Posted on 02/05/2010 11:44:38 AM PST by presidio9
The question followed several softballs tossed to British rocker Pete Townshend ahead of his performance this Sunday at the Super Bowl:
How does he feel about criticism of the NFL's choice of a former British sex offender as its halftime act?
Townshend, co-founder of The Who, seemed prepared for it. He barely skipped a beat when he answered that the criticism saddened him, largely because he's misunderstood.
"I feel like we're on the same side…. I've been working as an advocate and agent of this kind of area of research and fundraising for over 40 years."
He and the NFL have been skewered by groups like Protect Our Children and Child AbuseWatch, which have sent letters to the NFL saying, "Inviting Townshend to play is a blatant disregard to the values of American families and a slap in the face to victims of child sexual abuse."
The organizations distributed 1,500 leaflets describing Townshend as a sex offender.
In 2003, the 64-year-old rocker was reprimanded by British police and placed on the country's sex offenders' register for five years after he admitted that he paid to view images on a child-porn Web site in 1999.
According to Townshend, it was all in the name of research: in a 2003 statement, he said that while it was wrong for him to visit the site, he did so because he needed information for a campaign he was launching against Internet child porn and for his autobiography. (In the past, he has said he believes he was sexually abused as a child.)
Townshend insisted the criticism was misplaced. He said, "common sense vigilance is the most important thing, not vigilantism."
He added, "I have my own story that some of you know, and anybody that has any doubts about
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
I would also like to say that while I have my suspicions, I reserve judgement on Townshend. Meanwhile, where I come from the same people who would defend Townshend to the death are the first to consdemn the Catholic Church for reassigning priests who were accused of pedophilia.
It’s the Michael Jackson Memorial Halftime Show.
Good point.
Creeps like Townsend should not be rewarded with exposure like this.
But then again we are living in s very creepy world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4BBQMjbX3c
It ain’t The Who anymore, it’s Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey.
Same here.
No child porn was found on his computer and there was no evidence that he downloaded a single byte of child porn.
His past actions seem to back up his claim of research, but the Brit government’s “word of caution” to Townshend was proper.
Who’s Left.
I still think the Guess Who was a better group. No sugar tonight in my coffee, no sugar tonight in my tea....
Meanwhile, professional sports teams will play Gary Glitter’s crappy tune and that pervert will presumably continue to get royalties.
Where is Hannibal Lecter when you need him ?
I hear he is doing a cooking show but I bet he could do a really good half time event
LOL!
In it, he also states that he continues to do, um, "research." He stopped considered sharing his findings with law enforcement officials a few years ago, because he feared being arrested by police who were on a "witch hunt" to catch anyone who visited illicit web pages.
What do you mean “same here?” My contention is that there is not enough to bust that guy (it’s good being a celebrity), but there’s still something defintitely wrong with him. He didn’t need to give his credit card to multiple sites to verify that, yes, there is indeed child porn on the need, and he admits he’s still doing his “research” to this day.
Roger and Pete are going to do a killer version of
-The Kids are Alright!
Thats one type of research I dont ever want to see!!!!
“Hope I die before I get old!”
Townshend admitted to viewing pictures of child pornography on the Internet, therefore he downloaded more than a single byte to his web browser cache.
In fact, anyone who clicks on one of these pictures from one of these wicked sites will have more than one byte of child porn on their computer.
The issue here is intent which I don't have enough information at this time to make a proper judgment.
Halftime shows ought to feature marching bands, as they did in the good old days.
That's also my take, but it doesn't mean I don't have strong suspicions.
The child porn charges make sense given the fact that el creepo has become a muslim.
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