{"id":1028428,"date":"2021-11-18T17:13:47","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T22:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1028428"},"modified":"2021-11-18T17:13:50","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T22:13:50","slug":"academics-speak-out-for-old-dominion-u-prof-put-on-leave-after-defending-pedophiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/academics-speak-out-for-old-dominion-u-prof-put-on-leave-after-defending-pedophiles\/","title":{"rendered":"Academics Speak Out for Old Dominion U. Prof Put on Leave After Defending Pedophiles"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Facademics-speak-out-for-old-dominion-u-prof-put-on-leave-after-defending-pedophiles%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1028428&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Old-Dominion-Prof-Allyn-Walker-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">Professors from around the country are defending Old Dominion University professor Allyn Walker, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/tech\/2021\/11\/17\/old-dominion-u-professor-placed-on-leave-after-defending-pedophiles\/\">put on leave<\/a> after claiming that sexual attraction to children is not always immoral, and that he wants to destigmatize pedophiles by referring to them as \u201cminor-attracted persons\u201d (MAPs), instead.<\/p>\n<p>In a bizarre twist, a petition created to reinstate Walker claimed that backlash over the professor is \u201cbased on nothing more than misinformation and stigma, all fueled by some individuals\u2019 desire to virtue-signal their hatred of pedophilia rather than support evidence-backed child protection initiatives and research.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAs a result, many members of the prevention community have taken to Twitter to express their disappointment at how the students and administrators at Old Dominion University handled the situation,\u201d the petition stated.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"5.4594594594595\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Reinstate Professor Allyn Walker \u2013 Sign the Petition! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8gPHz5ulNa\">https:\/\/t.co\/8gPHz5ulNa<\/a> via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Change?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Change<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Hayley Hemholtz (@HayleyHemholtzz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HayleyHemholtzz\/status\/1461110091243945986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 17, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The petition also quoted several other professors, who have also allegedly defended Walker\u2019s comments about pedophilia:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote readability=\"40\">\n<p>Dr. Gilian Tenbergen, an assistant professor of psychology at Oswego University, writes \u201c<em>The willful ignorance of so many is just disturbing. No wonder so many of us are leaving Twitter and the field<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Maggie Ingram, a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, writes \u201c<em>I stand with Allyn Walker. They are not promoting adult-child sex\u2026. Attempting to silence researchers is unacceptable<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Craig Harper, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Nottingham Trent University, writes \u201c<em>The treatment of Allyn Walker on this platform [Twitter], on campus, and in the media, for doing nothing more than talking in relatively broad terms about a burgeoning research field, is nothing short of disgraceful<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Skye Stephens, an associate professor of psychology at Saint Mary\u2019s University, writes \u201c<em>V[ery] frustrated to see the media coverage of Allyn Walker and the response of ODU to place them on administrative leave. The crux of what Walker writes\u2026is widely accepted in the field<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adding to Dr. Stephens\u2019 post, Dr. Michael Seto, the Forensic Research Director at the University of Ottawa\u2019s Institute for Mental Health Research, writes \u201c<em>I\u2019m further dismayed that [Old Dominion University] chose to reward the public backlash instead of defending the academic freedom of one of their faculty<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The petition went on to \u201ccall on&nbsp;the administration at Old Dominion University to stand with researchers and experts in the face of misinformation and hate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPut academic freedom before profit and optics,\u201d the petition demanded. \u201cReinstate Professor Allyn Walker to their position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others also took to social media to shared their dismay over Walker being placed on leave.<\/p>\n<p>Producer Luke Malone defended Walker by claiming that the professor\u2019s call to \u201cdestigmatize\u201d pedophilia is actually \u201cabout preventing child sexual abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReducing stigma around people with an unwanted attraction towards minors &gt; encourages help-seeking behavior &gt; reduces the likelihood of offending &gt; prevents child sexual abuse. #AllynWalker\u2019s work is about preventing child sexual abuse,\u201d Malone wrote.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"8.986013986014\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Reducing stigma around people with an unwanted attraction towards minors &gt; encourages help-seeking behavior &gt; reduces the likelihood of offending &gt; prevents child sexual abuse. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AllynWalker?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AllynWalker<\/a>&#8216;s work is about preventing&nbsp;child sexual abuse<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Luke Malone (@bylukemalone) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bylukemalone\/status\/1461118942169108482?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 17, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Another Twitter user defended Walker\u2019s comments by also insisting that \u201cattraction to children isn\u2019t immoral,\u201d adding, \u201cwe can\u2019t help what\/whom we\u2019re attracted to.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cStop tormenting Old Dominion professor Allyn Walker for saying that attraction to children isn\u2019t immoral. It\u2019s not, because we can\u2019t help what\/whom we\u2019re attracted to,\u201d the Twitter user wrote. \u201cWalker did not say that acting on that preference is okay. That\u2019s what matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"10.366101694915\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Stop tormenting Old Dominion professor Allyn Walker for saying that attraction to children isn&#8217;t immoral. It&#8217;s not, because we can&#8217;t help what\/whom we&#8217;re attracted to. Walker did not say that acting on that preference is okay. That&#8217;s what matters.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Michael Bailey (@profjmb) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/profjmb\/status\/1460433339513454596?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 16, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe treatment of @AllynWalkerPhD, on this platform, on campus, and in the media, for doing nothing more than talking in relatively broad terms about a burgeoning research field, is nothing short of disgraceful,\u201d another wrote.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"13.167938931298\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The treatment of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AllynWalkerPhD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AllynWalkerPhD<\/a>, on this platform, on campus, and in the media, for doing nothing more than talking in relatively broad terms about a burgeoning research field, is nothing short of disgraceful.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Craig Harper (@CraigHarper19) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CraigHarper19\/status\/1460701909938020358?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 16, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI am a Clinical Psychology PhD Student who researches individuals with attraction to children,\u201d another Twitter user proclaimed. \u201cThe work #AllynWalker does is important &amp; it is disturbing to see the response from @ODU.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t shout down those who study difficult topics because it makes people uncomfortable,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"9.0265486725664\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I am a Clinical Psychology PhD Student who researches individuals with attraction to children. The work <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AllynWalker?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AllynWalker<\/a> does is important &amp; it is disturbing to see the response from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ODU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ODU<\/a>. We shouldn&#8217;t shout down those who study difficult topics because it makes people uncomfortable.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Lauryn Vander Molen (@LaurynVanderM) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LaurynVanderM\/status\/1461034082373091335?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 17, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>One Twitter user appeared to try to justify pedophilia by claiming that not all of them engage in sexual abuse of children, adding that pedophiles \u201cneed a safe space to talk\u201d in order to prevent them from molesting children.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAttraction is not action. Pedophilia and child sexual abuse are not the same. True prevention of child sexual abuse means acknowledging that some people have attractions to children \u2013 including youth \u2013 and need a safe space to talk to prevent action,\u201d the Twitter user wrote.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"9.0030211480363\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Attraction is not action. Pedophilia and child sexual abuse are not the same. True prevention of child sexual abuse means acknowledging that some people have attractions to children \u2013 including youth \u2013 and need a safe space to talk to prevent action <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ODU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ODU<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/allynwalker?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#allynwalker<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dr. Ainslie Heasman (@AinslieHeasman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AinslieHeasman\/status\/1460699206138613761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 16, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>You can follow Alana&nbsp;Mastrangelo on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ARmastrangelo\">Facebook<\/a> and Twitter at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ARmastrangelo\">@ARmastrangelo<\/a>, and on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alanamastrangelo\/\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Professors from around the country are defending Old Dominion University professor Allyn Walker, who was put on leave after claiming that sexual attraction to children is not always immoral, and &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1028428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1028428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1028428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1028428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1028428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}