After a four-week investigation, police in Bristol, England, have cleared Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja, who performs as 3D, of all charges related to Internet porn offenses. A charge for possessing Class A drugs, levied against Del Naja simultaneously last month, stands pending further inquiries.

"We've been supplied with a list of people in our force area who may or may not be involved [in child pornography], and we're duty bound to follow those up," a spokesman for the Avon and Somerset Constabulary told Rolling Stone. "A lot of the time it's credit card information, from people buying things on the Internet . . . We look at computer equipment that people might possess, and if we seize a computer and find there's inappropriate material, that may constitute sufficient evidence."

Del Naja was initially implicated as a part of Operation Ore, the same international Internet child pornography sting that snagged who guitarist Pete Townshend in January. Unlike Townshend, who claims to have looked at child pornography online for research purposes, Del Naja categorically denied having looked at child porn. "I have total faith in the justice system," he said in a statement after his February 26th arrest. "I am fully cooperating with police and I would ask everyone not to judge me prematurely."

The spokesman handling Del Naja's case could not comment on the case against Townshend, which has been pending since his January 13th arrest. "It's difficult to say what a normal timeline is," he said. "Every single warrant executed and every arrest made has to be conducted on its own merits. The timeline depends on what we find and what the person tells us in the initial interview."

AUGUSTIN SEDGEWICK
(March 24, 2003)