Son Of Yardbirds Drummer Pleads Guilty To Child Porn Charges
The son of Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty has pleaded guilty to child porn charges stemming from a 2008 arrest. Simon Jasper McCarty was arrested at Hilo Airport in Hawaii after photos of nude children fell out of his bag while being examined by a TSA officer. An additional search of his laptop and hard drive turned up over 400 still images and 200 video clips of child pornography.
Simon, age 39, pled guilty after admitting that he had recorded himself in sexual acts with three children ages 11, 10 and six. His defense attorney William Harrison stated that “All the production did happen outside the US, the UK and other places,” adding that “The problem is you can’t under US law actually bring or transport those photographs and/or videos into the US and possess them.”
Harrison then actually had the nerve to say, “these were all consensual, although at that age you can’t consent to it,” and that, “There was nothing that was any type of physical type of duress.”
Simon himself was also a musician, and had a foundation that assisted orphans in other countries, providing concerts and lessons for the orphans. He also donated money to the orphanages and it is alleged that some of the photographs may have come from these sessions.
His father, Jim McCarty, played drums with the legendary rock and roll band famous for hits like ‘For Your Love’ and ‘Heartful Of Soul’, but who were more famous for their string of guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. McCarty senior had no comment on news of his son’s plea.