University’s green light for ‘pervert’ student’s research
A PHD student at an elite university wrote a research paper about performing sex acts over cartoons of children, a committee of MPs has heard.
Manchester University officials admitted they conducted no background checks before accepting Karl Andersson – aside from looking at his CV and holding an interview.
If they had, they would have discovered the Swedish student had published a magazine prior to 2010 which featured sexual pictures of adolescent boys, the MPs heard.
Professor Nalin Thakkar, vice president for social responsibility at the university, told MPs the incident highlighted a ‘blind spot’ in terms of certain types of controversial research.
For his research paper, Mr Andersson spent three months recording his feelings while pleasuring himself to cartoon images of young boys in Japanese comic books.
Yesterday, it emerged his supervisor at the university was ‘aware’ of it and wrote an email saying it was ‘OK to publish’.
The revelations came out in a session of the Commons’ education select committee, where MPs grilled Professor Thakkar.
The offending paper came to light in August, after being published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Mr Andersson is currently suspended pending the outcome of a full investigation by the university.
The paper was not published by Manchester University itself, but Professor Thakkar acknowledged part of it may have been completed while Mr Andersson was a student there.
Tory MP Dr Caroline Johnson said: ‘This is an article where the author Karl Andersson masturbates over a three-month period to cartoon images of children – young boys – engaging in sexual activity, and describes his experiences of doing so. It is revolting.’ She added that in the article he thanks his PhD supervisor, Dr Sharon Kinsella, for ‘encouraging him to go where his research desires take him’.
At the hearing, Professor Thakkar said the supervisor had read the article once it was accepted for publication.
He said she believed the ‘study of these comics is a legitimate area of study’ but she ‘wasn’t aware of his background’ at the time. Dr Kinsella remains at the university, the hearing was told.
The university is assisting police in an inquiry into whether the research paper broke any laws.
Dr Johnson told the hearing about the magazine Mr Andersson produced years ago. She said it ‘showed adolescent boys being photographed in a sexual manner, and engaged in sexual activity’.
The research paper has been removed from the internet.
After committee chairman Robert Halfon condemned Manchester for ‘giving the green light’ to the ‘genuinely disgusting’ research, Professor Thakkar insisted the university ‘completely understands and shares the deep concerns raised by the public’.
Dr Kinsella, Mr Andersson and Manchester University were contacted for comment.
‘Disgusting research’