Pete Townsend has addressed the child pornography scandal that affected him in 2003.
The guitarist and songwriter of The Who expressed that his choice to delve into child pornography stemmed from what he called “white knight syndrome, an effort to be perceived as someone who is helping.”
“I had gone through something unsettling as a child, so I think…what if I were a nine or 10-year-old girl and my uncle violated me weekly? I believed I had an insight and could make a difference.”
Townshend, who founded the sexual abuse charity Double O, revealed that he paid a $10 fee to a child pornography site—which he immediately canceled—to uncover the financial links of child exploitation stemming from Russian orphanages. Following the discovery of the files by police, he was cautioned and placed on the sex offenders register for five years after admitting his illegal actions.
“What I did was crazy,” he remarked, adding that he refrained from speaking out “because I didn’t believe in the idea of ‘the truth will emerge’. I’ve sadly come across online comments where I’m labeled a paedophile simply for having a prominent nose.”
The long-awaited memoir by Townshend, “Who I Am,” was released last month.
by Wallace McTavish
