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Saturday, January 11th, 2003

Statement by Pete Townsehnd as reporteid in The Observer on January 12, 2003

The Daily Mail reports that "Operation Ore," a U.S.-led investigation of a website that provided child pornography images in addition to adult pornographic images, has given police a list of over seven thousand names of credit card holders whose cards had made payments to the operators of the website. This list, forwarded to Scotland Yard by U.S. law enforcement and quickly finding its way to the press, contains the name of a well-known British rock star.

That afternoon, Pete holds a press conference admitting that he is the rock star, says he is not a paedophile, has been a long-time campaigner against child pornography on the Internet, never downloaded any images, and gives the police full access to investigate the charges. The police seize Pete's computers and he is questioned but not charged with a crime

A "trial by media" ensues. Pete's statement is simplified and falsified into a claim that he downloaded child pornography for "research," and his guilt is widely assumed. Pete's friends and fans who know that Pete had been discussing the dangers of child pornography on the Internet for the past decade begin a fight to clear his name.

On May 7th he was cleared of the charges.

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