An assistant professor at Old Dominion University will step down after their contract expires next year.
Sociology and criminal justice Professor Allyn Walker courted controversy earlier this month when they said in an interview that they use the term “minor-attracted person” instead of pedophile in their research.
ODU President Brian Hemphill put Walker on administrative leave amid the uproar. At the same time, students had collected thousands of signatures calling for their removal.
The Virginia Pilot reports:
The turmoil stemmed from an interview about Walker’s book, “A Long Dark Shadow: Minor Attracted People and Their Pursuit of Dignity.” The book challenges “widespread assumptions that persons who are preferentially attracted to minors — often referred to as ‘pedophiles’ — are necessarily also predators and sex offenders,” according to its description.
Walker has condemned child sexual abuse in interviews and in university-issued statements. Walker has said — and reiterated in the Wednesday announcement — that their research aims to prevent that abuse.
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Walker will remain on leave until May 2022, when their contract expires.
The online petition calling for Walker’s removal has received 15,000 signatures. The petition references Walker’s use of the term “minor attracted persons” and said “(w)e want to be clear that this is pedophilia and should not be considered a sexual preference.”