Guilty Plea After Molestation On Washington Nude Beach

CHRIS SHELLEY IS A NUDIST CONVICTED OF CHILD-MOLESTATION IN BELLINGHAM WASHINGTON ON JULY 2, 1990. HE IS NOT ON THE ASA CAUTION LIST AND NEITHER THE ASA NOR THE NATURIST SOCIETY HAVE NOTIFIED THEIR MEMBERS OF SHELLEY'S CONVICTION.

[Christopher John Shelly, aka Chris Shelley, of Bellingham Washington should not be confused with Chris A. Shelley in the nearby city of Vancouver, BC.]

On July 3, 1990, Christopher John Shelly was arrested in downtown Bellingham, Washington for assaulting a woman who was photographing men coming and going from the local porn store. Then, on August 12, 1990, only a little over one month later, Shelly was arrested again. This time he was charged with child exploitation, rape of a child, child pornography, and child molestation after he took three children to the nude beach on the Nooksack river just outside of Bellingham. At the time of his arrest, he was in the company of Ross Rowell, the owner of Great Northern Books (a Bellingham porn shop) and Marc Hubbard, an employee at the Bellingham post office. 
     Since photographs had been taken of children on the local nude beaches, Everson police searched his house the day of his arrest. Police confiscated eight guns, along with six of the twenty-some-odd photographs taken that day at the beach. Other items confiscated during the search were 8mm X-rated movies, many dildos, numerous vibrators, a computer, and printer. 
     Prosecutor Dan Gibson requested bail be set at $10,000. Commissioner Charles Snyder set it at $7,500. Shelly was held in Whatcom County Jail for one month (until September 13th) when pro-tem commissioner Ed Simmers released Shelly on his own recognizance. On April 18, 1991, Shelly pleaded guilty to child molestation in the first degree and child exploitation of a minor. He was sentenced to 83 months in jail, to be served concurrently.


     There is no doubt that Shelly is violent AND extremely irrational. Like Joseph Wanner, he stands as a good example of the hypocrisy and arrogance that photographers employ when they argue that they have the rights to sexually exploit and photograph children and women, but that women who photograph men going into porn shops deserve physical assault. 
     I know it first hand because he chased a friend and me down in an alley in Bellingham, Washington in summer of 1990. I had a head start on him, but my friend was not so lucky. He physically attacked her and was later convicted.
     Excerpted from police reports are the statements of Chris Shelly (the molester), Amy (Shelly's niece, the victim), Ginny (Amy's friend), and Ryan (Ginny's brother). The children's names, as well as the victim's father's name, have all been changed for their protection and privacy. Chris Shelly's name, however, is printed here to hold him accountable for his crimes against these children. The content has been edited for length. All interviews took place from April to August of 1990. 
     We reprint these accounts as a reminder that nudists/naturists need to stop listening only to the men who are arrested for photographing children or they will continue to remain convinced that all these photographers and molesters are innocent. 
     We advise that anytime the Nudist/Naturist movement supports any of these men, the organizations (and individuals) should first interview the children and their family members who were involved. When it comes to nude photography, it's long past time to start getting the story from the children involved, and not from the perpetrators. 
     Each account illustrates a different perspective. Shelly tells it very differently from his victims. If we listen only to Chris Shelly, we are apt to believe he is just another innocent nudist who has taken some wholesome photographs of children and is being railroaded by those who disagree with his lifestyle. However, when we read the statements written by Amy, Ginny, and Ryan, we get a different sense of what happened. Who do you believe? 
     --Nikki Craft

NEXT

BACK TO NUDIST/NATURIST HALL OF SHAME