He better not ever show his face in pinball circles again.

Nothing at all to do with John - in fact, long ago enough that the statute of limitations protects him from legal recourse (but there's no limit on him living with the knowledge of his crimes.)

Sorry, was following this thread because I like John and wanted to keep up with what was happening, but couldn't let pass a comment about what a great guy Cameron is. He's not. He comes across as all nice and sweet but that's just part of the grooming process. Watch him around your teenage sons. I didn't well enough and we're all still paying the price.

I think I've made it pretty clear, without saying anything that could cause him to come after me for libel. Though getting him on the stand in a libel case might be one way for my son to get some justice. The Evanston police department couldn't do much more than sympathize with him, given the delay in reporting. At least he's on the radar now, and the parents of the various teen boys he was spending so much time with have all been warned. I hope he hasn't found any new ones. And he hasn't attended Pinball Expo since this all happened and he damn well better not ever again.

Sorry, didn't mean to derail this thread (as if it wasn't already about 10 miles off the rails!) Forget about it. Back to your normal JPOP-bashing. Just don't bring up Cameron again and I'll just fade back into lurk mode, OK?

Come on, with a little work you could be more condescending...but fair point. So how's this:

John asked me a few times across the years to do some pinball programming for him nights and weekends (I think some of that even predated this latest debacle) but life was just too busy and complicated for me to even consider it. (And I'm talking normal day-to-day busy and complicated, not the extra stuff like finding out someone you thought was a good personal and family friend was really just doing all that to gain unfettered access to your sons.) John even just wanted us to come visit his shop and see what he was working on and sad to say I could never find any open weekend to do even that. Last I talked to him was well over a year ago, but recently someone pointed me to this thread.

I know absolutely nothing about his situation or what's going on or what he was thinking through all this, but I am personally all too familiar with the magical thinking that sets in when you quit your day job and throw your entire life into a struggling entrepreneurial adventure, banking your entire existence on fulfilling a dream. Things that seem so obvious to outside observers can't possible penetrate your cloud of hopes and aspirations. I know first hand that feeling that with just one break, just a little more money, just this tiny thing or that big thing, you'll be over the hump, the dream will come true, the future will be brighter. It just has to be, because the alternative is too bleak to consider - not only the dreams failed, but basic life itself crashing down in terms of food and shelter and existence. I had my "adventure" when I was much younger - no wife, no kids, no mortgage. It was a retail environment, where the biggest company hole you could possibly dig was a couple of months' rent and utilities, maybe a shipment or two from any supplier foolish enough to extend you credit - but it's easy to tell yourself those are all faceless corporate entities that build that sort of thing into their business plan. I can't even imagine the level of magical thinking required to start down that path with the middle-age responsibilities of a family, and with large sums of money taken from individuals to fund it. But John's artistical magical thinking was what generated all those other pinball machines you loved, so I guess there's my answer.

I'm not here as a John apologist. (Heck, I was trying to just be here as a lurker.) I know nothing more about this situation than what I've read in this thread, and it sounds pretty crappy for anyone that got involved. I just think that anyone who is imagining John as some evil genius scam artist has clearly not ever run their own struggling business. It warps your mind, it makes you do things you wouldn't normally do, it can even ruin your life and the lives of others. My business partners and I ended our struggling business with a lot of personal debt, and it took me years to recover. I hope John similarly finds some way to eventually put everything right, though from the sound of things he hasn't reached the stage yet where the magical cloud blows away and he can see the situation for what it truly is.