Australian Paedophile Support Group

The Australian Paedophile Support Group was a small, boylove-focused support group for paedophiles stationed in Sydney, Australia, and led by Emu Nugent during the early 1980s. Its goals were "to promote paedophilia as a viable sexual alternative," "to provide support for other paedophiles," "to bring pressure for the removal of the age of consent," and "to promote children's rights." Following a police infiltration that failed to uncover evidence of any other crime, nine members were charged with "conspiracy to corrupt the public morals." Though no convictions were made, the charges were successful in forcing the APSG's dissolution. Alison Thorne, then spokesperson for the Gay Legal Rights Coalition, was forced from her position as a secondary school teacher after a media furor arose over her public defense of the group. Thorne told a radio station:

"I can understand people's feelings from the point of view that they have a lot of misconceptions and I don't think that a lot of the things that the media are doing really helps terribly much. Because paedophiles really care for children. Paedophiles would absolutely abhor child ... abuse of children, are really concerned about consent."

The APSG was supposedly succeeded by the Boy Lovers and Zucchini Eaters (BLAZE), another legal group dismantled by "police activity."

External links

• Paedophile Networks in Australia - Extent and Activities
• The Emergence of the Paedophile in the Late Twentieth Century, describes the persecution of Thorne