Well, is he? In my opinion, no. He's story seems legitimate. But then again, I'm not a psychologist, I can't tell if he's lying or not. Personally, I don't care if he is a diaper sniper or not, I still like The Who.
OK, the facts are: In 2003 Townshend received a police caution after acknowledging a solitary paid access of a child pornography website in 1999. He was added to the British list of registered sex offenders for five years after police confiscated 14 of his computers and found no child pornography. So, if there was a 4 year spread between his first known access of kiddie porn and the police confiscating his computers, and across 14 computers there was ZERO kiddie porn, I'd say big no. He's innocent. Child porn (hell, ANY porn) is an uncontrolled obsession. There would have been some evidence.
I don't know about the accusations but I think that he has suffered a 'public relations disaster'. He's a rhythm 'n' blues original & one of the finest 'rockers' of his generation but that doesn't give him 'carte blanche' to be let off the hook-if there was any proof of anything.
I say "no." From what I've read, he accessed the child porn site as research to deal with his own history of sexual abuse, and for what it's worth, I believe him.
Bottom line is, an accusation was made, investigation carried out, charges brought, trial took place, verdict given, sentence passed, time served = move on Whilst fame does not exclude or excuse anyone from wrong-doings, similarly, as with those who do the crime, do the time, the rehabilitation of offenders act allows a second chance to learn from mistakes. Townsend is one who, being so much in the public eye and unlike other 'celebs' that have committed much more serious offences, is somewhat of an open target I do not see any kind of ill-judgement/similar cases that have occurred since. Unless anything else arises - I think this book can be closed.
Child molestors would never let a silly thing like the law stop them, and they'd have nailed him to the cross if they had any evidence.
I think curiosity killed the cat, and sometimes laws are created to discourage people from even thinking of going there. Japanese like their porn stars to look about 13 years old, which reflects their materialistic culture that makes white collar crime practically legal, just like the US. The harder they work and the less of an actual community they inhabit, the more they treat each other like abstractions. Its so bad that a few of the most famous models in the world now, are totally synthetic and never existed. In the US, boob implants are big, while its butt implants in Brazil. If I had to guess, Townsend's biggest problem is all his fame and fortune. LaLa Land is just no place to be.
