Having now watched that video, I think Flanagan won't have too hard a time backtracking on his comments - he really didn't get much of an opportunity to articulate his views on the issue, and it seemed he was speaking to it only tangentially to the group's larger questions about aboriginal issues.
In fact, the most damning thing he said was admitting he was (somehow) on the NAMBLA email list for a couple of years. If not for that, I think it would be fairly easy to dismiss his comments as a theoretical question-raising with respect to the issue of child pornography - an issue he never went on to fully explain his views on since it wasn't really topical to the main issues the group was discussing. He might also be forgiven for abandoning his exploration of that subject matter given the treatment he was given by the crowd.
The email list thing though... that's what will prevent any of the groups who severed ties with him from giving him another chance. Exploring an academic issue is one thing, but making an admission like that isn't a matter of theoretical debate - and the way it came out tends to give it all sorts of credence.
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