[no subject]

Pete Townshend's Child Porn Case Delayed
 
Who guitarist to be questioned by police again
sometime in February. 
by Jon Wiederhorn

Police in London have pushed back the date that the
Who's Pete Townshend has to return for further inquiry
regarding three suspected child pornography offenses:
possessing, making and distributing indecent images of
children.

The 57-year-old 
 
 
rock legend was due to be questioned on Monday, but
police have rescheduled the interrogation for sometime
in February, said a spokesperson for Scotland Yard,
who would not reveal whether the delay was at
Townshend's request or if the police need more time to
gather evidence.

Townshend was arrested on January 13 as part of a
widespread crackdown on people who view child
pornography over the Internet.

In the days before his arrest, the guitarist
proclaimed his innocence, saying he paid to view a
child porn site and browsed through other free sites
to conduct research for his upcoming autobiography,
which will include material about how he may have been
abused in his youth. 

In the United States there is no legal defense for
viewing child pornography, but in England those who
look at it for "legitimate" reasons can be exempted.

Townshend continues to insist he has always been
appalled by child pornography, and that he has taken
numerous steps in the past to oppose it, including
posting a lengthy diatribe on his Web site, giving
money to the National Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Children's Full Stop campaign and reporting
child porn Web sites to the Internet Watch Foundation
(see "Pete Townshend Released On Bail, Expected To
Undergo Further Questioning").

In a post Wednesday on www.petetownshend.com,
Townshend wrote that he has procured evidence from the
IWF that he thinks will clear his name. A founder from
the organization had previously claimed no knowledge
of having been contacted by the guitarist, but the IWF
admitted it made a mistake.

"I, of course, know that I did communicate with them
several times last year, and they have now supplied to
us copies of my e-mails to them, one in August and the
rest in November," Townshend wrote. "My lawyers have
written to the founder of the IWF, Mark Stephens, who
was adamant that they had never heard from me, asking
for an explanation."

In February, when Townshend again appears before the
police, he will either be "rebailed" (asked to return
pending further investigation), cleared or charged,
police said. If charged for accessing child porn, he
could face five years in jail. However, if he's
charged for forwarding an e-mail containing such
material he could face up to 10 years behind bars.


=====
-Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com