A Virginia university has placed a trans professor on administrative leave after they sparked outrage for claiming it is not immoral for adults to be sexually attracted to children.
'Old Dominion University has placed Dr. Allyn Walker on administrative leave, effective immediately, from their position as assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice,' the university's spokesperson, Amber Kennedy, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Walker, a tenure-track assistant professor at Old Dominion, had penned a controversial book attempting to destigmatize pedophilia titled A Long Dark Shadow: Minor-Attracted People and Their Pursuit of Dignity, published by the University of California Press.
Walker, who uses the pronouns they/them, said in a recent online interview with the Prostasia Foundation, a child advocacy group that promotes child sex doll usage for pedophiles, that pedophiles did not ask to be sexually attracted to children.
Kennedy said that the online backlash had led to concerns for Walker's safety and that of the campus, and placing them on leave was the best course of action.
'Furthermore, the controversy over Dr. Walker's research has disrupted the campus and community environment and is interfering with the institution's mission of teaching and learning, she said.
Old Dominion's president also issued a statement clarifying that the university did not condone any type of sexual abuse against children.
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