Pete Townshend has insisted that he is "appalled" by child pornography after it emerged that he viewed sexually explicit pictures of youngsters on the internet. Asserting that he is "no paedophile," the guitarist said he only viewed the sites as part of his research into ways of fighting the sexual exploitation of children.
The Who star was named after an investigation unearthed his credit card details amongst records of those who had paid to use a US-based website.
Pete has admitted to looking at the front pages of several such sites, but insists: "To fight against paedophilia, you have to know what's out there. I have been involved in a campaign against paedophilia on the internet but it fizzled out. I think I may have been sexually abused as a child and I was doing research into it."
The 57-year-old also invited police to inspect his computer: "I would be prepared to have the hard drive of my computer analysed by police," he said. "It is important they are able to convince themselves that, if I did anything illegal, I did it purely for research. I am not a paedophile."
Several of his famous friends have meanwhile rallied to his aid, confirming that he has long been concerned about child abuse. Roger Daltrey, lead singer with The Who, was one of the first to say he believed Townshend was innocent. "Pete was very angry about how easy it was to get hold of child pornography on the internet. My gut instinct is that he is not a paedophile and I know him better than most."
Jerry Hall meanwhile argued that: "Pete Townshend is the least likely profile of a child abuser it is possible to construct, and that is because he isn't one."
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