Lindsay Ashford
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Lindsay Ashford (born October 4, 1968) is an activist who advocates tolerance and acceptance of pedophilia.
After a failed marriage and two suicide attempts, Ashford publicly announced that he was a pedophile at the age of 34. In 2002, he launched a website, where he expounds his philosophy about pedophilia and calls for tolerance of pedophilia and the abolition of age of consent laws. He discusses what he sees as common myths about pedophiles, and explains how his definition of pedophilia differs from the one commonly accepted by society. Like most pedophile activists, Ashford claims that children and adolescents are capable of being informed, consenting sexual partners, and that adult-child sexual/romantic relationships can be based on mutual love, not sexual abuse. The website encourages others to share their stories as well, and has an extensive discussion of the ethical issues surrounding pedophilia.
In a February, 2004 New Jersey newspaper interview, entitled "I'm tired of being forced into the shadows by society",[1] Ashford discusses his attraction to children and why he thinks that pedophiles should not be discriminated against by society.
In January 2006, Ashford shut down some parts of the puellula.com domain due to lack of funding. As of January 2007, puellula remains online, following Ashford's public requests for funding, which have been followed by a further request for funds, this time to pay an air fee from his resident Panama to the Netherlands.
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[edit] Domain name dispute
In June 2005, his puellula.org domain was shut down by his registrar Go Daddy, who altered the DNS records so that it would point at nonexistent name servers. According to the current Whois information,[2] it was shut down for "spam and abuse." Ashford has issued a press release[3] describing the events leading to this, and denouncing Go Daddy as "a self-appointed censor of speech." According to the press release, Go Daddy contacted him in mid-May and asked him to transfer the domain name elsewhere due to user complaints. He claims that he complied within the allotted 24 hours, since it was within Go Daddy's legal authority to insist upon this, but was then told by them that the domain name couldn't be transferred due to it being the subject of a dispute. Asking for an explanation multiple times, he received no further response.
A few days after the domain was disconnected, he registered a replacement domain name at puellula.com using Joker.com. The entire site is currently available at the new location.
Ashford has accused Go Daddy not only of censorship, but also of hypocrisy[4], noting that they have allowed the registration of several racist and Neo-Nazi sites, including one website of the Ku Klux Klan.[5]
After Ashford complained to ICANN about Go Daddy's actions, ownership of the puellula.org domain name was restored to him.[6]
[edit] 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 Elizabeth Smart among others.[7] Television stations WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan and KNXV in Phoenix, Arizona interviewed the parents of children featured on Ashford's site, Taken from our Midst.[8] The parents expressed outrage that their children were featured on a website run by a pedophile. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also expressed outrage that Ashford would operate such a site. Ashford responded to this criticism by professing that the missing children's website he operates is unrelated to pedophilia and its intention was only to provide a tribute to missing or deceased girls.
[edit] Barack Obama controversy
In March of 2007, Ashford once again came under national scrutiny when it was discovered that in April of 2006 he had made a blog entry on his website claiming that the candidate to win the 2008 Presidential Election would be "the one with the cutest daughters." 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 the absurdity of political candidates who utilize their children as a means of drawing in popularity and potential votes.[9] To help illustrate his point--alongside with the other major candidates--Ashford featured a press-release photo of the Obama family on the blog post with focus on Obama's two prepubescent daughters. Ten months later, at the behest of Obama, Ashford was contacted by the senator's lawyers, demanding the removal of the image on the grounds of copyright infringement and defamation of character. Though Ashford has since removed the image, Obama's lawyers have apparently continued threatening legal action against Ashford.[10] Despite this, Ashford continues to profess his support for Obama as a candidate, linking to pro-Obama sites, according to Ashford due to the senator's position on the war in Iraq, environmental policy, and other legitimate political issues.[11]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- The Human Face of Pedophillia
- “I’m tired of being forced into the shadows by society”, Express Times (New Jersey), 22 February, 2004
- Investigators: Pedophile Runs Missing Kids Website, WXYZ TV, Detroit Michigan, 8 July, 2005
- Missing and Exploited, KNXV TV, Phoenix, Arizona, 18 July, 2005
- Pedophile Website, KFOR TV, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 16 November, 2005
- KCTV News (Kansas City, Missouri) Investigation, 21-22 November, 2005
- 21 November 2005
- 22 November 2005
- Lindsay Ashford Interview: Part 1 and Part 2
- YouTube hosted video of interview: Part 1, 2, 3, 4
- Pedophile on the Internet, KSN News, Wichita, Kansas, 23 November, 2005
- Pedophile's Web Site Outrages Slain Girl's Mother, Channel Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2 December, 2005
- Ed Smart Upset Over Pedophile Website Showing Daughter, ABC 4, Salt Lake City, Utah, 6 December, 2005
