In this Feb. 26, 2019 photo, people walk across a quad at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. This private research institution with one of the world’s foremost medical schools, wants to create an armed police force similar to those patrolling numerous other U.S. urban colleges and universities. But a renewed effort to establish a sworn force is stirring intense debate about Baltimore’s persistent racial divide and the university’s complicated relationship with its home city. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) Patrick Semansky/AP

Johns Hopkins hires professor who said attraction to minors isn’t immoral

Jeremiah Poff May 13, 01:06 PMMay 13, 02:05 PM Video Embed

Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore has hired a criminal justice academic who previously made comments sympathetic to pedophiles, months after the professor resigned from a job at the Virginia-based Old Dominion University.

The Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sex Abuse at Johns Hopkins University announced Thursday that Allyn Walker would work as a postdoctoral fellow beginning on May 25.

Walker had previously held a position as an assistant professor of sociology at Old Dominion University in Virginia, but resigned after a video went viral online of a Zoom discussion in which Walker claimed it wasn’t obvious that being sexually attracted to minors was immoral.

UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR SAYS SEXUAL ATTRACTION TO MINORS ISN’T IMMORAL

“I want to be extremely clear that child sex abuse is never ever OK,” Walker said in the video. “But having an attraction to minors doesn’t mean the person having those attractions is doing something wrong.”

The Moore Center, which says it works to “change the way the world thinks about child sexual abuse, from inevitable to preventable,” said it was “excited” to announce Walker’s hiring in a series of tweets.

“Allyn Walker is a leader in the field of perpetration prevention research, which is essential for developing a comprehensive public health approach to addressing child sexual abuse and effective prevention programs,” the center said. “We are delighted to have Allyn Walker join our team.”

https://twitter.com/MooreCenter_JHU/status/1525123391388278788?s=20&t=iJUcZBeT6d0TC11fiNkxAw

Walker, who identifies as nonbinary, has regularly referred to pedophiles as “minor-attracted persons,” including in a book titled A Long, Dark Shadow: Minor-Attracted People and Their Pursuit of Dignity.

At the time of the viral video, Walker told the Washington Examiner: “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.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“My work is informed by my past experience and advocacy as a social worker counseling victims,” Walker said at the time. “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.”

A spokewoman for Johns Hopkins University, in response for a request for comment, directed the Washington Examiner to the statement released by the Moore Center.

© 2022 Washington Examiner

Originally appeared at Washington Examiner

Read More