Scotland Yard said he (Townshend) had been arrested under the Protection of Children Act 1978 on "suspicion of possessing indecent images of children, suspicion of making indecent images of children and suspicion of incitement to distribute indecent images of children."
Unshaven and wearing a black jacket, Townshend had earlier been driven away from his home by a side entrance.
The team of Scotland Yard detectives arrived at the rock star's home at 3pm, armed with a blue plastic crate containing evidence bags. A police spokeswoman at the scene said the detectives were conducting a thorough search that would take "as long as necessary".
She declined to say how many officers were involved, but said they included members of Scotland Yard's paedophile unit, major investigation team, and child protection units, all of whom are attached to Operation Ore, the largest inquiry into child pornography undertaken in the UK.
The spokeswoman said the officers, including experts in computer forensics, were there by prior arrangement, although they did have a search warrant. Speaking outside the house, Mr Cohen also said the meeting was by mutual agreement. "We approached the police and said that we should meet," he said. ---snip---