Did joe biden pardon a child molesters?
Executive summary
President Biden did not issue a blanket pardon for “child molesters,” but his administration’s large end‑of‑term clemency actions — including pardons, commutations and mass commutations of non‑violent drug sentences — prompted headlines and criticism that some people convicted of sexual offenses or child‑related crimes had their punishments reduced or were affected by commutations announced in December 2024 and January 2025 [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and official lists show he pardoned 39 people in one December action and later commuted thousands of sentences, and critics and some opinion pieces have singled out individual cases as evidence of controversial choices [1] [3] [4].
1. What the government records say: large numbers, many non‑violent cases
The Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney’s public lists record dozens of individual pardons and many commutations issued during Biden’s presidency, including a December 12, 2024 action that pardoned 39 people and commutations of roughly 1,499 sentences that day, and later commutations affecting nearly 2,500 non‑violent drug offenders in January 2025 [5] [2] [3]. Those DOJ lists and administration announcements are the primary sources for who received clemency [5] [2].
2. The specific claim: “Biden pardoned child molesters” — what reporting actually shows
Fact‑checking outlets and news organizations concluded that claims Biden broadly pardoned child molesters are misleading. Several viral posts conflated commutations, a prisoner swap, and pardons; for example, critics pointed to the commutation of a Chinese national convicted on child‑pornography charges as part of a prisoner‑release deal, but fact‑checkers noted commutation (or sentence commutation to time served) is different from a full pardon and that the move was tied to securing U.S. detainees’ release [1] [6]. Available sources do not say Biden issued a mass pardon specifically and solely for people convicted of child molestation [1] [6].
3. Where controversy arose: end‑of‑term, broad commutations and political reaction
The sheer scale of Biden’s late‑term clemency actions — including commuting death‑row sentences to life and commuting thousands of long federal drug sentences — created sharp political backlash and intense media scrutiny. Opponents and some local commentators wrote that the actions reduced sentences for people convicted of violent crimes, including murderers and, in opinion pieces, rapists and child molesters [7] [8] [9]. Congressional floor speeches and opinion columns used individual cases to argue the pardons and commutations were overbroad [10] [8].
4. Legal distinction: pardon vs. commutation vs. clemency proclamations
Reporting and official documents repeatedly differentiate a pardon (forgives a crime and restores rights) from a commutation (reduces a sentence but does not erase the conviction). Several contested cases involved commutations or sentence reductions rather than traditional full pardons, and some commutations were described as part of logistics around prisoner exchanges or rectifying what the administration deemed historically disproportionate drug sentences [1] [3] [11].
5. Cases that drove headlines: nuance and context
High‑profile media and fact‑checks flagged a few specific instances: e.g., the commutation of Shanlin Jin’s sentence (a Chinese national convicted of possessing child‑pornography images) was widely cited — but reporting emphasized it was a commutation tied to a prisoner swap and was not a full pardon [1] [6]. Other reports focused on the administration’s policy rationale — correcting overly harsh drug sentences and using clemency to address systemic inequities — rather than an intent to absolve violent sexual offenders broadly [3] [11].
6. Competing perspectives: administration vs. critics
The Biden administration framed these clemency actions as correcting unjust sentencing patterns and using executive authority to reduce overly harsh penalties — especially for non‑violent drug offenses — while critics say the moves were politically reckless, insufficiently case‑by‑case, and in some instances spared serious offenders too much leniency [3] [10]. News outlets like NPR and BBC noted the historic scale of the actions and the administration’s stated goals; conservative commentators and some opinion writers emphasized individual cases to argue the policy went too far [3] [11] [8].
7. Limitations and what the available reporting does not say
Available sources do not show Biden issued a single, comprehensive pardon explicitly for “child molesters” as a class; they do not provide a definitive roster proving every contested case cited in social posts; and they do not settle the broader moral debate about whether specific commutations were justified — that remains contested in opinion pieces and political speeches [1] [8] [10]. For any named individual, the DOJ’s official pardons and commutations lists are the record to consult [5] [2].
Bottom line: broad clemency moves by President Biden in late 2024 and January 2025 sparked legitimate scrutiny and political attacks; fact‑checking and official lists indicate some contested cases involved commutations related to prisoner exchanges or sentence reductions rather than blanket pardons for people convicted of child molestation [1] [2] [3].