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American Morning
Rocker Pete Townsend Free on Bail
Aired January 14, 2003 - 07:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get to London right now. Pete Townsend has to report back to police by the end of the month as part of a child pornography investigation. The rock star out on bail yet again today after being arrested in connection with the case over the weekend.
Diana Muriel is now following the story in southwest London for more on what's happening today.
Diana -- hello.
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.
Yes, in the last half-hour, Pete Townsend's brother, Simon Townsend, has just arrived here at this house in Richmond in south London. He brought the newspapers and three supermarket shopping bags, as well as three dogs, into the house. No doubt Mr. Townsend will be wanting to know how the press are reporting the events of last night.
Just to recap. Last night, he was arrested by police officers here at his house at 7:35 in the evening. He was then taken to Trickaman (ph) police station. Now, he has not been charged, but he was arrested on suspicion of making and possessing indecent photographs of young children and of incitement to distribute those photographs.
He remained at the police station for five hours, and he was interrogated, we understand, for an hour and 20 minutes before being released on bail by police, though not having been charged, shortly after midnight, when he returned to his home here in Richmond.
Earlier in the afternoon, the police had come to his house. They had taken away several boxes full of documents, Polaroid film, we understand, as well as computers from his home.
Pete Townsend, in a statement earlier on the weekend, on Saturday, has said that he would be happy for the police to look at the hard drive of his computer, that he was not a pedophile, that he had visited porn sites, he had used his credit card to access one particular porn site, but he was doing it for research purposes for a book he was writing on the possibility of his own sexual abuse when he was a young child. He believes he himself could have been sexually abused.
So, he has to return to the police station before the end of the month. Again, no charges have been brought, but the police do have some time to do that.
Back to you.
HEMMER: Diana, thanks -- Diana Muriel reporting there in southwest London.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired January 14, 2003 - 07:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get to London right now. Pete Townsend has to report back to police by the end of the month as part of a child pornography investigation. The rock star out on bail yet again today after being arrested in connection with the case over the weekend.
Diana Muriel is now following the story in southwest London for more on what's happening today.
Diana -- hello.
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.
Yes, in the last half-hour, Pete Townsend's brother, Simon Townsend, has just arrived here at this house in Richmond in south London. He brought the newspapers and three supermarket shopping bags, as well as three dogs, into the house. No doubt Mr. Townsend will be wanting to know how the press are reporting the events of last night.
Just to recap. Last night, he was arrested by police officers here at his house at 7:35 in the evening. He was then taken to Trickaman (ph) police station. Now, he has not been charged, but he was arrested on suspicion of making and possessing indecent photographs of young children and of incitement to distribute those photographs.
He remained at the police station for five hours, and he was interrogated, we understand, for an hour and 20 minutes before being released on bail by police, though not having been charged, shortly after midnight, when he returned to his home here in Richmond.
Earlier in the afternoon, the police had come to his house. They had taken away several boxes full of documents, Polaroid film, we understand, as well as computers from his home.
Pete Townsend, in a statement earlier on the weekend, on Saturday, has said that he would be happy for the police to look at the hard drive of his computer, that he was not a pedophile, that he had visited porn sites, he had used his credit card to access one particular porn site, but he was doing it for research purposes for a book he was writing on the possibility of his own sexual abuse when he was a young child. He believes he himself could have been sexually abused.
So, he has to return to the police station before the end of the month. Again, no charges have been brought, but the police do have some time to do that.
Back to you.
HEMMER: Diana, thanks -- Diana Muriel reporting there in southwest London.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
