Police issue paedophile warning over 'Pedobear' internet joke

By Niall Firth for MailOnline
Updated:

Pedobear

Pedobear is a character used to refer to paedophilia

Police in the US have issued a bizarre warning to parents about a ‘paedophile’ cartoon bear that was created by a website as in internet joke.

Pedobear was created on 4chan, a chaotic, largely unregulated network of messageboards which has spawned some of the internet’s most famous virals and jokes.

It is used by some users to mock people in internet chat rooms by suggesting that they are paedophiles or have said something slightly inappropriate about children.

Now police in San Luis Obispo in California appear to have misunderstood the internet trend – or meme -  and have warned parents that the Pedobear is being used by real paedophiles as a ‘mascot’.

In a po-faced newsletter that has made them the laughing stock of the internet, the Sheriff’s department has warned parents that some paedophiles are even dressing as the bear to signal their intentions.

The handout describes the bear's ‘licentious love of little girls’ and warns that the character may be ‘lurking’ at family-friendly events.

It reads: 'The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department is warning parents about a disturbing new phenomenon made popular by pedophiles and sexual deviants.

A man dressed as Pedobear was escorted away from the San Diego Comic Con,

A man dressed as Pedobear was escorted away from the San Diego Comic Con, a move which appears to e have sparked the recent warning

'The Pedo Bear began as an online Japanese cartoon character, and is known for his "lecherous nature" towards prepubescent children.

'Recently, pedophiles have adopted the bear as a mascot.

'Although there have been no reported sightings of the image on the Central Coast, individuals dressed in the bear costume and car decals have been seen in Southern California.‘

The warning appears to be a reference to the fact that a man dressed as Pedobear was escorted away from a recent comic conference in San Diego.

The leaflet goes on to warn that ‘the character’s cute face and non-threatening appearance negate the truth of his sinister, much darker side’.

And it goes on to warn that the sight of the Pedobear character may be an indicator of the presence of individuals who have a predilection to sexually inappropriate, and even assaultive [sic] behaviour’.

After being contacted by website Gawker, the San Luis Obispo police department has claimed that it has always known that Pedobear is just a joke but wanted to warn parents anyway.

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