Connor was registered with Virtuous Pedophiles (VirPed) under his real name for about a year (active for only a few months) and described himself right from the start as “insane” in the sense that he was consumed by an uncontrollable rage against the discrimination of pedophiles. He exhibited a great deal of self-destructive behavior in this regard: from outing himself with a photo on social media holding a MAP Pride flag with writing on it to reporting himself for sex dolls and sex comics, he tried to give his actions the appearance of raising awareness. Some may find this aspect somewhat honorable, but personally, I have to say: I don't buy it. My impression is that he received quite appropriate backlash on VirPed too. Now he has not been active there for three months.
On Friday, however, he reappeared. Not on VirPed, but at the
WikiConference North America 2025
in New York.
With a sign around his neck identifying him as a “non-offending anti-contact pedophile,”
with the MAP flag as a cape
and a loaded revolver in his hand!
According to media reports, he stormed onto the stage, pointed the gun at the ceiling, shouted “I'm a non-contact pedophile. I want to kill myself” and made it clear that he was going to kill himself in front of everyone in protest against the extreme discrimination of pedophiles by the operators of Wikipedia. Fortunately, two conference participants intervened, wrestled him to the ground, and disarmed him. He was eventually taken into custody by the police.
On the one hand, I feel sorry for him: he must have been carrying enormous psychological distress. Did he seek help for it? I am not aware of that. The path he chose is one of actions that cry out for attention, frighten people, and further cast our issues in a negative light.
At least one friend of mine reported that he has already been harassed by extremely discriminatory acquaintances based on this incident and the fact that it became known here in Europe via social media.
On the other hand, I feel sorry for the people who were frightened and terrified by his actions on Friday.
But when it comes to the core problem with Wikipedia, I have to say: he's right. The English-language Wikipedia has taken extreme measures against non-abusive pedophiles and self-help groups, and its operators have thus proven themselves to be clear enemies of fact-based action and impartiality. Anyone who edits Wikipedia and makes it clear that they are a pedophile is banned for life. Pages on the subject have been forcibly rewritten and made an exception to Wikipedia's basic principle: only those who blow this same hostile horn are allowed to edit at all; any clearly positive contribution, no matter how well documented, is apparently suppressed. Even recognized prominent experts were subject to anti-pedophile censorship and got kicked out. It's disgusting! One example of this is the “Reception” section of the article on VirPed, where a positive, well-documented presentation was artificially turned into a biased negative one. See the edit history.
Please do something that actively helps you and others, and don't play the martyr. I have serious concerns that Connor's actions will even have a destructive effect on what little good reputation remains of what the self-help community once built up. Right now, it is mentioned in the same breath as armed violence! Was that the idea? The fact that some very reasonable statements from Connor's social media posts and from experts are also being disseminated in the articles is only little consolation.
I would like to conclude with the following thought: It may be that we are primarily concerned here with preventing “offending” in the sense of sexual abuse of children, but that is not the only problem in the world, not the only type of abuse that is heinous and fundamentally evil. And while we may be the most persecuted minority in the world right now, we don't have a monopoly on suffering, nor do we have any right to revenge or to put people in mortal fear, which is what some people sometimes dare to do. “Let us love,” says a wise old book. Love seeks opportunities to do good, to alleviate fear, and is a great guide for the moral compass.
I hope Connor will get the mental help he needs to find more functional ways to deal with his life and the unfair conditions we're forced to deal with today.
Here are a handful of articles about this attack on the conference:
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