Townshend to be registered as sex offender

British rock star Pete Townshend, arrested in January during a high-profile crackdown on Internet child porn, will be placed on a register of sex offenders after being formally cautioned Wednesday, London police said.

Police said a four-month inquiry by a special Child Protection Group found the 57-year-old guitarist from the Who visited a Web site containing child abuse images in 1999 -- but did not download any images.

“I accept that I was wrong to access this site, and that by doing so, I broke the law, and I have accepted the caution that the police have given me,” Townshend said in a statement.

A police spokesman said a DNA sample would be taken from Townshend and he would be listed on the national Sex Offenders Register for five years.

“He has fully cooperated with the investigation, and the decision to caution was made in line with police policy,” London police said in a statement.

Townshend, who believes he was abused as a child, publicly admitted viewing child pornography but said it was purely for research purposes.