O'Reilly smears hate crimes bill with false claim that pedophiles could be protected

On the May 5 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that pedophiles could be protected under the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act -- which defines as a crime acts of attempted violence "motivated by prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim."

Specifically, O'Reilly said:

"[Y]ou could make an argument that a pedophile has a disease, and because the disease is there, he's a target or she's a target." O'Reilly later added that pedophiles could be protected by the bill because "[d]isability is included. They have a mental disability." However, pedophilia is not considered a "disability" under current federal law. Indeed, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), specifically excludes pedophilia, thereby precluding protection for pedophiles from the hate crimes bill. Additionally, on May 6, America's Newsroom co-host Megyn Kelly joined other Fox hosts in advancing the false claim that Democrats "vote[d] to protect" pedophiles by voting against an amendment to the hate crimes bill by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) stating that "the term 'sexual orientation' shall not include pedophilia."

Full text here: http://mediamatters.org/research/200905060036