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 Colin Nugent (Emu Nugent) during the early 1980s. The group published a magazine called Rockspider. 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."

Approximately a year after its founding, the APSG was infiltrated by a person cooperating with Melbourne's Delta Squad police force. Using the pseudonym "Greg Daniels," the infiltrator, identified as Stephen John Mayne by PAN, recorded other members' addresses and taped their conversations. After the investigation failed to uncover evidence of any other crime, nine members were charged with "conspiracy to corrupt the public morals." Australia's gay community responded with strong support for the APSG. Writing for Outrage, William Ward declared that the "Delta Squad and their equivalents elsewhere must be fought." Queer historian Steven Angelides examined the case of Alison Thorne, then spokesperson for the Gay Legal Rights Coalition, who 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."

Although no convictions were made, the charges were successful in bringing about the APSG's dissolution. The group was succeeded by the Boy Lovers and Zucchini Eaters (BLAZE), another law-abiding group dismantled by "police activity." SYBOL may be considered its predecessor.

References

• PAN, issue 18 (pp. 6 - 7), issue 19 (pp. 10 - 11), and issue 20 (pp. 12 - 13)
• Paedophile Networks in Australia - Extent and Activities
• Steven Angelides, The Emergence of the Paedophile in the Late Twentieth Century, describes the persecution of Thorne
• Angelides, The Homosexualizationof Pedophilia: The Case of Alison Thorne and the Australian Pedophile Support Group, in Homophobias: Lust and Loathing Across Time and Space, edited by David A. B. Murray (Duke Uni Press: Durham & London, 2009), pp. 64-81. Book chapter about Thorne's case.