A few days ago, I received this email via the Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe contact form:

From: Cecil Fuson Email: [email protected] Location: Raleigh, NC Category: Question for the Show Subject: quote request Message: Good day, my name is Cecil Fuson. Together with Brandi Olson and a member of the Atheist news group (A news) we run a small Facebook group that is called Skeptics and Atheists against Rebecca Watson. We currently have 87 members and are growing everyday. It should be noted that a fair number of our fans are also fans of the SGU as well as on the personal friend list of some of the members of the SGU

We were wondering if you could give us a quote and answer a question for us. Why is Rebecca Watson still on the SGU?

It is clear that by her own blog post that she no longer supports the JREF, the CFI or Richard Dawkins. It is clear by the large number of posts, groups and petitions that the Skeptic and Atheist community no longer support Watson. It is clear that Watson uses the fame from programs like the SGU to spread her own agenda and misinformation. While we fully agree that Rebecca Watson has every right to speak her mind, we feel that her actions , no matter how well meaning they may be, are doing more damage than good.

the SGU seems to support the same groups that Watson boycotts and the same groups that want nothing to do with Watson.

So with the public opinion being what it is, why dose Rebecca Watson still have a spot on the SGU? Thank you for your time. And we hope to get a reply soon.

These “fire Rebecca” emails come in from time to time and generally I just ignore them, but that Facebook group sounded like a good time. So I took a look, saw the poorly written diatribes complaining that I was a “cancer” that “must be stopped,” and promptly Tweeted the link out so that others could laugh, too.

People are often chiding me for making fun of my “haters” as semi-literate degenerates who harass me because they hate women and want to be free to insult, molest, and rape them as they please. I’m told that I’m wrong, and that these people are actually unbiased and egalitarian critics with valid complaints that I need to address seriously. With that in mind, let’s get to know Cecil Fuson, a critic who has risen to prominence via his highly successful anti-me Facebook page, possibly inspired by the “Fire Rebecca from the SGU” petition he signed a few months ago.

A few days after I Tweeted the link to the Facebook page, I received an email from someone who explained that they had discovered that Cecil Fuson is a registered sex offender who was convicted and went to prison for “indecent liberties with a child.”

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[EDIT: I’m going to expand on this a bit. In North Carolina, “ indecent liberties with a child ” means that the criminal is older than 16 and at least 5 years older than his victim, who must be younger than 16. The “indecent liberties” part refers to an act of sexual gratification involving the victim. Fuson was 23 when he was convicted, and his victim was 15 at the oldest.]

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I spent the past day checking to make sure that this was, in fact, the same Cecil Fuson, and the facts line up. Cecil’s email address links to the Facebook page of Vicious Vestments, an LLC registered in North Carolina using the same address that is registered for the sex offender. Cecil’s dad is also named Cecil Fuson, but it appears he moved to Florida. Besides, Cecil’s Google+ profile that showed up when he emailed me has an avatar that looks much more like a 33-year old man than a 57-year old man, and I’m going to assume that the younger man is more likely to dress up as Boba Fett and start a company selling steampunk costumes, so I think we can say with a high degree of confidence that we’re dealing with the junior.

I emailed Cecil and told him I’d give him an interview as requested on the Facebook page if he verified his identity, but oddly enough he refused to do so, writing:

It is my understanding that the SGU allows questions from the people who tune in. On the page I provide all the data that the SGU requests for a question to be asked. Your request for information should be directed to the person who requested the interview. Brandi Olsen. Her contact email is [email protected] You are contacting from the skepchick email address. as such I feel that you are contacting me as a member of skepchick and not as a member of the SGU. I do not wish to receive any more emails from skepchick.org. Skepchick dose not have permission to use my name, my email or the content of any emails between skepchick.org and myself.

I responded:

Do I have your permission to post about how you’re a sex offender?

As of this posting, I have not received a response.

Featured image is a mugshot of Cecil Fuson courtesy of bustedoffenders.com.

[EDIT 2: I’ve been informed that some people aren’t getting The Point of me posting all this. Here is The Point: many of the people who stalk and harass outspoken feminists have a vested interest in seeing those feminists shut up, particularly when it comes to topics like consent and respect. Here is one very obvious example. There are many, many more . Does the fact that they’re clearly biased mean their arguments are invalid? No. But as soon as people like Cecil Fuson present a valid argument instead of photoshopping images and calling me names, I’ll deal with it. In the meanwhile, remember whose interests you’re benefitting when you “like” that anti-feminist Facebook page.]