Yale Newspaper Forced To Apologize for Running Personal Ad from Incarcerated Pedophile
Yale University’s student-run newspaper, the Yale Daily News, apologized on Monday for running an advertisement placed by a registered sex offender.
According to an editor’s note published on the paper’s website, the ad had run in its print edition the same day.
The ad read, “Pen Pal wanted, incarcerated, treated as subhuman, remind me I’m human, write.”
The man who placed the ad was committed to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program in 1998, according to the paper’s note.
A file from the Dakota County District Court revealed that he had been declared a “Sexually Dangerous Person” under state law, the paper reported.
That designation followed what the paper called “multiple sex abuse incidents against child victims.”
The paper further reported that “he was denied release in part because he refused to participate in sex-offender treatment, regularly threatened and assaulted MSOP staff, and presented a high risk of reoffending. “
The editor’s note included both an explanation and an apology for the apparent oversight.
“We want to provide a fuller picture for anyone who saw the print advertisement,” the note read.
“We also want to apologize for not looking more deeply into the context of the advertisement, and failing to conduct a more thorough investigation of the advertisement’s source.”
The note ended with a brief description of “new steps” the paper is taking in the wake of the snafu.
“We have since implemented new steps to strengthen our ad vetting and research processes.”
According to the paper’s website, the Yale Daily News is the oldest college daily newspaper in the country.
It was founded in 1878.
The paper is staffed by undergraduate students at the university who work on a volunteer basis.
The Western Journal has reached out to the Yale Daily News for comment but has not yet received a response. We will update this article if and when we do.
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