- Lindsay Ashford
Lindsay Ashford (born approx 1969) is an American pro-pedophile activist based in the
Netherlands . Ashford says that he realized he was a pedophile at the age of 30. In a February 2004New Jersey newspaper interview, he said that he was "tired of being forced into the shadows by society" because he is a pedophile.cite news
last = Flanagan
first = Russ
title = I'm tired of being forced into the shadows by society
publisher = The Express-Times
date =2004-02-22
url = http://www.nj.com/specialprojects/expresstimes/index.ssf?/news/expresstimes/stories/molesters1_otherside.html
accessdate = 2007-07-25 ]Ashford calls for tolerance of
pedophilia and for change ofage of consent laws. His definition of pedophilia differs from the ones incolloquial use, and he asserts that common assumptions about pedophiles are not always true. Ashford asserts that many children and adolescents are capable of being informed consenting partners in romantic relationships with adults, and that such relationships can be based on mutual romantic and emotional, though not necessarily sexual, connections. He claims that adult-child romantic involvement is not in itself a form ofchild sexual abuse orchild abuse .Missing children service
In July 2005, Ashford came under heavy criticism by investigative reporters for running a missing children's website himself, which included photos of individual children. In an interview it was revealed that he had only included photographs of girls, even when their male siblings had gone missing too. Ashford claimed that this was because including missing children of both genders would be too wide an area. [http://www.wxyztv.com/wxyz/ys_investigations/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15949_3913119,00.html Dead link|date=March 2008]
Barack Obama controversy
In March 2007, Ashford once again came under scrutiny in the
United States when it was discovered that in April 2006 he had started ablog on his website, called "Puellula", which included the claim that the candidate to win the 2008 US presidential election would be "based upon what lovely First Daughter we can look forward to watching grow up for four to eight years".According to Ashford, the post was intended to be a satirical commentary regarding media outlets' past track record of predicting political outcomes of candidates, as well as to illustrate political candidates who utilize their children as a means of drawing in popularity and potential votes.
The blog included photos of some candidates' children, one of which was a press-release photo of
Barack Obama 's family, including his two prepubescent daughters. Ashford was contacted by the Senator's lawyers, who demanded the removal of the image on the grounds of copyright infringement and defamation of character. [ [http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2929219&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312 ABC News: Criminal or Just Creepy? ] ] Ashford complied in the removal of images, but did not comply with the request to remove all references to Obama nor links to his website. Ashford continues to profess his support for Obama as a candidate, linking to pro-Obama sites, due to the Senator's position on the war in Iraq, environmental policy, and other political issues. [ [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,256740,00.html FOXNews.com - Pedophile Removes Web Photo of Obama's Daughters After Legal Threat - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum ] ]Police investigation
In August 2007, police in
Montreal ,Canada began an investigation into "Puellula", Ashford's website, because the activist added Montreal Children's Festival to a newly-created section dedicated to listing events where young girls gather. [ [http://940montreal.com/news.php?cat=23&id=801123 940 MONTREAL ] ] Ashford dubbed the new page "LGWatch" and acknowledged that he got the idea from another pro-pedophile activist, [ [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2007/08/01/qc-pedophile0801.html?ref=rss Pedophile website promotes Montreal Children's Festival ] ]Jack McClellan , who ran a similar site inWashington and later inCalifornia . [ [http://www.komotv.com/news/7987267.html Admitted pedophile leaves state, heads south | KOMO-TV - Seattle, Washington | News ] ]Website closure
On
August 17 ,2007 , Ashford shut down his "Puellula" website, posting a notice explaining that the closure was not connected to any police investigation, but rather due to his inability to keep a job once employers became aware of the website.Interview with Dr Tanya Byron
On
May 5 ,2008 the television channelBBC2 broadcasted an interview conducted between consultant clinical psychologistDr. Tanya Byron , Dr. Gary Humphrey (backstage advisor) and Lindsay Ashford as part of the programme series "Am I Normal?" [ [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article3875713.ece Tanya Byron: Am I Normal?; Flood] Andrew Billen, "The Times " May 6, 2008] in which she suggested that he would benefit from psychiatric help in order to come to terms with his past (he was abused by a female carer as a 4 year old boy).Fact|date=August 2008 She had also accused him of 'grooming' young girls via his website (now shut down) which contained pages akin to those found on girly social networking sites, and which painted child-adult relationships in a positive light. Ashford heatedly informed her that she was not in a position to make a psychological assessment of him after a one hour interview, especially since he had been analysed by psychiatrists in the past.Fact|date=August 2008 He also stated that he would allow his own young daughter to have a sexual relationship with someone like him if laws against it did not exist.Fact|date=August 2008References
External links
* [http://www.nj.com/specialprojects/expresstimes/index.ssf?/news/expresstimes/stories/molesters1_otherside.html "'I'm tired of being forced into the shadows by society'"] , Express Times (New Jersey),
22 February 2004
* [http://www.kfor.com/Global/story.asp?S=4128092 "Pedophile Website"] , KFOR TV, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,16 November 2005
* [http://www.ksn.com/news/stories/10174721.html "Pedophile on the Internet"] , KSN News, Wichita, Kansas,23 November 2005
* [http://www.channelcincinnati.com/health/5451023/detail.html "Pedophile's Web Site Outrages Slain Girl's Mother"] , Channel Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio,2 December 2005
* [http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2007/5/10/247948.html "Pedophilia website a concern for parents and FBI"] ,Baynews 9, Tampa, Florida,10 May 2007
* [http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=80895 "Pedophilia Web Sites From Abroad Frustrate Local Authorities"] , First Coast News, Jacksonville, Florida,26 April 2007
* [http://www.ktrh.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=121300&article=2012147 "Some Organizations Trying to Shut Down Pedophile Site"] , KTRH, Houston, Texas,20 April 2007
* [http://940montreal.com/news.php?cat=23&id=801123 "Montreal police investigating after pedophile website recommends kids' event"] , 940 Montreal, Montreal Quebec, Canada20 August 2007
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