In October 2024, the MAP community became aware of a horrible tragedy perpetrated by Nicholas Prosper, a young man from the UK who murdered his mother and two siblings. Networking with various contacts within the MAP community led us to find that Prosper had actually been active within our community and identified as a MAP, with a special interest in the character of Clementine from The Walking Dead video game series. Some of this information has now been published by mainstream media, and we expect more to be revealed at his sentencing.

Brian Ribbon, who had previously warned in his article The Push about the potential risks of MAP violence due to stigma and inadequate healthcare, wrote a piece for Mu concluding that society’s punitive attitudes toward minor attraction had isolated Prosper to the point where he broke. While this conclusion seemed somewhat extreme at the time, it appeared reasonable based on the evidence available. The Push, however, was received poorly by some in the community, leading to a recent clarification of the real intent behind the article. Simultaneously, new evidence has been released showing that in addition to murdering his family, Prosper had intended to become a school shooter and launch an attack on his former primary school. We were not aware of this fact when publishing our article in October.

Mu is extremely shocked by the news of Prosper's planned attack on a school, and we wish he had been able to access appropriate mental health services. This tragedy underscores the critical need for accessible mental health care, particularly for MAPs who face incredible marginalization and anxiety about being 'outed'. Proactive mental health care and early intervention could well have prevented this situation, and this underscores the need for systems to support individuals struggling with complex issues before they reach the point of no return. Prosper likely dealt with a range of mental health issues far beyond the scope of merely minor attraction. Yet many therapists will report MAPs simply for admitting their fantasies, even though the law only requires them to report based on real and credible threats. A MAP dealing with other mental health issues is quite likely to avoid therapy altogether for this reason, despite potentially being at breaking point.

Ultimately, we believe that Prosper's decisions and actions are his own and he must face the full legal consequences, although nothing can undo the immense pain he inflicted on his victims. Given his admission of guilt, it appears that legal professionals considered him unable to meet the legal threshold for innocence by reason of insanity. He was therefore deemed to have recognized the evil he was committing, seemingly driven by a desire to cause pain as a form of revenge for the pain he had experienced. Nothing justifies his actions, and especially not the horrific plans he had in store.

Prosper may have held views on liberalizing adult-minor sexual contact, and some MAPs share these views because they believe that youths with adequate decision-making capacity are not necessarily harmed when they willingly engage with adults. Despite arguing for the victimless nature of AMSC, Prosper ultimately victimized his own family, with only police intervention stopping him from victimizing countless more. Focusing on his political and philosophical views risks ignoring the fact that his actions directly led to the tragic loss of his mother and siblings. The crime itself, and the pain it caused to his victims, remains paramount.

Mu strongly condemns violence, especially against minors. There is a harmful stereotype that MAPs are somehow sadistic and enjoy hurting children, even though the reverse is generally true. We are working hard to dispel the ridiculous myths that MAP sexual fantasies involve sadism, dominance, and control. While individuals like Prosper do exist, they do not represent the broader MAP community or its experiences and behaviors, just as figures like Ted Bundy do not reflect typical behavior for heterosexual men. Unfortunately, cases like Prosper's risk the public assuming that his actions somehow represent typical MAPs. Mu wants to be very clear that they do not.

Our original article seems to have overreached in explaining Prosper's actions as primarily the result of stigma against our community, even it was apparently a contributing factor. The investigation is ongoing, and as more harrowing details are released, the picture appears more complex. Prosper appeared to be in immense pain, and sought to inflict pain on others as a result. Regardless of his emotional state and whatever role his marginalization as a MAP played, he needs to be held accountable. While we hope that justice can be blind, and that no bias is applied based on his sexuality or interest in underage video game characters, we also hope that both the murder of his family and his awful plot against a primary school are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

For MAPs in the US who are reaching breaking point, B4U-Act may be able to help you find a counselor who has agreed to work with members of our community. For those in Germany, Project Dunkelfeld was set up to offer safe and anonymous support. Unfortunately, the UK has no safe option for distressed MAPs seeking help. Untrained volunteers are available at peer support site LifeLine subject to limited scheduling, and Mu will do its best to assist on our Member Support subforum. We hope that the UK will step up and do more to help vulnerable MAPs, instead of simply spreading fear and hate.