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Who star released on bailTownshend must report back in child porn probe
LONDON, England -- Pete Townshend, the legendary guitarist of The Who, was released on bail late on Monday after being detained earlier in the day on child pornography charges, police said. Townshend, 57, has not been charged but must report back to police, who are still investigating the case, by the end of the month, Scotland Yard said. Townshend was arrested at his home in London on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children, suspicion of making indecent images of children and suspicion of incitement to distribute indecent images of children, Scotland Yard said. In a statement last weekend, Townshend acknowledged visiting a Web site advertising child pornography. He said he was not a paedophile and had used the site only once, as research for an autobiography dealing with his own suspected childhood sexual abuse. He made the admission on Saturday after a newspaper reported that detectives were investigating an unidentified British rock star on charges of downloading child pornography. A police spokesman said two warrants were executed on Monday at separate addresses in southwest London. "One address is a business address, and the other is residential. A number of items, including computers, have been removed from the residential address for forensic examination." Rocker: 'I'm not a paedophile'British police have arrested 1,300 people, including a judge, magistrates, dentists, hospital consultants and a deputy school headmaster, as part of Operation Ore, a crackdown on people who view child pornography on the Internet. Fifty police officers also have been arrested, and eight of them have been charged with offenses. Operation Ore is the British arm of an FBI-led investigation that traced 250,000 suspects around the world through credit card details used to pay for downloading child pornography. U.S. investigators passed the names of British suspects to police there. Townshend's friend, model Jerry Hall, said on Sunday that Townshend was an "avid supporter" of child-welfare charities and had spoken at length about the dangers of child pornography on the Internet. Townshend said he never downloaded the material and entered a site only once, as part of research for a book he plans to publish this year. (Profile) In his statement, Townshend said: "I am not a paedophile. I have never entered chat rooms on the Internet to converse with children. "I have, to the contrary, been shocked, angry and vocal (especially on my Web site) about the explosion of advertised pedophilic images on the Internet." (Statement) Under British law, it is a criminal offense punishable by up to five years imprisonment for anyone to possess indecent photographs of children or people who appear to be children. (The law) Those accused have a defence, however, if they can show that they had a legitimate reason for having such pictures. Townshend helped found The Who in the 1960s, and wrote all the band's hits, including "My Generation," "Pinball Wizard" and "Won't Get Fooled Again." Townshend became legendary for his whirlwind moves and guitar-smashing rampages on stage. The band was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. The last year has been filled with turmoil for the band. Bassist John Entwistle died of an apparent heart attack related to cocaine use in June in Las Vegas, Nevada. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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