SB Nation fires MMA writer Iain Kidd after child pornography history comes to light

SB Nation fired MMA writer Iain Kidd on Saturday after learning about his criminal history for child pornography possession.

Kidd was in an argument online with another Twitter user during the week, who decided to dig into Kidd’s background to see what kind of information he could pull up to use against him. That person encountered an article from September stating that Kidd had been punished in Scotland, along with two others, for possession of child pornography.

According to the Evening Times, Kidd and the two other men “collected indecent images of children. They also took – or permitted to be taken – lewd images of kids” and had possession of extreme pornography.

Planet Radio has more:

At Glasgow Sheriff Court, Kidd admitted charges of downloading and possessing indecent images of children between July 2005 and June 2017, and a charge of possessing extreme pornographic images between April 2007 and August 2017.

A search of seized equipment revealed Kidd had almost 984 still images and 496 moving, and 7689 pictures of extreme pornography.

Kidd was a writer for SB Nation’s reputable MMA site, Bloody Elbow. He was known for his emphasis on ethics about matters such as PEDs and domestic violence.

News of Kidd’s criminal background circulated on Friday night, and by Saturday, SB Nation/Bloody Elbow issued a statement saying Kidd had been terminated.

SB Nation and Bloody Elbow strongly condemn the types of activities reported and encourage our readers and listeners to visit Protect Children in Canada, Stop It Now in Scotland, and Darkness 2 Light in the United States for more information to support victims. (Cont.)

— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) December 8, 2018

Bloody Elbow decided not to cover UFC 231 with the same vigor as usual due to the situation surrounding Kidd.

In regards to the earlier statements on our former colleague Ian Kidd's reported actions, Bloody Elbow won't be doing play by play tonight. We'll keep results updated, but that's it. Thanks and apologies for our lack of coverage for #UFC231.

— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) December 9, 2018

Other Bloody Elbow staff writers shared their thoughts on the matter.

I also understand that this may have led to a severe breach of trust for many of our readers (it certainly has been for me). I understand that this will take time to regain and thank those of you who have been patient with me at this time.

— Zane Simon (@TheZaneSimon) December 8, 2018

I'd like to pretend that I had a roadmap all ready for the events of the past day, but I was not at all prepared. I think all of us at BE wanted a perfect unity of response to these terrible reports concerning Iain Kidd. And that took longer than any of us wanted.

— Zane Simon (@TheZaneSimon) December 9, 2018

FTR, I definitely wanted to say something sooner, but was requested to wait until Vox Legal sorted things out. Thank you for all the support. I appreciate it more than you know. I'm still reeling from this and some of you have helped lighten the burden tremendously.

— Stephie Haynes (@CrooklynMMA) December 9, 2018

Kidd and the two other men were sentenced to a Community Payback Order with supervision for three years as a direct alternative to custody. They essentially have a version of house arrest for six months and have to register as sex offenders for three years.