William Stayton, psychologist and Baptist minister

WILLIAM R. STAYTON, M. DIV., TH.D.

William R. Stayton is an expert witness for the ACLU in ACLU v. Reno, the first major legal challenge to censorship on the Internet.

Reverend Stayton is an ordained American Baptist Clergyman, with several parishes in Newton Centre and Gloucester, Massachusetts, and is commissioned by his denomination as minister in the field of human sexuality.

Reverend Stayton is an adjunct associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, one of two universities in the world that offers a doctorate in the field of human sexuality education. He teaches core courses in “Behavioral Foundations of Human Sexuality” and “Sex Therapy: Theory and Techniques.” In addition, Reverend Stayton has served concurrently on the faculties of several universities for the past 25 years.

As a certified marriage and family therapist, Reverend Stayton has a private practice in marriage, family, and sexual therapy. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) and served as its president from 1985-87. Since 1994 he has served as president-elect of the American Association of Sex Educations, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), an organization that certifies persons in the sexuality field.

In his affidavit, Reverend Stayton states that he has been married to Kathleen Boucher for 41 years, is a father and grandfather, and “speaks as a person deeply committed to the family and ‘family values.'”