I have a lot of old thrashers and transworlds for all different eras of skateboarding. One in paticular(December 2000 issue) has a very good article I believe to be written by ed tempelton entitled "Tidbits of useless information about the tum-yeto team Canadian mega-tour" It's a very good article, claiming to be from the diaries of ed templeton on tour. He establishes that the skaters on the trip included the following suspects: Jaime Thomas, Ethan Fowler, Alex Gall, Daniel Shimizu, Judd Hertzler, Austin Stephens, Tony DaSilva, Brian Anderson, Brad Staba, Adrian Lopez, Mike Ruscyck, Jon West, and Ed Templeton.
I'll present this excerpt typed by me directly from the magazine word for word
Names Have Been Changed to Protect The Innocent
"Krissy Ford is fifteen years old. She's a young girl-- a very "ready to be liked" young girl. I spotted her and her friend anna in the parking lot rolling a joint on a little kid's pony book.I walked over to them and asked if i could take their photo. They were very eager and said "Yes!" They stood away from their pot and said I probably wouldn't want pot in the photo. I told them I didn't care, that was just shooting whatever was around. So They went back to rolling and I went back to shooting. Their conversation was insane-- a mix of teen beat and high times magazine. They were actually really cute girls, and I enjoyed their company. They made me laugh and smile, and think about how messed up teenagers are these days. After they finished rolling, we talked a bit about what was going on. Krissy told me she wanted to date and marry a skater. She told me how she would travel in the van with the guys and smoke them out. She said they would smoke them out for product, or have sex with them for product. I tied talking to her and her friend about how that wasn't a good idea. Krissy had no self-respect. She had no clue how special she was as her own person, and none of these guys were superior to her. None of them were special enough to use her and then leave. Later that day she hooked up with some of the skaters and smoked them out. Photographer covered it, and filmers filmed it. Krissy asked one of the pros to autograph her bra. They walked away from the crowd and went behind the building. They were gone for five minutes, more than enough time to sign a bra. What else was happening? They finally came back and I told her I wanted a photograph of her training bra with a signature on it. She lifted up her shirt with a nervous laugh. I took some photos. The skater wanted a photo of him kissing krissy. I looked through the lens at this man going in to kiss a fifteen year old. I said, "She's fifteen, man!" Then she blurted out "I'm sixteen in two weeks!" I left and got in the van. Then it hit me like a brick wall; I had a lump in my throat and was sick to my stomach. What did I do? Why was I so quick to shoot something I think is wrong? I felt like I okayed everything that just happened. I was sending them "It's cool to do drugs and get your bra signed. You'll get your photo taken for the magazine." I only hope I can use that photo to say something to young girls about self-respect and not giving yourself away. I just feel sorry for letting them down"
So obviously, it had to be one of the pros on the trip, although I'm not sure who was pro for Toy Machine and Foundation at the time or who was at least old enough at the time to warrant concern. If anyone knows, it would greatly narrow down the suspects, so to speak. A couple other thoughts on the matter; Does Ed templeton have this have this damning piece in his collection? Is the signature clear? Also, If brink reads this: it would absolutely make for some heavy journalism on the next Weekend Buzz.
By the way, I don't care about getting justice or anything; it's just that To Catch a Predator is my favorite show.