MUSIC NEWS- Two anti-child abuse groups have called for the National Football League (NFL) to ban Pete Townshend and the Who from playing at this years' Super Bowl XLIZV Half Time show (February 7, 2010). The groups are trying to start up a boycott of the event due to Townshend's 2003 legal warning by UK authorities for using a credit card in 1999 to access a website that allegedly advertised child p*rnography.
Evin Daly, the founder of Child Abuse Watch wrote to the NFL commissioner saying, "Inviting Townsend to play is a blatant disregard to the values of American families and a slap in the face to victims of child sexual abuse. . . I think there's a chance the League would drop Pete and let the rest of the band perform. The Super Bowl is just not suitable for him."
And, Florida-based Protect Our Children has contacted US Immigration & Customs officials to urge them not to permit Townshend into the country (guess POC didn't realize Pete's already been in the USA several times since the 2003 incident). Protect Our Children's Kevin Gillick said, "We're part of a coordinated effort to prevent Mr. Townsend from coming into this country,' said. We acknowledge he was not convicted, but he was on (the UK) sex offenders' list. In the United States, you're on a sex offenders' list for life. . . Why (are they) having Pete Townshend perform in what's supposed to be a family show?"
At the time of the 2003 investigation, Townshend released the following statement; "I accept that I was wrong to access this site, and that by doing so, I broke the law, and I have accepted the caution that the police have given me." As a result, Townshend was entered onto the UK Violent and Sex Offender Register for five years.
MNN fails to see any possible harm to the children of the world by The Who's appearance (other than seeing only 1/2 of a great rock band re-do its' classic songs) and wish these groups focus their efforts on the serious issue of child abuse instead of grabbing for headlines by attacking celebrities.
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