The Who's Pete Townshend has opened up more about the 2003 investigation into his purchase of child pornography. Speaking with The Times, the rocker says that incident was a flawed attempt at exposing the sources of child porn in Russia.
"[I had] white knight syndrome, an attempt to be seen to be the one that's helping. I had experienced something creepy as a child, so you imagine: what if I was a girl of nine or 10 and my uncle had raped me every week? I felt I had an understanding and I could help," he told the news source.
Townshend, who founded the Double O charity for sexual assault victims, was investigated and placed on a sex offenders list. He says in retrospect it was a terrible idea:
"What I did was insane. There was no sense of 'truth will out.' I've had the misfortune to read online comments where I've been judged as a pedophile because I've got a big nose," he adds.
Townshend's memoir Who I Am, is due October 11.
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