Child Abuse Protesters want to ban The Who from The Super Bowl

Child abuse protesters (they're people protesting against it, should that need clearing up... not that we've seen anyone protesting for it mind you) are demanding that The Who should be banned from performing at this year's Super Bowl... I think you can guess why.

Yep, Pete Townshend's 2003 arrest for viewing dodgy images of children is causing the group to demand the pulling of the set that Pete and Rog are due to play at the prestigious half time slot at Super Bowl XLIV at Miami's Land Shark stadiumon February 7th.

In an open letter to the NFL on AbuseWatch.net, founder Evin Daly wrote: "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."

Townshend pleaded guilty to accessing child porn images citing research for his autobiography. He was given a caution and listed as a sexual offender for five years. However, he was cleared of charges as police found no images on his computer.

Townshend said at the time: "I accept that I was wrong to access this site, and that by doing so, I broke the law, and I have accepted the caution that the police have given me."

Another American group, Protect Our Children, wrote to the US department of immigration and Florida's attorney general asking for Townshend's visa to be refused. President Kevin Gillick said: "We acknowledge he was not convicted, but he was on the (British) sex offenders' list. In the United States, you're on a sex offenders' list for life."

The show, at the time of writing, will still go ahead as planned. [MG]

Comments

[GinaB]

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6979887.ece

Here is really the best article to relay the integrity of Pete Townshend. Keep in mind also his efforts to communicate the role of credit card companies in such an industry go waaaaaay back. His mistake was to test it and he did so four years before being "arrested" in Britain. An arrest in Britain is very different from an arrest in the United States.

The agencies are spilling propaganda. Journalists owe Pete to do better.