‘GATEWAY’

South Dakota Pols Want to Outlaw Child-Like Sex Dolls

They say it normalizes pedophilia and child sexual abuse.

Lawmakers in South Dakota plan to introduce a bill that would make it illegal to have or manufacture sex dolls that look like children in the state. The Argus Leader reports that supporters of the measure fear such lifelike dolls could promote pedophilia, although some academics have theorized they could be a harmless outlet for would-be abusers. “The dolls are a gateway,” Carrie Sanderson, director of the Center for Prevention of Child Maltreatment, told the newspaper. “They have potential of eroding the shame that would typically come with having sex with a child.” Only a handful of other states have similar laws on the books. South Dakota’s bill is opposed by a group of defense lawyers who say it is too broad and that there is no victim of the proposed crime.