Who’s Townshend Released on Bail in Porn Probe
LONDON (Reuters) – British rock star Pete Townshend was released on police bail after being questioned by detectives on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children but has not been charged, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Police said the 57-year-old guitarist with legendary band The Who had been bailed to reappear at a police station in late January after being quizzed by officers for more than an hour on Monday night.
“Mr. Townshend has been at the station this evening answering questions from police. He has not been charged,” the musician’s lawyer John Cohen told reporters. “He’s been bailed to come back perhaps at a future occasion if they want him to answer more questions.”
Townshend was arrested Monday after police involved in Britain’s largest-ever operation against pedophilia descended on the rock star’s mansion in Richmond, southwest London. They took away boxes full of computers and other equipment.
Later Townshend looked stony-faced as he was driven away by detectives after being held on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children, suspicion of making indecent images of children and on suspicion of incitement to distribute indecent images of children.
Townshend, who has said he believes he was abused as a child, acknowledged Saturday he had downloaded child pornography from the Internet but insisted he had done it for research purposes.
“I am not a pedophile. I think pedophilia is appalling,” the guitarist, who is married with three children, said in a statement.
Hours before he was arrested he told the Sun newspaper he had worked “tirelessly” to help the abused but had been foolish to wage a one-man battle against child pornography.
He said he was outraged when he first came across child pornography Web sites six years ago when surfing the Internet with his son Joseph, now 16.
Townshend is the most prominent figure to have been questioned as part of the Operation Ore police inquiry which has resulted in more than 1,300 arrests so far in Britain.
The probe, which began 10 months ago, was launched after U.S. law enforcement agencies identified about 7,000 British suspects as users of child pornography Web sites.
CELEBRITIES UNDER SUSPICION
The British media hinted that other British celebrities and some politicians may also be under suspicion.
The Who shot to fame in the late 1960s with its zeitgeist anthem “My Generation” and cemented its reputation with such albums as “Tommy,” “Who’s Next” and “Quadrophenia.”
Townshend, who wrote most of the band’s songs, was renowned for smashing his guitars during live stage performances.
Despite its many musical highs, the band has also been dogged by tragedy. Townshend and lead singer Roger Daltrey are the only two surviving original members of the band.
Bass player John Entwistle died in a Las Vegas hotel room last year from a heart attack triggered by cocaine use while the band’s original drummer Keith Moon died of an accidental pill overdose in 1978.
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