Here's the exchange
- Sidney (Patreon)Aug 9, 3:06 PM PDT
And here's my response
- I have not broken any conditions.
As you clearly pointed out in your email
"After creating a Patreon page, any creator caught in the act or convicted of making credible violent threats, committing violent crimes, child abuse, malicious doxing, coordinating nonviolent harm (such as fraud, money laundering and gambling), or encouraging others to do any of these activities, may be banned from using Patreon."
AFTER creating this recent Patreon page I have not been convicted of any crime nor have I made any threats pertaining to any of the conditions you have listed.My criminal offense is in the past and I have not broken any laws. This action you have taken is prejudicial and impedes my attempt to rebuild my life after incarceration. I've done what I could all the while trying to appeal to my fan-base in the genres of furries, lolis and non-nude pin up art. I have drawn this material while keeping it generally clean and non-pornographic. There are no victims when it comes to my drawings and therefore no malicious harm nor crimes have been committed.I implore you to reconsider. I have been unable to attain any employment in the field of graphic arts and animation. these skills have taken me a lifetime to attain and this is my Constitutional right for my pursuit of happiness. I draw and animate and people pay me well enough on through your platform.I've done what I can to stay in compliance by drawing only non-pornographic images containing no nudity, genitalia, or sex. At no point was it revealed to me what exact posts were in violation of your conditions. However it seems you are punishing me for a crime I have already done time for and by taking away my only source of income I am left with few options.This was my only means of income. Without this I lose my pursuit of happiness leading me to thoughts of re-offending or committing suicide. What good is life if I as an artist can't make a living off my art? It's companies like yours with this overgeneralizing and draconian mindset that an ex-felon or "sex offender" such as myself should continue to be punished that makes rehabilitation so difficult, thus leaving recidivism one of the only options for many ex-felons/sex offenders. I'm not shaming you, I just want you to see the error of this thinking and these actions.To consistently be turned down for job opportunities, schooling, and then having the last bases of support through crowd funding be taken away from you is very disheartening after years in prison. I have done my time, I have paid my price, but it seems I'll never be free... and for what? I haven't raped, molested or killed anyone. I just downloaded some images I shouldn't have and for that I should have to go to prison and suffer for years after the fact when some rapists or molesters either get a slap on the wrist or go free? We have an alleged rapist, child molester currently sitting in the Oval Office, yet I'm the one who can't catch a break.You know what? FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKIN' CUNTS. Keep your shitty website, your prejudicial rules and your preconceived notions about me and my art.I'll just have to find some other way of making money from my drawings.But I can tell you this. My judge isn't going to be too happy with the notion that your company decided to cut my means of income simply due to my past convictionPlease go burn in Hell.Sincerely, Johnston BlackhorseThe One And Only
So that's that. I've started a SubscribeStar and will be posting it in the next coming post.
Cheers!
This is Sidney from the Trust & Safety team at Patreon. I want to let you know that my team and I decided to remove your creator page for violating our Community Guidelines. Because of your past conviction for possession of child exploitation material, your creator page has been removed.
Upon further investigation, we discovered that our team previously removed one of your creator pages in November 2017 for violating the following guidelines:
People who can’t use Patreon
After creating a Patreon page, any creator caught in the act or convicted of making credible violent threats, committing violent crimes, child abuse, malicious doxing, coordinating nonviolent harm (such as fraud, money laundering and gambling), or encouraging others to do any of these activities, may be banned from using Patreon.
Due to the severity of this violation, you will not be able to create a new creator page on Patreon going forward. We will also remove any future associated pages.
I paid out the remaining $1.82 to your account.
Our team takes the removal of pages very seriously and we only commit to this action after a thorough review process.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this decision, please feel free to raise them with me here.
Patreon Trust and Safety Monday - Friday
9am- 6pm PST