A former member of the community, not extremely active on GBAtemp but known for contributions to several projects on the 3DS hacking scene, Thomas Edvalson aka 'Cruel', has recently received a 20 year jail sentence for supposedly hosting a child porn site (although he firmly denied it).

Thomas Scot Edvalson, 28, appeared to be providing a website where other users could download images of child porn, according to a press release form the District Attorney’s Office. The site came complete with an online guide detailing how to use the dark web to set up a website for trading pictures of child sexual abuse.

Source: Gwinnett Daily Post
A thread was started on GBAtemp to discuss the issue a couple of months ago, before the final judgement was rendered. At the time our decision was to lock the thread up as it began to heavily derail. Some members and visitors took this as a 'cover up' and wondered why we didn't ban this guy's user account on GBAtemp.

We had long discussions in the staff forum and decided to wait for the final verdict (the appeal that is) before doing anything, thereby letting justice do its work. We banned this person from our forums immediately after we heard the final judgement and by the looks of it he won't be around again for a while. Since then, there hasn't been any new threads about the story but if there had been one, we would have allowed it for sure.

At this point we are wondering why anyone would think we are 'covering' this up? Why would we even need to? It's not like people don't know what happened already. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in this thread.

Furthermore, there is an ongoing story concerning another person, it's been posted on a Reddit thread (edit: now removed, but you can see screenshots here) and, again, we certainly won't prevent you from discussing it wherever you want just as long as you stay civil.

We at GBAtemp value freedom of speech above all, but within the boundaries of the law. If you think someone is guilty of a crime it is your duty to report it to the relevant authorities (not the GBAtemp admins, I mean the police). But otherwise let justice do its job. We do not believe that witch hunts have their place on GBAtemp.


The staff

 

[Deleted-355425]

Well, this is like someone created a vid tutorial about how to build a bomb, then some else followed the guide and used that self built bomb to commit a massacre, then the guy who created the vid tutorial is accused for terrorism and mass murder, even there's no evidence that assume he 's a terrorist.

Thats it

As Ricky Gervais says 'you're talking shit.. explain your self'.

 

[DeadlyFoez]

Regardless, you think that him being a pedo out in the real world has no bearing here? I couldn't care less what happens to him. It's astounding that people think he shouldn't have been banned here for such a horrendous act. Isn't it interesting?

Also, you hooking up with a prostitute is a piss poor example.

No, it should not have any bearing here as his acts were not done here. Regardless of what you say, his illegal actions were not done on this site. And my analogy is exactly that, just an analogy to help you see things in a different way. I certainly never said that getting a prostitute is the same as having child porn, but the point that I am trying to make is that someone should not be punished by an entity for doing any action that has absolutely no relation to said entity.

Unfortunately I can see that you are just going to being unreasonable with every response you make to me.

 

[Jayro]

Finally, we get clarity. Thanks Costello. Sad to see this happen.

 

[Foxi4]

Trust me, don't downplay yourself because some those in charge are really quite the dumbasses.

It might be a safety precaution to prevent him from using the forums for any illicit conduct, and I understand the sentiment as forum membership is entirely at the team's discretion, so whatever decision they arrive at is justified. I may very well disagree with it, but that doesn't change the fact that all decisions are made with the best of intentions.

 

[DeadlyFoez]

Another Pedo from here? Jeez. I think this is like the 3rd time ive seen pedo convictions here

That is fucking pathetic. Who else from here was doing stupid shit? I wonder if they were banned as well.

 

[driverdis]

Am I the only one who finds it strange that this thread had 45 likes?

 

[Bat420maN]

Why is such a big deal being made about him being banned? I could randomly ask for some rom links and get banned. They can ban who they want, when they want.

 

[MasterJ360]

That is fucking pathetic. Who else from here was doing stupid shit? I wonder if they were banned as well.

The creator of freeshop "TheCruel" for the 3ds scene was a pedo and hes banned https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-freeshop-open-source-eshop-alternative.426573/ cant remember the other since it been like a year or 2

 

[DeadlyFoez]

This is our stance. We believe rapists do not have their place on the site, same as murderers, and all other convicted criminals. So when we heard he was convicted, we decided to ban him.

GBAtemp is an independent community but that doesn't mean everyone has the right to access it. There are rules, which we (the team) come up with, and enforce.

I was convicted of robbing a house when I was like 14. I have been convicted of DWI when I was 21. I was convicted of possession of marijuana paraphernalia when I was 19. And I also have MANY traffic violations. Does that mean that I will be banned as well? Where do you draw they line as to whom should be banned for whatever actions they make in their personal life?

Personally, I see this as just opening up a can of worms making statements like that as you may end up with members tattling on other members for shit they did in their personal life just to get them in trouble with the site.

 

[Deleted-355425]

Pedos should be banned from here instantly in fact they should be outcast from everything.You forfeit your human rights when you abuse children.

 

[tbb043]

to anticipate any questions:
- Cruel did not post any child porn on the forums
- he did not exchange any child porn via PM nor make any appropriate attempts to contact anyone
- no evidence was found that he did anything illegal in relation with GBAtemp
- we were not asked by the police or by any authority to provide any kind of information
- he has not used his account since March 3rd which is 2 weeks before the trial

Anything else you wanna know just ask. We have absolutely nothing to hide or to cover. I decided to post this thread as soon as I heard someone was accusing us to 'cover' the story, that is downright ridiculous.

So he did nothing here other than have an account? Why is this news?

 

[MasterJ360]

Yeah if justice is being served then thats all that matters. This forum should stick to posting news within gaming or entertainment in general.
If theres going to bans behind these things I'd say do it silently. They may have issues in RL, but they still helped contribute this site if they did anything

 

[Ev1l0rd]

I have stated my thoughts on this matter in the freeShop thread before it was said to back off. Having said that, I think you should have made this statement way earlier when he got banned. Not as a reaction to people accusing the site of willingly harboring pedo's. Now it comes across as damage control, whereas if you reacted immediatley, it would have come across as a sincere statement. Not just by banning Cruel, but by making this statement immediatley after banning him.

PEDOPHILIA IS NOT ACCEPTABLE IN ANY SHAPE WAY OR FORM. If you think it is, please dont talk to me ever again. If you are a pedo, please seek mental help.

 

[Deleted member 377734]

.........................whoa, just whoa, and to think I looked up too him, but then again, it could be that someone framed him.

 

[StarTrekVoyager]

I have stated my thoughts on this matter in the freeShop thread before it was said to back off. Having said that, I think you should have made this statement way earlier when he got banned. Not as a reaction to people accusing the site of willingly harboring pedo's. Now it comes across as damage control, whereas if you reacted immediatley, it would have come across as a sincere statement. Not just by banning Cruel, but by making this statement immediatley after banning him.

PEDOPHILIA IS NOT ACCEPTABLE IN ANY SHAPE WAY OR FORM. If you think it is, please dont talk to me ever again. If you are a pedo, please seek mental help.

I'm 16, and I think this kind of position is a bit harsh. I just like to think about the fact that the limit of 18 years old is arbitrary and without any real meaning. If you're 18 and your GF is 17, does it mean you're a dirty pedophile?

 

[Meteor7]

PEDOPHILIA IS NOT ACCEPTABLE IN ANY SHAPE WAY OR FORM. If you think it is, please dont talk to me ever again. If you are a pedo, please seek mental help.

Honestly, this kind of sentiment reminds me more and more of the reaction to homosexuality, right down to the "mental illness" accusation. I've shortly detailed how harmful relationships between a minor and adult legal could possibly be in a previous post, also saying that it's something I think should NEVER be legalized for safety reasons considering how easy it would be for someone to take advantage of it and cause harm to minors, but I think judging someone's character based solely on their sexual preference is a mistake. As has been said by many others already, being a pedophile and being a rapist are two completely different things. That being said, making pedophilia socially acceptable is something I would consider VERY dangerous, even potentially catastrophic, but I think we need to consider the situation in terms of what will or won't cause harm rather than what we find disgusting or abnormal.

This is just speaking in general, though. As has been said before, hosting and spreading CP does indeed contribute to the abuse of minors, and in that sense is something arguably worthy of social condemnation.

 

[Wiisel]

Personally, I see this as just opening up a can of worms making statements like that as you may end up with members tattling on other members for shit they did in their personal life just to get them in trouble with the site.

I totally get your point on the ban and where it can lead for members but decided to not mention it in my last post, however I see it that removing a potential threat to members is the best action a forum can make under exceptional circumstances as these but would argue in most other cases that it has nothing to do with the forum.

In most cases I would say a forum has no rights intervening with a members personal life and certainly not the right to disclose their personal information including real name without consent unless it may have a potential direct impact towards members, in the case of child porn and a convicted member I see no issue in the reporting as this is a site that younger and potentially more vulnerable audience within its members.

 

[osaka35]

It's sound reasoning, to be fair. If you consume child pornography, you're perpetuating its production. Children get abused, it's a terrible fact of life, but once that abuse turns into a lucrative business, the consumers are just as guilty as the providers. Imagine if this was about slave trade (and it often times is) - the "I only bought a slave, I don't actually go around with a net abducting people" defense doesn't fly. I don't have an issue with people's sexual fetishes - they have a mental disorder and need help. That being said, once they become abusers or consumers of illegal material, that's a crime, plain and simple. It's a terrible affliction that needs to be addressed, but criminal acts still need to be punished.

can't argue with that. Though some distinction between, for instance, 5, 10, and 17 yeared folk would be a nice change of pace from how these cases are normally handled. When people think you had sex with a child because you looked at a 17 year old's body, something has probably gone wrong. That being said, I have no idea about the facts of the case. All I can discuss is how these cases are sometimes handled and almost always perceived.

 

[SonicCloud]

This completely horrible , its a shame people like this exists.
As for the ban question , why would be important if he got banned anyways? That's not the supposed point of this.

 

[Clydefrosch]

Pedophilia is a mental disorder, spreading images and telling people how to spread their images of exploited children isn't "ok". These people start with pictures, then move to videos and soon they can't get off on them anymore so they go and commit a sexual act with a child, probably someone who trusted them like a niece or nephew or even their own children. In more rare cases they will actually go and abduct a child to fulfill their desires.

that really isn't true, both pedophilia being a mental disorder, as well as the idea that people consuming pictures of X would inevitably move on to videos of X and finally X in real life. its not true for virtually killing people > shooting up schools and its not true here.
its not unheard of, obviously, but its not the norm as far as we can tell.
on the contrary, for many of them, running across such a picture, whether by accident or because they felt the need to search for it, is usually the point where they seek professional help in how to cope with their condition.

pedophilia is a sexual attraction first and foremost. currently, its classified as a paraphilia like any other attraction that isn't strictly an attraction to adult men or women, for example, that woman that married the eifel tower or pretty much every furry and god knows how many other accepted fetishes would be classified in the same range of attractions. (homosexuality was among those not too many decades ago)
the science is pretty clear on it, people don't chose what they are attracted to.

meaning that 'they can't help it' is pretty accurate way to put it.
it's literally just making clear that a pedophile is not automatically a child molester and a child molester is not automatically a pedophile either.
sounds weird, right, but that's how it is.

the research into the field is unfortunately spotty because its kind of frowned upon (for obvious social reasons and few institutions want to risk the kind of shitstorm this topic loves to cause. this thread is a great example of that), but what we have shows that about 60-70% of child abusers don't even qualify as pedophile.
they're not specifically attracted to children, but instead, sexually frustrated adults or those that generally prefer to force themselves at others (this includes women and men alike) who find a helpless and easy to silence victim in a child (usually in their family or in the neighbourhood).


so yeah, pedophiles can't help that their brain is wired the way it is and there is no way to fix that. but they can, and most of them do, decide what they do with it. pedophiles do have a hard life, since they can't just go out and fulfill their physical attraction in a healthy and socially accepted way. even the 'harmless' vents in the form of 'virtual child pornography' is widely outlawed, which is why most of them don't have a sexual life and they actively avoid being near or around children in general.
most pedophiles never touch a child and they pretty much don't touch any other person period, because they know its not right and leads to misery for everyone involved.

that is, again, not the same as saying pedophiles are all great and none of them ever did anything wrong.
but there's more than enough reason to differentiate between pedophiles and child abusers.



as for this case here, if whatever the brother said has any merit, he shouldn't be talking about it here, but with their lawyer. if the images didn't come from cruel but from 'spammers' then that shouldn't be all that hard to prove.
but it could just as well be the very understandable family clinging to the rest bit of hope that a member of their family was not a bad person. there is little to discuss for us really.

and seeing the kind of emotionalized misinformation spread on topics relating to the case, i'm honestly not sure if there's much reason to keep this thing here open to continue that.