Lead author: Brian Ribbon

Research, screenshots, formatting: Tommaso Battista, Jim Burton

This post deals with themes of MAP phobia and murder, so may not be suited to those in an unhealthy mental space.

This Mu exclusive discusses a recent tragedy in which a troubled young MAP murdered his mother and two younger siblings. The Mu committee unequivocally condemns this senseless act of violence and offers our condolences for the innocent lives lost. MAPs are far more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators, so as a community, we are particularly opposed to violent retaliation. Yet, a vulnerable young man facing overwhelming social stigma and oppression, being unable to access appropriate mental health care, felt that violence was his only remaining solution. It is with no joy that this article's lead author, Brian Ribbon, points out that he predicted this kind of violence in a recent essay titled The Push. While we think preventing such tragedies requires a nuanced understanding of the causes, the entire Mu committee want to reiterate that we are unequivocally opposed to such actions, and we hope that the survivors of this tragedy can heal.

On September 13th, 2024, three people were tragically found dead in an apartment in Luton, England. The deceased were relatives of Nicholas Prosper, the alleged killer. No motive has been released by police or mainstream media. However, rumors have been circulating online, and Mu committee members Tommaso Battista and Brian Ribbon have been able to follow up on leads using their contacts in various MAP communities, to not only confirm the rumors but also find additional information. This information regarding Nicholas' identity as a MAP and his involvement with various radical groups are critical to understanding the motive behind the horrific crimes he committed.

Murder over a video game?

Nicholas was a self-identified MAP, something he had discovered when he himself was only 16, and he had a sexual preference for young girls. At this stage we have no reason to believe that he committed any crimes of a sexual nature, and as a result the media has not taken to branding him a "pedophile", a term they misunderstand to mean "child sex offender". But Nicholas was a pedophile, as shown by an almost obsessive emotional investment in the character Clementine from the video game The Walking Dead. Clementine begins the game aged 8, and over the course of multiple chapters grows into a 16-year-old. For Nicholas, the fictional character of Clementine served as an outlet for his attraction to girls. Nicholas was absolutely infatuated with the girl, treating her like a virtual girlfriend he had a duty to protect. A central theme of the game is the impact of the player's actions on her. Behaving violently in the game corrupts Clementine, something that Nicholas was desperate to avoid. In his final video posted to YouTube (archived) before the murder, he expressed his anger at other gamers for taking actions in the game that corrupted Clementine. His sister, who he later killed, was one of those people he felt had wronged Clementine. The video is very disturbing, indicating that Nicholas was deeply distressed. He is clearly suffering from mental illness and failing to distinguish fantasy from reality. He should have sought help. Why didn't he do this, and how did we get to where we are now?

A MAP who struggled with "not fitting in"

Something that not even the deep dive YouTubers have discovered, was Nicholas' association with a politically radical group of MAPs that supports reform of age of consent laws. His involvement in the group was driven, in part, by the stigma of his attraction to minors and the absence any kind of legal outlet for his sexual and emotional desires. He had been struggling with his minor-attraction since he was 16, and it clearly weighed heavily and ate away at him.

The group provides marginalized MAPs with a sense of community and belonging. It exists on the clear web, not a corner of the dark web, and is a political group that complies with all relevant laws. It does not support illegal forms of protest, and is not used for trading illegal images (which are banned entirely) and it does not allow the glorification of any kind of violence.

However, given the radical politics expressed by the group, many MAPs with more mainstream views consider it quite extreme. Comprised of many very young MAPs and sympathetic allies, most members believe that there can be cases where AMSC (Adult-Minor Sexual Contact) is not forced and not harmful, and laws should take such nuance into account in order to properly respect the autonomy of minors.

As part of this group supporting radical social change, Nicholas talked about having trouble fitting in with others, and posted long comments about how AMSC is not necessarily harmful, presenting arguments backed with scientific citations that wouldn't be out of place in a PhD thesis. Eventually, however, he was banned from one sub-group for posting some of his fantasies, which included comments that breached the group's rules. Even on the most extreme edge of discourse, Nicholas had been made an outcast.

Such groups simply lack the resources to offer mental health support to MAPs such as Nicholas. For example, the last traces of state funding were withdrawn from B4U-ACT over a decade ago, and said group (along with MSC) remain the only initiatives with institutional funding of any kind. The group Nicholas was part of had previously been supported in part by a MAP organization with an interest in deradicalization, notably helping to thwart a cyberterrorist attack against Virtuous Pedophiles proposed by an incomer.

Told to kill himself

Nicholas also operated a YouTube channel advocating changes in attitudes toward AMSC, and took his beliefs to various forums espousing extreme free speech where he used research and argument to try and prove his point of view. On one such forum, he wrote:

To avoid inevitable rhetoric and misrepresentation surrounding the legal terms of 'consent' and 'r^pe' I'm going to use involuntary and voluntary s^x instead. I don't support involuntary s^x with children; I do, however see no issue with voluntary ch-adult s^x, stemming from empirical findings (Areola et al 2008; Stanley et al 2004; Rind, B, 2001; Rind B, 2021.)

Studies purporting harmful, long term effects and pervasiveness due to ch-adult s^x, often use clinical sampling which don't represent the general population of children legally sexually abused. Off the top of my head: clinical samples are vast majority females, and only consist of cases considered serious enough to report, in contrary to the GP, where a large quantity of instances go unreported due to lack of perceived seriousness Lahtinen, H., et al., (2018). In addition these studies count for no confounding variables.

What's interesting, is when the definition of CSA was made overinclusive, for college samples, the way of these clinical studies, upon controlling for confounds (Family environment, retrospective perception of willingness) the effect size became almost non existent, with the little remaining values being attributed to unaccounted for variables (Rind, B., & Tromovitch, P, 1997; Rind et al. 1998; Skaug, E, 2022; Ulrich et al, 2008.) With the idea of 'informed consent' as necessary prerequisite to avoid harm being utterly unfounded; again, supported by the Kinsley reports where the retrospective recall rates of positive, neutral and negative experiences being almost synonymous for ch-adult and adult-adult s^x.

I'm willing to discuss any criticisms or issues you may have with the rind study.

In response to this post, he was banned from the forum, but he appealed to moderators on the grounds that he hadn't technically broken the rules. He had advocated for a change in the law, but he didn't advocate for breaking the law.

The moderator mocked him, encouraging him to kill himself using emojis and even sending a meme video encouraging suicide.

• Many MAPs unfortunately do choose suicide, which we covered an in-depth article exploring this serious issue, here.

MAPs can't safely access mental health support

Nicholas' urgent need for mental health support seems clear. Not only was he struggling to reconcile social norms with his own attraction, but he seemed increasingly unable to distinguish fantasy from reality. However, most MAPs are absolutely terrified of going to a therapist because of the fear of being reported to the authorities even if they haven't committed a crime. Even worse, if they have committed a crime but desperately want to stop, they cannot discuss this with their therapist due to mandatory reporting laws. Without the stigma that makes even non-offending MAPs unwilling to go to a therapist, Nicholas' may have sought treatment and the horrific deaths of his family members could have been prevented. Unfortunately, the UK's relentless hounding and bullying of MAPs shows no signs of abating, making impossible calls for MAPs to 'get help' absolutely laughable.

Unlike the US, the UK does not even have charities like B4U-Act, an alliance of MAPs and non-MAPs that aims to connect a small number of carefully vetted therapists with MAPs who seek help. While some therapists do offer online support, this is not covered by health insurance, and at prices like $150 per hour, it is out of reach of working class MAPs. Without proper support, how long is it before another person facing extreme marginalization commits a similar tragedy in the UK? Safe access to mental health support for British MAPs is urgently needed, and such support can only be considered 'safe' if formed by an alliance of MAP and non-MAP people, or if wholesale destigmatization and normalization of minor-attraction is achieved.

The Hunt: making MAPs scared and vulnerable

Authority figures, celebrities, and members of the public frequently make extreme statements about MAPs, threatening them with arrest or violence even if they haven't broken the law. This causes MAPs to feel they are constantly being hunted, leading to poor mental health outcomes and subpar decision-making. Let's take a look at some examples of these comments.

Anyone who is having inappropriate thoughts about children, or anyone who believes a family member may be, should seek help from Stop It Now!, otherwise they should expect a visit from police officers.

• Simon Bailey, National Police Chiefs’ Council (Lead Child Protection Officer, 2021). 99% of MAPs would rightfully not trust 'Stop It Now!'

Now, me, paedophiles, if it was left to me, I would hurt them so much it would upset and shock everybody in the country. I can think of really nasty things that I would like to see done to them. And I wouldn't care if it didn't change their behaviour - it would just certainly put them on notice that if you do this, you will have your skin removed, you will be made to go around to do really painful things before you're allowed to die.

• Richard Griffiths, deceased British actor

the dude I broke his nose is now paralyzed with a broken neck, and they say his face looks like he had been dropped and dragged through concrete, LMAO" he wrote. "It feels good to know that I played a small part in paralyzing a cho, LMAO."

we also water boarded him LMAO", he also wrote, and "I broke a dudes nose today, yeah this was not reported, there was way too much blood so I mopped it up.

• Garrett Osbon (prison guard in Ohio, USA, who paralyzed an 18 year old who took pornographic photos of his 16 year old girlfriend).

We find out how much guts they've got ... as one of them committed suicide yesterday and another one had a big go, but he must not have had the courage to do it properly. If they all went and did it first up, we wouldn't have this problem. They must be guilty if they commit suicide ... maybe I am too harsh but I've got no time for that.

• Vaughan Johnson, former Australian MP

Regarding a non-offending MAP who came out publicly:

Remember, this isn't a guy that's "suspected" of anything - we know he's a pedophile. He freely admits to it. And one day, he will attempt illegal sexual contact.

I don't understand why he cannot be charged with a terroristic act because I live in absolute terror that what he does will put my grandchildren in danger. If that's not terrorism, what is? I'm more afraid of him that I am of Osama bin Laden.

and

if that dude was your neighbor, you'd run him out of town too. [...] now, if he were skulking around my neighborhood, he should look behind himself at all times. i'd hate to see somebody jump him. it may even be a group of people, who knows? you can't be too careful these days, you know?

and

if he's trying to "prove" something by creating that website, then shame on him! That kind of thing terrifies parents, aunts, grandparents, etc. He can't possibly think that people won't be up in arms regarding something like this.

and

The notion that all we have to do is watch and wait for this guy to do something isn't very helpful. He should be in a theraputic setting. If he can't be "cured," at least the mental health and/or criminal justice communities could learn something about the course of the pathology.

and

McClellan hasn't been convicted of child rape or molestation, YET, but if allowed he WILL molest, he WILL rape, he is a ticking time bomb... [...] No one can change my opinion of pedophiles and no one can stop us from doing what we do, outing as many of them as we possibly can...

and

The problem, for him, is the he has verbalized his sick, pathetic thoughts. Now, anyone with an aluminum bat and some balls should turn his knees into jello.

MAPs are absorbing this hatred regularly from public figures, from comments on news sites and social media, and from people they meet in their daily life. While a small number of commenters do clarify that they only wish to inflict violence on people who offend, that distinction is lost in most cases. MAPs feel hunted, hated, and not a part of civilized society, for feelings (not necessarily actions) that are out of their control. Society tells them "you are destined to offend, and when you do we'll be waiting and ready to respond with violence."

The Push: a non-threatening warning that remains unheeded

In May 2024, Mu's Brian Ribbon published a controversial essay titled The Push. It deals with the way that MAPs are stigmatized, hunted relentlessly, criminalized, and effectively denied safe access to mental health treatment, leading to a greater risk of offending, suicide, and potentially even violence. This article was received cautiously by the MAP community, who felt that it implied MAPs were inherently dangerous individuals, but that is as far from the reality as possible.

The Push instead argues that MAPs are as inherently reasonable and peaceful as other people, but are being pushed into corners and left with nowhere to go. Like a dog who endures constant abuse from its master, there may come a day when that dog bites back. We don't know much about Nicholas' mental health before he realized he was a MAP at 16 years old, although he did express that he had difficulty fitting in. This was no doubt exacerbated significantly by being a MAP, which is just about the scariest, loneliest and most isolating way to experience life. We can never forgive Nicholas murdering his own family in cold blood. But it is also hard to forgive the society that pushed him and made him feel like he had no other option.

The Push's predictions were proven to be accurate, albeit in a horrific and tragic way. Unfortunately, if the UK and other countries continue to make life almost impossible for MAPs, it is inevitable that such tragedies will be repeated over and over again. Emotionally torture a man to the brink, deny him safe access to getting help, and you have a very dangerous person on your hands. For the sake of MAPs and non-MAPs alike, urgent changes are needed.

Mu is an organization that opposes the stigma on Minor-Attracted People, supports their equal access to mental health support, and seeks reforms to laws that target MAPs without sufficiently protecting children and young people.

Please feel free to discuss this article on our forum thread.