Pete Townsend - Pædophile?

[Guest]

Now that Pete Townsend has been busted in Operation Avalanche, what is your opinion?

At this point I'm inclined to believe him, but evidence collected from his home will surely tell the tale. If it was a "one-time, for investigative purposes" act as he claims, mitigation is called for, despite the fact that he's in serious trouble.

In my opinion, a real hardcore pædophile would have been smart enough to cover his tracks in the first place, so that if the site was ever compromised, he wouldn't get caught.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[wlie 0]

Better wipe out your cache and change your profile dude. Pretty soon, we'd all be arrested for all the boobie pics found here.

My other ride is the relative wind.

[hookitt 1]

I read the article, where does it mention Pete Townsend?

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[AndyMan 7]

A better news report: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=578&e=6&cid=578&u=/nm/20030113/ts_nm/people_townshend_dc

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[freekflyguy 0]

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I read the article, where does it mention Pete Townsend?

Its all over the UK news dude.

The papers got hold of the story of an unnamed Rock Star who's credit card had been used to access a site.

Pete Townsend then publicly announced that he had visited the site for research purposes, but had not dl anything.

police have with "Mutual consent" removed all his computer equipment along with floppies and videos, and are questioing him.

Apparently he was abused as a child.

Buzz

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.

[hookitt 1]

Yeah thanks I posted in haste and then did a quick search.

I tend to believe Pete.

I know several people that spend their lives helping victims of abuse and teaching useful self defense to women and lots of other stuff pertaining to abuse.

A very good researcher friend of mine has done way more than visit some paedaphile site. Her research is grand.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[RichM 0]

I loved the Who but I gotta admit I don't believe him. Guilty as a puppy sitting by a pile of poo.

Rich M

[fasterfaller 0]

***A better news report: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=578&e=6&cid=578&u=/nm/20030113/ts_nm/people_townshend_dc

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It's kind of funny that Yahoo is running a report on kiddie porn since Yahoo groups is one of the largest onlie safe havens for kiddie porn . They shut one group down and another takes its place .

[kmcguffee 0]

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Guilty as a puppy sitting by a pile of poo.

LOL, I agree but I can't say it any better than that.

"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

[SpeedRacer 1]

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Guilty as a puppy sitting by a pile of poo.

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LOL, I agree but I can't say it any better than that.

I think before making an accusation of something like pedophilia you'd want to make DAMN sure you had all the facts first. which we don't. falsely accusing someone of something like this is not cool.

Speed Racer
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[SpeedRacer 1]

Hey is anyone else disturbed that police are out there checking on what you click on when you surf the web , and then coming in and arresting you for it?

Speed Racer
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[Deleted 0]

first off, He can't be the sharpest tool in the shed...he gets off on little kids......He shoulf Fry! But wait is he even worth the bullet?

[phatcat 0]

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Hey is anyone else disturbed that police are out there checking on what you click on when you surf the web , and then coming in and arresting you for it?

Yeah, this whole thing seems kind of fucked up to me. Just a gut feeling. Granted - people that get a kick out of naked kids must have a screw loose or something, I won't argue against that. But I don't think Townsend is much of a threat to anybody. I predict this will pass, but he'll have a little pimple on his record, anyway.

[AndyMan 7]

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Hey is anyone else disturbed that police are out there checking on what you click on when you surf the web , and then coming in and arresting you for it?

No. They busted a pedophile site, went through their bank records and investigated all their clients. Seems like perfectly valid policework to me, and is no different then how they'd do it offline.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[Push 0]

I think he said something like "how do we know we should hate it if we can't even see it?" I admit that I had a morbid curiosity about how those fuckers work. See the face of the Devil kind of thing. No, I'm not a pedophile. I have never been in posession of anything that even remotely looks like that. It makes me literally sick. But honestly, something this evil, you've never wondered who those people are? How they do it? Is it not important to find out? Of course, the proper authorities should find out. But if you overstep your bounds in the law, you are not a pedophile, you just overstepped your bounds. My point is that his story is believable. Plus, he was very cooperative with the police.

Should he be punished? Yes. I may be curious about crack, but if I'm caught with it I should be fined or whatever. But is he a pedophile? So far, the doubt is more than reasonable. A slap on the wrist? Yeah. A hanging? No.

And please. I believe that people are innocent until proven guilty in that country. Pedophilia is one of the worst things you can accuse a person of. Imagine if someone called you a pedophile because you have some boobie pictures of a girl with pigtails. You'd probably beat the stupid out of them, no?

-- Toggle Whippin' Yahoo
Skydiving is easy. All you have to do is relax while plummetting at 120 mph from 10,000' with nothing but some nylon and webbing to save you.

[riddler 0]

"Honestly, officer - she looked 18 in the photograph."

The difficulty with child porn is the assumptions. Someone says "pedophile", and everyone assumes Micheal Jackson and a six-year old. But would we hold the same opinion of a 19 year old having sex with a 17 year old? I think most people are in favor of eliminating child exploitation. But I have to ask myself - is this really an attempt to do that, or is it a right-wing effort to eliminate all pornography from the Internet? After all, you can't exactly tell someone's age from a photograph. Did Townsend have pics of a child, or was it cached images of a pop-up ad for "nasty-teen-sluts"?

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"Did Townsend have pics of a child, or was it cached images of a pop-up ad for "nasty-teen-sluts"? "

Well the law over here is quite clear on the matter, if you look at pictures of underage kids and they could be construed as 'pornographic' you are breaking the law, whether you are conducting research or monitoring sites, or whatever. You don't even have to download the material, you only have to view it to lay yourself open to charges such as this..

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He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[Gawain 0]

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I think most people are in favor of eliminating child exploitation

The BBC article cited the depth and the plain english of the web-sites in question: "click here for child porn"

So, we know that at least in the US (and apparently UK) child porn is a very serious offense. And I think the fact that even hardened criminals think it's wrong (and usually carry out their own justice in the process) makes the case even stronger.

I thought it was common knowledge that there were sniffers on the web looking for child exploitation. You might not get a knock on the door if you click a link, but c'mon there are better areas to do legitimate research on subjects like this.

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effort to eliminate all pornography from the Internet

I read that online adult porn is something close to a $3 BILLION industry. No, you won't see it eliminated. That equals revenue.

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[miked10270 0]

Hi there,

Let's get one thing clear, Pete Townsend is INNOCENT... At least until all the stuff seized is examined, and IF there's evidence of child pornography, he is prosecuted, and found Guilty.

Don't expect rapid results, someone came up with the idea of using CT Search trained cops for the search of Operation Ore suspects homes and workplaces so I was involved in the periphery of some of the searches. ALL recordable media is seized, not just computers, but discs, floppys, videos... We went into one house, normal 2 bedroom semi-detached, and went away with a small van load of stuff. It'll take a long time to go through all of this. We're looking for imaged of pre-pubescent and pubescent children, not the "16 year old college slut" stuff.

It'll be interesting to see how the good old British public react to this - It'll not be like the Paul Gadd (Gary Glitter) incident where it started witn the images being already found on his laptop by a computer repairer when it went in for repair.

Then again, I don't quite understand the logic behind Gary Glitter being pilloried for having images of 12 & 13 year old girls on his computer while Bill Wyman is effectively ignored for having sex with a 12 & 13 year old Mandy Smith. Which is child abuse? OK, both are, but which is worse? OK both are as bad. Does it mean (in the eyes of the British public and the british legal system) that if you had a pic of Bill Wyman having sex with Mandy Smith when they first started the affair you'd be more guilty of paedophilia than Bill Wyman? Should you be prosecuted? Remember that Bill Wyman wasn't!

Mike.

Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable.

Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

[nacmacfeegle 0]

I agree with you Mike, there appears to be discrepancies in the application of the law....And on that subject I will bow to your superior knowledge.

I too doubt that this will amount to much, its a typical storm in a teacup that the media is so fond of during dull news days.
"Let's get one thing clear, Pete Townsend is INNOCENT... At least until all the stuff seized is examined, and IF there's evidence of child pornography, he is prosecuted, and found Guilty."

That only applies in a real trial, what we have here is trial by media, which is a terrible thing.

Wouldn't it be better if 'the authorities' brought down these sites rather than going after people who visit them. If they can bring down things like Napster, then surely it is a relatively simple matter.

Its got to be better than the knee jerk reactions we've seen lately, see also the furore over people filming things like nativity plays and such like.

I dunno, any thoughts?

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He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[RichM 0]

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Hey is anyone else disturbed that police are out there checking on what you click on when you surf the web , and then coming in and arresting you for it?

As a father of a beautiful 9 year old daughter living in a town in which a 10 year old girl was raped last year by a man they only caught last month who lives about 5 miles away, no I am not f****** disturbed by it, I actively and aggressively support it. These people are a menace, we should concern ourselves with the victims of these crimes and their rights to not be abused (girls in the photos, the 10 year in my town) rather than the pervs rights to avoid detection.

Sorry for the expressive comments, but I feel very strongly about this.

Rich M

[RichM 0]

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Let's get one thing clear, Pete Townsend is INNOCENT... At least until all the stuff seized is examined, and IF there's evidence of child pornography, he is prosecuted, and found Guilty.

I disagree, Pete T already knows whether he gave his credit card number to become a member of a kiddie porn site because it turns him on on not. He is already either guilty or innocent. All that remains is for the law to establish which. And if the law finds him innocent/guilty it doesn't necessarily mean that he is. Only Pete T knows the reality.

Rich M

[RichM 0]

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Wouldn't it be better if 'the authorities' brought down these sites rather than going after people who visit them. If they can bring down things like Napster, then surely it is a relatively simple matter.

But bringing these sites down would just result in them being replaced elsewhere. You wouldn't really achieve anything, and you wouldn't be doing anything to halt the increasing number of children who are sexually abused. Imo removing the site seems tantamount to not wanting to accept there is a problem, rather than trying to address and seeking to resolve a very real problem of the sexual abuse of innocent children.

Rich M

[miked10270 0]

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Let's get one thing clear, Pete Townsend is INNOCENT... At least until all the stuff seized is examined, and IF there's evidence of child pornography, he is prosecuted, and found Guilty.

I disagree, Pete T already knows whether he gave his credit card number to become a member of a kiddie porn site because it turns him on on not.

Valid point, but we don't know yet, that's for the criminal justice system to establish. What I'm saying is that we should treat him as innocent until it's proven different.

Mike.

Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable.

Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

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[Guest]

He's already admitted he did it, so it's all a matter of mitigation now. This will depend on evidence seized at his home.

If it shows a one-time event, as he claims, he'll still be punished, but it will be far less.

If there's evidence that's he's a real offender, there will be more serious punishment forthcoming.

Since he's a pop icon, he'll likely get off easy, with some deal being made; I imagine it'll be a token sentence and a hefty fine.

But he'll live out his days with the damning label of "Pædophile", which will be punishment in and of itself, without end.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."