There's another dimension to the Tad problem that's come to light. The following quotes are from the Free Speech Zone:
TadEareckson wrote:Then you can boot me permanently, get all of your halfwitted bootlickers to consolidate power, and start picking off "my friends" as well.
bobk wrote:If I boot you permanently it will be due to my concerns over the topic we discussed on the phone. This forum should be a safe place for people of varying ages to visit. You have not given me any assurances that's true with you on this forum.
TadEareckson (with underlining and bold added) wrote:Wow, Bob! It took DAVIS and ROONEY about five years to get desperate enough and sink low enough to play the child molester card. I'da thunk you'd have kept that one up your sleeve for at least six months or so.
(In case anyone was too stupid to be able to read between Bob's lines I had a fairly happy two year relationship with a twelve to fourteen year old gay kid about 25 years ago which ended with the usual catastrophic legal consequences - for both of us. And Bob thinks that I'm hanging out on HIS forum so I can target one of the many young adolescents who come to places like this to help build better national hang gliding organizations. I will then PM him or her (really doesn't matter) and to lure him or her to the mall in Sioux Falls under false - or not false - pretenses and leave him or her in such a state of ruin that the only humane thing to do would be to put him or her on a dolly with a Lookout release and fire up the Dragonfly.)
bobk wrote:This concerns me greatly ... and I still don't know what to do about it.
I heard about this incident when I was on the road, but I waited a few days until I got to San Diego to address it with Tad. Whenever I hear a rumor, I try to either dismiss it or confirm it directly with the person being accused. That's what I did with Tad in this case, and I called him personally to ask about the incident. To his credit, Tad admitted the incident as he has in his post above.
But what concerned me greatly was Tad's response when I asked him if he felt he'd done anything wrong by having homosexual relations with a 12 year old boy. I don't recall Tad's exact words, but they did not reflect any significant remorse for his actions toward the boy.
This is a serious matter, and it's one that I never anticipated when I created this forum or when I invited Tad to join us. I really don't know how to handle this, and I would appreciate thoughtful comments from anyone on this subject. Thanks in advance.