IIRC, there was one case taken to court of a possible affair he had with a 15 y/o girl (at the time in the 70’s), but the claims were dismissed as it was shown that she was lying.
He was deported from Cambodia, but they stressed that there was no charges against him, and I think it was more to do with the image created of a untracked Gary Glitter unleashed in Cambodia hat got him ejected
But of course, In there efforts to ensure that Gary Glitter was not a danger to children, they put him on a plane to Bangkok.
Being a journalist - if I was ever doing research into something controversial or illegal as a freelancer (ie without an editor commissioning me to do it) I think I would at least register what I was doing and why with some party as a safeguard.
Eg I would leave documents with a lawyer. Or if I had a police associate, perhaps I would take their advice.
What I do know is I wouldn’t just go off alone and start snooping down something illegal or dangerous without having a soul to bear witness to my true intentions.
So hopefully PT has some relevant documents in relation to his research that specify what he was actually doing. Otherwise he’s been more than a bit stupid.
Oh that’s right. He may not have touched them himself, he just enjoys the pictures of other adults touching them or forcing them to touch each other. So, he may not be a “real” pedophile, maybe JUST a guy who likes seeing children degraded and their lives destroyed.
What the fuck is the difference? Both are monsters who should be put to sleep.
I agree that the picture of them together (Glitter and Townsend) means nothing. i was just shocked that they had toured together at one time and now this happens.
Don’t get me wrong. Possesion of child pornography is wrong, both legally and morally. I still see Glitter as being scum for what he did. But you called him a convicted paedophile, and I corrected you as to what his charge actually was.
Glitter can rot in hell for all I care. townshend has unselfishly spent his time making sure that he used his fame to better other people. I just hope he is telling the truth about these allegations.
A person does not actually have to molest children to be classified as a pedophile. The attraction, itself, is what defines them. So Gary Glitter is a pedophile whether he molested any children or not
the thing is Diogenes, he was not convicted for being a paedophile. It is not illegal to be attracted to children, it is illegal to act upon it or to possess illegal images of children.
It may be nitpicking, but Glitter was never caught abusing children, but being in posession of child porn. There is a difference.
You are correct, Twist, there is no such crime as “pedophilia” per se, but would it be fair to say that Glitter is a pedophile who was convicted a related crime?
Townshend’s claim that “I was doing research, I told the police I was going to do it beforehand” sounds like a bald-faced lie to me. Are we really to believe that he told the police “Listen, coppers, I’m doing some research on child abuse, is it all right if I look up some kiddie porn?” and the police said “Sure, Pete, have at it!” It doesn’t sound like a plausible scenario to me.
I’m a professional researcher by trade. I have to abide by a certain code of ethics (outlined on the website of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement in case you’re interested). There are certain personal files to which I do not have access unless I am using them for law-enforcement or credit-check purposes; since I don’t do either, I’m not allowed to look at them. I could potentially face criminal charges if I did and then divulged their contents.
For Townshend to be looking at material that is illegal to view or possess, he would need to be either a law-enforcement officer, or have a valid license from the appropriate law-enforcement authorities. Since we know the former is not the case, and we have not heard any confirmation from the police towards the latter, I think we can assume, that, yes, his ass is grass.
I am willing to believe that Townsend is telling the truth, and for a child-abuse campaigner it must be frustrating to come across instances of potential and real child pornography (as Lord only knows what some of the links in spam lead to) and not be able to do anything about them.
The problem, of course, is like the guy who takes a pocketknife on an airplace because he knows he doesn’t intend any harm – it’s a case of extreme naivete combined with good intentions. If Pete got so far to find a site which promised kiddie porn, he should have told the police about it and let them sort it out, not pay money to check it out himself. If nothing else, did he really want to give his money to that sort of person?
Is the OP correct in saying that kiddie porn was found on PT’s computer?
From what I have read, the police have not confirmed that PT is under investigation at all. Nothing in any of the linked articles says that.
What happened was that the police busted a pedo ring, and collected credit card details. There has long been a rumor that the cc details of a high profile rock celebrity were included.
PT came forward before the police made any moves towards him.
He’s either telling the truth or making a good tactical move in coming forward voluntarily so as to have more credibility.
Well, this was from the Drudge Report, so make up your mind about its credibility, but last night it reported that the police had his name but were not releasing it to the media.
Really, Townshend’s move in coming forward is for the public’s, not the police’s, persuasion. The police were the ones who’d uncovered his name in “Operation Ore” in the first place, so Townshend had nothing to gain by “volunteering” his name to them. And I’d say, as a PR move, it was a pretty bad one. If you’re going to admit to viewing child porn and then claim the viewing was police-sanctioned, it would be wise to have the police confirm your claim.
Townshend’s computer has not even been searched for kiddie porn, although according to this article since the scandal broke Townshend has offered to hand his computer over to the police so they can examine it. If Townshend has been telling the truth then they won’t find anything – he says that he did not ever download any child pornography, but merely looked at the main pages of a couple of sites while investigating the subject.
Oh, and just in the interest of fighting ignorance, Townshend didn’t write “Uncle Ernie”. The late John Entwistle did.
After browsing a few news sites just now, I feel I should qualify this. Some stories are reporting that Townshend has denied downloading anything, others say he has admitted to it. None have any direct quotes, so I’m not sure who is right. But either way it is not true that Townshend was caught with child pornography on his computer, because no one has searched his computer yet. He is being investigated for using his credit card to access a child pornography site.
