Oxford lecturer’s child porn shame
He admits making thousands of images... after writing paper claiming they could be morally acceptable
‘Immediately suspended’
AN OXFORD University lecturer who once questioned whether there was a ‘morally acceptable form of child pornography’ has admitted making thousands of indecent images.
Dr Peter King has been suspended after pleading guilty to four counts of producing and possessing child pornography relating to 2,992 images he made over an eight-year period.
The philosophy tutor at Pembroke College has lectured students at Oxford for 30 years, teaching in nine colleges as well as at Reading University, Birkbeck College in London and the University of North London.
In 2008, the 63-year- old published a controversial paper on the ethics of child pornography entitled ‘No Plaything: Ethical Issues Concerning Child Pornography’ in the journal, Ethical Theory and Modern Practice.
King posed the ‘possibility of a morally acceptable form of child pornography’, writing: ‘Academic discussion of pornography is generally restricted to issues arising from the depiction of adults.
‘I argue that child pornography is a more complex matter, and that generally accepted moral judgments concerning pornography in general have to be revised when children are involved.
‘I look at the question of harm to the children involved, the consumers, and society in general, at the question of blame, and at the possibility of a morally acceptable form of child pornography.’ In a note on the paper, he called statutory rape ‘consensual’, and commented on ‘natural’ images of naked children which are viewed by paedophiles as being able to exist in ‘a way that is at least morally neutral’.
The academic was open on his CV about his interests in pornography, listing the paper under his academic publications, adding that he has also reviewed a book called The Problem of Pornography.
Yesterday Pembroke College said King had been suspended immediately pending disciplinary proceedings after he pleaded guilty to three counts of producing indecent photographs of a child between 2010 and 2018 and one count of possession of child pornography.
Almost 200 of the 2,992 images he produced involved the most serious category of offending.
His conviction emerged after the college sent an email to its philosophy students on Friday stating that King had been ‘immediately suspended from his employment in college’.
His profile was removed from the Pembroke College website, and his Oxford University email address was suspended.
King’s colleagues at Pembroke were unaware of the police investigation until he notified them last week, the day before he pleaded guilty at Oxford Crown Court.
In the email to students, Pembroke’s academic director, Nancy Braithwaite, wrote: ‘This will come as a shock and my concern now is to ensure that you receive any support that you might need.’
One of his students told the Oxford Blue newspaper: ‘I never felt uncomfortable or nervous around him which is why it was so much of a shock for me to realise that someone I admired and respected could do such a disgusting and horrible thing.’
King refused to comment when approached at his semidetached home in Churchill, near Chipping Norton. Neighbour Pamela Osborne said he was a ‘mild-mannered friend who wouldn’t hurt a fly’, adding: ‘He is a very private individual.’
A Thames Valley Police spokesman said King’s offending was not related to his pupils. King will be sentenced on March 19.