TMZ is reporting that GQ magazine’s recent “racy” photographs of some of the performers from the television show “Glee” has drawn the ire of a group called the Parents Television Council. They have made the provocative claim that the images border on pedophilia:

The Parents Television Council has released a statement thrashing producers for allowing Dianna Agron, Cory Monteith and Lea Michele to participate in a “hyper-sexualized” photo shoot for the November issue of GQ — despite the fact that both actresses are 24 years old and Corey is 28.

The PTC declares, “It is disturbing that GQ, which is explicitly written for adult men, is sexualizing the actresses who play high school-aged characters on ‘Glee’ in this way. It borders on pedophilia.”

Here is one of the images:

A couple of women trying to look hot, and one guy who just looks like a doofus. Eh. I guess I don’t have a dirty enough mind. It didn’t occur to me that this might border on pedophilia. As TMZ points out, the actors are all in their mid to late 20s. The Parents Television Council is clearly a bunch of crackpots.

But then again, the crackpots might have a point, at least legally. After all, in Idaho, a man is facing serious jail time for having “Simpsons porn” on his computer.

BOISE, Idaho – A former middle school teacher in Meridian has pleaded guilty to possession of visual representations of child sex abuse.

The U.S. Attorney’s office said Steven Kutzner, 33, had downloaded more than 70 animated cartoon pornographic images on his computer. Many of them depicted child characters from The Simpsons.

Kutzner was a former middle school teacher at Lake Hazel Middle School in Meridian. He resigned immediately after the search warrant was served at his home.

Kutzner will be sentenced Jan. 5, 2011. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

And in Australia, a man had to register as a sex offender for having “pornographic” images of cartoon characters on his computer:

An Australian man has admitted to having pornographic images of cartoon characters, including those from The Simpsons and The Powerpuffs Girls, and now must register as a sex offender, reported The Queensland Times .

28-year-old Kurt James Milner of North South Wales, Australia, will have to report to police after pleading guilty to possessing the images.

So my question is, If cartoon characters can be granted protection against pornographic exploitation, why can’t fictional, live-action characters get the same protection — even if those characters are portrayed by actors in their 20s?

Maybe the Parents Television Council is right. Maybe GQ’s “Glee” pictorial does border on pedophilia. Let’s protect all children from exploitation! Even the fake ones!

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Ricky Sprague

Ricky Sprague occasionally writes and/or draws things. He sometimes animates things. He has a Twitter account and he has a blog. He scripted this graphic novel about Kolchak The Night Stalker. He is really, really good at putting links in bios.

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