A State University of New York at Fredonia (SUNY Fredonia) professor who was caught on video defending pedophilia, “even with a one-year-old,” has been barred from campus pending an investigation into comments that were called “absolutely abhorrent” by the university’s president.
“I am writing to provide you with an update on the matter involving one of our professors interviewed in a widely shared video podcast,” SUNY Fredonia President Stephen Kolison said in a statement on Thursday. “We will continue to investigate this situation.” Kolison’s comments refer to a shocking video of professor Stephen Kershnar defending pedophilia. In the video interview, Kershnar claims: “Even if you are looking for a threshold — let’s say there’s a threshold, I’m making this number up, but let’s say it’s at age eight — still, that tells you that some adult-child sex is permissible.” The professor added, “the notion that it’s wrong, even with a one-year-old, it’s not quite obvious to me.”
“In the meantime, effective immediately and until further notice, the professor is being assigned to duties that do not include his physical presence on campus and will not have contact with students while the investigation is ongoing,” Kolison added in his statement.
The SUNY Fredonia president went on to emphasize that he finds the content in the videos featuring Kershnar “absolutely abhorrent,” and that the views expressed in the videos “are in no way representative of the values” of the university.
“Please allow me to reiterate my earlier statement that I view the content of the video as absolutely abhorrent,” he said. “I cannot stress strongly enough that the independent viewpoints of this individual professor are in no way representative of the values of the SUNY Fredonia campus.”
Kershnar also expounded on his thoughts regarding “willing” and “unwilling” participation, and appeared to justify child-adult sexual relations by arguing that children are willing participants “all the time” in activities that they do not “fully understand,” such as sports, and preparing for their Bar Mitzvah.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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