I took a screen shot. The text was:

"It was a bad day for pinball. If we stop talking about it, it might go away. Don't post!"

I don't know how to feel about that.

Writing that post was the absolute worst thing he could have done then. Before he deleted it, it was basically 30 posts of people asking what happened because they didn't know.

I also agree that he was most likely lamenting it. I can only imagine how I would feel if a friend and colleague had those charges levied at him. Sad day indeed.

Someone said there is a rule on Pinside against posting Facebook screenshots so I won't. You can pm me your email address if you really want to see it.

I get why a lot of people on here are hoping for the best and using a lot of wishful thinking but you need to stop using the traci lords argument. That was thirty years ago, technology and the ability to track it has gotten much more sophisticated. Men weren't arrested for having the magazines and videos she made before she was eighteen, that's not an equivocal argument. This sounds like a sophisticated operation involving more than just him. While he is innocent until proven guilty I wouldn't hold my breath.

More than one person has wished that this was some mistake and that the photos were quasi illegal and he didn't know. Maybe Traci Lords should not have been used in my example, but you know there have been plenty of people here hoping for the "she was 17 but he thought she was 18" argument

I would like to say a little in steve Ritchie's defense. He posted and I quote. "It was a bad day for pinball. If we stop talking about it, it might go away. Don't post"

I don't think he meant the charges would go away. I don't think he meant that it shouldn't be talked about. I think he was very hurt and understandably horrified that a friend and colleague he knew was charged with what we all can agree is a heinous crime.

I myself made a vague Facebook post last night saying "If people I looked up to and who's creative endeavors I loved could stop ending up being horrific monsters that disgust me I would very much appreciate it." because I also found out a musician I like has been accused of sexual abuse.

Steve Ritchie gave this post a thumbs up. I would think in solidarity. He has NEVER interacted with me on Facebook before and I wouldn't think he would even read Facebook.

Again, these are just my thoughts, but I think Ritchie's post came from a place of personal hurt and a feeling of betrayal, I think he quickly realized it wasn't a wise post and took it down. I don't think he wants it all to go away other than the mixed feelings when you can't believe someone you cared about is suddenly being accused of being a monster.

Edit- I want to add that before he gave it thumbs up someone asked in a comment and I said that a pinball designer I admired was charged with possession of child pornography, so he most likely knew full well what I was referring to

I just listened to Kanedas inflammatory and accusatory podast regarding Steve Ritchies facebook post.

I wont say too much again on the facebook post as I already have, but long story short, I think Steve Ritchie created that post out of pain he felt by finding out a colleague and a friend has horrific unimaginable accusations against him.

And after thinking about it I am not going to hold it against kaneda (as much) because he too had a visceral reaction to something. Emotions are high. Someone many of us either respected or met or even knew personally has been arrested and accused of a heinous crime and its hard to wrap your head around it. Everyone is going to have wild immediate reactions that are on a visceral level because this to us is unfathomable. Using terms like "literally" and putting emotional context on a vague facebook post and creating a whole podcast seems like a bit much to me. But like I said, kaneda was just reacting like we all are. If I was him though I would retract it as it was pure emotion and basically putting words and meaning into Steve Ritchies mouth. Can you imagine if you were Steve Ritchie and you open facebook in the morning and find dozens of comments about this? How many private messages do you think he received with links to the news article? How many people asked him about John? Of course you would want all of that to go away. This was your colleague and probably friend. he made an ill advised facebook post in a moment of extreme emotions which he realized and took down within minutes.

Well said. Since Kaneda was removed from the situation (as in he did not work with JT like SR did) he barley gets any leeway in my book and I honestly think he should delete the podcast now that he has had time to reflect on what he said. I just see the place he was coming from (this time on this subject) because of emotional response, but obviously past experience and past behavior will color how people see you.

Yeah, I was not going to say anything until someone linked to his thoughts on the Aussie forum. I do not listen to his podcast as a rule.