It has emerged that a director once convicted of child molestation in 1988 incorporated jokes about child sex abuse into his new film.

Victor Salva - director of the Jeepers Creepers franchise - was sentenced to three years in prison in 1988 for abusing the 12-year-old child star of his film Clownhouse at the age of 30 as well as filming the molestation and possession of child pornography. He served just 15 months.

It's now emerged that new film Jeepers Creepers 3 originally featured a scene hinting at the sexual abuse between a 13-year-old runaway, played by 21-year-old actress Gabrielle Haugh, and her stepfather through an exchange which sees one character sympathise with her molester.

“Can you blame the step-dad, though?” one character can be heard saying. “I mean, look at her. The heart wants what it wants, am I right?”

Critics have pointed out the disturbing exchange having witnessed the scene in advanced screener copies, however, the scene has been subsequently removed from the public version.



Speaking about his abuse, actor Nathan Forrest Winters said of Salva: “He spent the better part of a year grooming me and my parents. Developing the trust. It was very calculated, and a long process, as it is with most paedophiles.”