginia computer crime laws (p.11)

*** 2007 Virginia Acts, Chapter 759 (p. 5) and 2007 Virginia Acts, Chapter 823 (p. 5)