INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Elijah Wood Claims That There Is Rampant Child Sex Abuse In Hollywood

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 22:40 PST, May 22, 2016

Elijah Wood, of Lord of the Rings, who is a one time child actor himself, claims that there are about 100 active abusers of children right now in Hollywood, being sheltered by the industry, and he will no longer keep quiet. The casting couch has given way to a network of child sexual abuse that Wood claims is rampant, and has to be stopped. Wood believes he was lucky, because his mother fiercely protected him from these “vipers,” but other children are not so lucky.

According to the Inquisitr, there have been some high profile child pornography and child sexual abuse cases lately, featuring the likes of Jared Fogle, former spokesman for Subway, and under investigation, Mark Salling of Glee. Fogle, has started a nearly twenty year sentence for child pornography and sex with minors, was called a child porn mastermind by his former employee and partner is crime. Elijah Wood believes that these people need to be named to protect children.

The Daily Mail is reporting that Elijah Wood is speaking with the press about his concerns for children currently in the entertainment industry, because there are predators out to harm them. Wood claims that top Hollywood players have been protecting known abusers of children for years, and parents need to be aware that their children are not safe.

Anne Henry, co-founder of Bizparentz, an organization set up to aid parents of child actors, agrees with Wood, and confirms that there are 100 known active abusers in the industry. Child actors, like Corey Feldman, who is now an adult, recalls feeling surrounded by these predators.

Elijah Wood believes that he was lucky to have the protection of his mother when he started acting at age eight.

“I’ve been led down dark paths to realize that these things are probably still happening. If you’re innocent, you have very little knowledge of the world and you want to succeed.”

Wood refers to many of the adults in the industry as parasites and vipers, and Wood believes parents need to be aware of the dangers these people pose.

“People with parasitic interests will see you as their prey. What upsets me about these situations is that the victims can’t speak as loudly as the people in power.”

Elijah Wood gave Jimmy Saville, a British entertainer, as an example of a child predator who abused children for years just under the radar. Wood says that Saville was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, but the depths of his crimes against children were not revealed until after his death, despite years of rumors that were largely ignored by government officials and network heads. Wood believes that this is unacceptable, and these other people were complicit in Saville’s crimes.

Elijah Wood claims that in his opinion, a large percentage of the child actors who go off the rails have been abused as children within the industry.

“This problem has been endemic in Hollywood for a long time and it’s finally coming to light. Very bad people are still working here, protected by their friends.”

The Hollywood Reporter says that Elijah Wood believes that there is a darkness in the entertainment industry that parents of child actors need to see and be able to identify. Wood says he is disgusted that someone like Jimmy Saville, who everyone allegedly whispered about, abuse young boys and girls throughout the years.

“You all grew up with Savile – Jesus, it must have been devastating. There is a darkness in the underbelly – if you can imagine it, it’s probably happened.”

Wood says that if it wasn’t for his mother, he might have ended up like Corey Feldman, who has gone public to say that he was a victim of industry sexual abuse. Wood says that his mother didn’t allow him to attend industry parties where shady things reportedly happened, and helped steer Wood away from the dark side of Hollywood that was not child-friendly.

“She was far more concerned with raising me to be a good human than facilitating my career.”

Wood claims that sadly, the victims of abuse cannot be heard amongst the louder voices of Hollywood power players, and so the abuse continues.

Do you believe that Elijah Wood or anyone else will actually name names in the search for Hollywood child sexual abusers?

[Photo by Evan Agostini/AP Images]

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