Posted on 12/29/2009 1:11:27 PM PST by Drew68
Since the story of Townshend sex offender past broke nationally a week ago, which has been a subject of debate and argument, only one question matters.
Was Pete Townshend a registered sex offender in the UK from 2003 to 2008? Answer: Yes.
Well that’s that then. Sorry Pete. This precludes you from not only playing at the Super Bowl, it also stops you from entering the United States to begin with.
Since the NFL decided to hire Pete Townshend for the upcoming Super Bowl event all hell has broken loose. Child AbuseWatch, the international child prevention group, have been trying for some time to bring attention to Townshend’s sex offender status. Most notably was the Kennedy Center Awards event last year when they wrote to the organizers protesting the honoring of someone with sex offender history.
Most recently they have asked the NFL to drop Townshend from the Super Bowl. In a way they are doing the NFL a favor. How? When the family values groups get hold of this they’re going to rip the NFL and their sponsors apart. It could indeed prove to be an incredibly expensive mistake on the NFL’s part to not read more than Townshend publicists take on Pete’s past when they were planning the half time show.
Another national advocacy group, Protect Our Children, headed by Kevin Gillick has taken the NFL protest a step further; two steps actually. They have made a lot of noise with the Immigration and Naturalization Department and ICE begging to ask how a registered sex offender, with criminal record, has been given free reign to enter the US.
U.S. immigration law says authorities will deny entrance to “Aliens convicted of, and those who admit having committed a crime involving moral turpitude...
(Excerpt) Read more at shine.yahoo.com ...
Haven't The Who performed numerous times in the U.S. in the last seven years?
Ummm, so? That would be reason not to enforce this now?
Or, perhaps this would work.....”Officer, honestly, I’ve driven 85 on this road for the past 2 years and never been ticketed before, so what gives?”
According to the NFL’s moral standards, Rush Limbaugh is too despicable to have a minority ownership interest in an NFL team, but a pedophile is suitable halftime entertainment.
Who are You, to ask that.
Thank you!
NFL pretty much sucks anymore
Quadraphenia.
L
Just because I wouldn’t let him close to my kids doesn’t mean I still don’t like his music.
Waivers of inadmissability due to crimes involving moral turpitude are pretty much a given for high profile entertainers and athletes. In fact waivers are often granted to such performers and entertainers in circumstances where regular folks would never be able to get one. And probably in a lot less than the 6 months to 2+ years it can take for regular folks to have a waiver application processed and approved.
Well, he was acquitted.
FWIW, I'm a Who fan but I think they were a poor choice for halftime entertainment.
There something that smells about all this.
First off, English law is entirely different than ours: there you are assumed guilty until proven innocent. Thus he was required to register, even though he was subsequently found innocent. (If our laws were the same, Michael Jackson would have been registered twice.)
Secondly, not only his case but hundereds of others were thrown out at the same time. Apparently someone set up a web site with misleading information that caused people to click onto a kiddy porn site without knowing it. None of the people that were “caught” in this sting did any of the usual things kid porn searchers do (hide behind a double blind firewall to protect their identity, ailias pay systems, etc). Townshend reportedly logged on as himself!
At any rate, I’m sorry to be so jaded but I smell organizations looking for publicity. A “spokesperson” for some group that couldn’t get arrested yesterday will now get two minutes on every news show.
I wonder where these people were a couple of months ago when the world was wailing about the death of a real child molester?
There’s a lot more to the story re Townshend’s culpability that is not described in this article. Bring on the Who!
Oh, and btw, he was never convicted or even formally charged with anything (AFAIK). He was thoroughly investigated by the police who found nothing beyond the fact, which he admitted, that his credit card had been billed by a child porn site. He claimed it occurred in the course of research for a book. In any case, it’s not as if he is some sort of widely acknowledged kiddie-diddler.
FWIW, that little tidbit was not in the article, nor mentioned in your post. IF true, IF baseless, then he should be free to enter. IF just a legal dodge, well, IMHO, no entry thanks.
FWIW too, I prefer Pink Floyd ;^)
I never read that the police found any evidence to convict him of anything. Apparently he didn’t have any images on his computer, nothing printed out, no contacts with kids, nothing.
I say let them play!
Pete’s never been convicted or even accused of abusing children. I would agree if it were Gary Glitter, Roman Polanski or Obama’s Safe School Czar, but Pete doesn’t deserve to be targeted.
As the posters above explained, this is a load of crap.
I had read that PC Magazine did a forensic analysis of servers, IP addresses, Pete's computer, TCP/IP traffic footprints, etc. and it was clear that Townshend never accessed any illicit material. It seems that Townshend admitted to doing something under the glare of the media that he actually never did.
I have to agree.
“I had read that PC Magazine did a forensic analysis of servers, IP addresses, Pete’s computer, TCP/IP traffic footprints, etc. and it was clear that Townshend never accessed any illicit material. It seems that Townshend admitted to doing something under the glare of the media that he actually never did.”
I think that Pete Townshend is completely innocent. I’m not just saying this because I think he’s an absolute musical genius and I like so many of his songs; I really do think he is innocent based on everything I’ve learned about the case.
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