Pete Townshend admits downloading child porn

[MRT144]

first gary glitter...

[aaglo]

ICC less about the misfortunes of that SOB...

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Seeker

Also certain medical and human biology texts have real pictures of human sexual development using real models, things like comparing normal sexual develoment to abnormal.

I've seen photos of abnormal development and outline pen drawings of the normal "Tanner" stages of development in medical texts, but I've never seen photo series of the genitalia of normal kids. We don't do things that don't need to be done.

[The Mad Viking]

Just a couple of points.

Does looking at a picture of child porn make you a pedophile?

If masturbating to pedophilic fantasies, no matter how abhorrent that may be to us, doesn't constitute a crime, then pedophilia must involve actual live children.

So at this point, I would suggest calling any of the 1300 people being investigated "pedophiles" is a little premature.

Am I the only one who thinks that the police are being a little legally creative when they claim that downloading a picture onto your computer is "Creating a pornographic image"?


People keep talking about pictures of children being raped. I have seen no account describing what sort of images are in question.

What do the police hope to accomplish in this action? It certainly seems like they are policing morality, and likely persecuting people who have done no direct harm to anyone, when they investigate 1300 people; rather than trying to pursue those who directly harm children.

[Gibsie]

You're confusing your definitions; paedophilia is being attracted to children. Paedophilia in itself of course is not illegal, and doesn't have to involve real children, but clearly anyone who downloads pictures of kids for their own pleasure is a paedophile.

Incidentally, there's a simple test to determine if Pete was just being naive- see if he was dumb enough to think he could delete all traces of the sites he visited by putting them in his recycle bin

[Solly]

While I am tempted to believe Townshend's version of events, an acquittal will lead to every paedophile using the same excuse.

Hang him.

[Jules]

Originally posted by Boddington's
While I am tempted to believe Townshend's version of events, an acquittal will lead to every paedophile using the same excuse.

Hang him.

But what if his version of events IS the truth? Hang 'em anyway, eh?

[Solly]

I'd expect you don't need to view child porn to be able to write about it.

[Dis]

I am having trouble Believe Pete. Cart him off to jail. No special treatment for celebrities.

[Dis]

you guys remember when I had a thread on if images of adult bodies with children's heads pasted on them? Do you guys consider that porn illegal? I find it strange to say the least, but I can't really say it is illegal.

But ole Pete should go to jail for being a dumbass. He shouldn't have used his credit card. He knew this stuff was illegal.

[Solly]

Why do paedophiles never shave?

[Dis]

do you know this from personal experience?

[TCO]

Originally posted by Boddington's
While I am tempted to believe Townshend's version of events, an acquittal will lead to every paedophile using the same excuse.

Hang him.

That's barbaric. Almost all US states use the chair or lethal injection. We only have one state left that uses the noose.

[Solly]

What's wrong with barbarism? At least it doesn't cost you 50 points.

[orange]

Don't know if this has been posted yet or not...

Pete Townshend Arrested
Jan 13, 11:54 AM EST

LONDON (AP) -- Pete Townshend, the legendary rock guitarist and co-founder of The Who, was arrested Monday on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children, police said.

Townshend has acknowledged using an Internet Web site advertising child pornography, but said he was not a pedophile and was only doing research for an autobiography dealing with his own suspected childhood sexual abuse.

Police said they arrested Townshend, 57, under the Protection of Children Act after executing two searches at a business and a home in Richmond, Surrey, the town outside London where he lives. They said they took computers from the home and were examining them.

Townshend was not charged with a crime. Under British law, suspects are not charged immediately upon arrest and some people who are arrested are eventually released without charge.


Townshend was being held at a southwest London police station.

In a statement on Saturday, Townshend said that on one occasion he used a credit card to download pornographic images as part of his research and that he reported what he saw to police.

Townshend, who helped form The Who in the early 1960s, said he believed he was "sexually abused between the age of five and six and a half."

"I cannot remember clearly what happened, but my creative work tends to throw up nasty shadows — particularly in 'Tommy.' Some of the things I have seen on the Internet have informed my book, which I hope will be published later this year," he added.

The title character in Townshend's rock opera "Tommy" — a deaf, dumb and blind pinball wizard — is sexually abused by an uncle.

Earlier Monday, a group of police officers arrived at Townshend's Richmond home, one carrying a plastic crate containing packaging to store potential evidence.

His lawyer John Cohen told reporters the meeting with police was by "mutual agreement."

"We approached the police this morning and said that we should meet," he said.

Townshend, unshaven and wearing a black jacket, left his house by a side entrance at 7:20 p.m., about four hours after police arrived, and was driven away.

Scotland Yard later announced that a 57-year-old man was in custody on suspicion of making and possessing indecent images of children and of incitement to distribute them. A police spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the suspect was Townshend.

The arrest came as part of Operation Ore, a crackdown on people who view child pornography on the Internet.

British police have arrested 1,300 suspects as part of the sweep, including a judge, magistrates, dentists, doctors and a deputy school headmaster. Fifty police officers also have been arrested, and eight have been charged with offenses.

Operation Ore is the British arm of an FBI-led operation which traced 250,000 suspected pedophiles around the world through credit card details they used to pay for downloading child pornography. The names of British suspects were passed on to police here by U.S. investigators.

Townshend's friend, the model Jerry Hall, said Sunday he was an "avid supporter" of child welfare groups and had spoken at length about the dangers of child pornography on the Internet.

Roger Daltry, Townshend's bandmate from The Who, said: "My gut instinct is that he is not a pedophile and I know him better than most."

But Internet watchdogs have dismissed Townshend's explanation for entering an Internet site dealing with child pornography.

Mark Stephens, a lawyer and vice chairman of the Internet Watch Foundation said: "It is wrong-headed, misguided and illegal to look at or download or even to pay to download pedophiliac material and if you do so, you are likely to go to prison."

Townshend was one of The Who's four founding members, along with bassist John Entwistle, singer Daltry and drummer Keith Moon. Moon died in 1978 and Entwistle died last year.

The group, founded in London in the early 1960s, was part of the British rock invasion along with the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Their parade of hits included "I Can See For Miles," "Pinball Wizard," and "Won't Get Fooled Again."

The Who has been known for explosive shows that often culminated in the smashing of their musical instruments on stage.