Trans professor is placed on leave after controversially defending pedophiles

A transgender university professor in Virginia has been placed on leave after defending pedophiles as ‘Minor Attracted People’ and saying they shouldn’t be ostracized because they can’t help their natural urges. 

Dr. Allyn Walker, who goes by the pronouns they/them, was placed on leave by Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, on Tuesday after a swell of outrage over their remarks and views. 

Walker has written a book that tries to destigmatize pedophilia. It encourages people to refer to pedophiles as ‘Minor Attracted People’  and says they shouldn’t be ostracized for their urges, which they can’t help. 

In a video to promote the book, Walker said: ‘A lot of people when they hear the word pedophile, they automatically assume that means sex offender. That isn’t true. And it leads to a lot of misconceptions.’

They suggested pedophiles should be able to use childlike sex dolls to satisfy their urges and stop them from targeting actual children, and they ‘didn’t ask’ to be sexually attracted to kids.  

The remarks sparked outrage immediately, but the university at first refused to remove Walker from their post. 

After a Change.org petition gathered nearly 4,000 signatures calling for their removal, the school changed course. 

On Tuesday night, a spokesman said: ‘Old Dominion University has placed Dr. Allyn Walker on administrative leave, effective immediately, from their position as assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice.’ 

Walker’s book which seeks to destigmatize pedophiles who he says shouldn’t be ostracized because they can’t help their desires

Walker, a tenure-track assistant professor at Old Dominion, had penned a controversial book attempting to destigmatize pedophilia titled A Long Dark Shadow: Minor-Attracted People and Their Pursuit of Dignity, published by the University of California Press. 

Walker, who uses the pronouns they/them, said in a recent online interview with the Prostasia Foundation, a child advocacy group that promotes child sex doll usage for pedophiles, that pedophiles did not ask to be sexually attracted to children.  

Kennedy said that the online backlash had led to concerns for Walker’s safety and that of the campus, and placing them on leave was the best course of action.  

‘Furthermore, the controversy over Dr. Walker’s research has disrupted the campus and community environment and is interfering with the institution’s mission of teaching and learning, she said.  

Old Dominion’s president also issued a statement clarifying that the university did not condone any type of sexual abuse against children.

‘I want to state in the strongest terms possible that child sexual abuse is morally wrong and has no place in our society,’ President Brian Hemphill said.

‘This is a challenging time for our University, but I am confident that we will come together and move forward as a Monarch family.’ 

In their interview, Walker said there is no ‘morality or immorality attached to attraction to anyone’ because ‘no one can control who they’re attracted to’.   

‘In other words, it’s not who we’re attracted to that’s either OK or not OK. It’s our behaviors in responding to that attraction that are either OK or not OK.’   

Old Dominion had initially rejected the clamor to remove Walker, only distancing itself from the comments and saying it ‘does not endorse or promote crimes against children’

A Change.org petition calling for Walker’s removal from the school’s staff amassed more than 3,907 signatures before the university took action

‘Pedophiles do not deserve sympathy or a platform of any sort,’ wrote petition backer Kimberly Price

An online petition calling for Walker to be fired attracted thousands of signatures as of Tuesday, with current students at the college branding their remarks ‘gross’ and ‘weird.’ Since it was launched three days ago, the professor has deleted their Twitter account.    

Before Old Dominion announced plans to place Walker on leave, an alumni said they were ‘disgusted’ at the university’s decision to ‘protect someone that is an advocate for pedophiles.’

A Change.org petition calling for Walker’s removal from the school’s staff amassed more than 3,907 signatures before the university took action. 

‘Pedophiles do not deserve sympathy or a platform of any sort,’ wrote petition backer Kimberly Price. 

‘They thrive off power structures. Giving them the opportunity to be seen and heard will only put more children in danger. This person does not deserve to teach if this is their ideals.’ 

Walker later clarified that child sex abuse is ‘never, ever OK’ but said sexual urges toward minors are not necessarily immoral, as long as they are not acted upon. 

They said the term ‘minor-attracted persons’ will help destigmatize people who do not act upon their urges.

They continued: ‘We have a tendency to want to categorize people with these attractions as evil or morally corrupt.

Walker earned their PhD at CUNY Graduate Center in 2017, according to the university’s website, and specializes in mental health, court systems, queer criminology and ‘resilience to offending’

Walker would rather people referred to pedophiles as ‘minor attracted’ people 

‘But when we’re talking about non-offending MAPs, these are people who have an attraction they didn’t ask for.

‘So, their behaviors are moral. But they’re still being subjected to this same idea that they’re bad people and they’ve often internalized that for themselves.’ 

 Walker’s book, published in June, gives voice to ‘non-offending MAPs’ and consists primarily of interviews with self-identified pedophiles and vignettes from their lives, according to the book’s description online. 

Walker’s PhD thesis, titled ‘Understanding Resilience Strategies among Minor-Attracted Individuals’ takes another shocking stance on the treatment of pedophilia, arguing that pedophiles should be permitted to view child pornography as a ‘harm reduction technique’ or ‘form of therapy’ to help pedophiles ‘maintain abstinence from sexual contact with children.’

‘Among some groups of predisposed individuals, easy access to a wide variety of engrossing and high-quality child pornography could serve as a substitute for involvement with actual victims,’ Walker wrote.

Criminologist Evin Daly, CEO of Florida-based child advocacy agency One Child International Inc., told DailyMail.com that he felt ‘the professor would be smart to readdress the terminology that they are using.’

‘There is no de-stigmatization of people who are sexually attracted to children,’ he said. 

‘Their overall theory is correct, their wish to redefine pedophiles is correct – there’s a difference between fantasy and behavior. But their terminology is leaning in a way that is trying to destigmatize pedophilia – how do you destigmatize wanting to have sex with children?’

‘Any sexual activity with children is rape. That’s like calling an adult rapist who rapes women by some soft and gentle term.’

Walker’s PhD thesis, excerpted above, takes another shocking stance on the treatment of pedophilia, arguing that pedophiles should be permitted to view child pornography as a ‘harm reduction technique’

Viewing ‘engrossing and high-quality child pornography,’ Walker argued, is a viable method to help those attracted to children ‘maintain abstinence from sexual contact with children’

As for Walker’s graduate thesis, Daly didn’t mince words. 

‘They speak about child pornography as if it’s some abstract idea. It isn’t,’ Daly told DailyMail.com 

‘The generation of child pornography is a crime… Discussing viewing it even in a intellectual way is discussing how a crime will benefit a criminal – viewing it is a crime as I have said. Even conducting research would involve a crime as described.’

Walker’s comments were met with immense backlash after being shared on social media.

‘We do not need to change the ‘terminology’ for pedophiles, read Dr. Walker’s book, or receive lessons about giving ‘pedophiles dignity,’ Mikiah Everett, who identified as an ODU alumnus, said before Walker was placed on leave.  

A slurry of Twitter users were baffled and appalled by Walker’s stance: 

‘Allyn Walker [thinks] it’s okay to be sexually attracted to minors as long as you don’t act on it,’ wrote @DJDeMario1. 

‘This psycho must be fired and committed. Sick.’ 

‘You’ve got an open pedophile pos working in your school, @ODU,’ wrote @SaveTeamCasey. ‘Allyn Walker promoting sexual attraction to kids… Do something.’ 

Another user posted a picture of the professor defending their thesis, standing beside a PowerPoint presentation with the work’s title: ‘Understanding Resilience Strategies among Minor-Attracted Individuals.’

User @ConceptualJames renamed the presentation: ‘Understanding groomers and the direct connections between Queer Theory, ‘comprehensive sex education,’ pedophilia, and grooming in government and private schools.’ 

Texas Senator Ted Cruz also waded into the debate, saying: ‘Holy c***. What the hell is wrong with ODU?’ 

Texas Senator Ted Cruz waded into the debate, saying: ‘Holy c***. What the hell is wrong with ODU?’ before the university placed Walker on leave

A slurry of Twitter users were baffled and appalled by Walker’s stance, and called for their resignation. Walker was placed on leave on Tuesday 

User @ConceptualJames renamed Walker’s presentation: ‘Understanding groomers and the direct connections between Queer Theory, ‘comprehensive sex education,’ pedophilia, and grooming in government and private schools’

The professor put out a statement Saturday along with the Old Dominion University in a bid to clarify the controversial remarks.

Walker said: ‘I want to be clear: child sexual abuse is an inexcusable crime. 

‘As an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice, the goal of my research is to prevent crime.

‘I embarked on this research in hopes of gaining understanding of a group that, previously, has not been studied in order to identify ways to protect children.’ 

The professor said they had counselled victims of sexual violence, which had helped form their views. 

Walker has taught at Old Dominion since 2019 and some students said they were disturbed by the comments. 

Jaelan Jackson told WTKR: ‘Honestly it just sounds gross. Just because you’re not acting on it, to acknowledge it is weird and not okay at all. It feels uncomfortable to know that someone’s like that on campus.’

Jonathan Mukmuye added: ‘I don’t think that it reflects poorly on the school, but I do think it’s weird that we have a professor that would think that.’