Children’s author jailed for possessing and distributing child exploitation material

Children’s author jailed for possessing and distributing child exploitation material Police discovered child exploitation material on Craig Silvey’s electronic devices during a raid at his Fremantle home in January - Bookmark Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in Australian author Craig Silvey has been sentenced to seven months in prison for possessing and distributing child exploitation material, with a judge describing his actions as “repulsive” and “degrading”. The 44-year-old pleaded guilty to the offences in May after police discovered child exploitation material on his electronic devices during a raid at his Fremantle home in January. The Western Australian district court heard that Silvey had engaged in sexually explicit conversations with other users on a pornography website and an encrypted messaging platform, expressing an interest in boys as young as five. Silvey used the username “Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy” and described himself as “extremely open-minded” and “obsessed with taboos”. “You have devastated and betrayed the trust of thousands of people, and you’ve let entire communities down,” Judge Hayley Cormann said on Monday. Prosecutor Daniel Harrop told the court that Silvey had distributed a category one image, the most serious classification of child exploitation material. Police recovered 12 items, including five videos and seven images, from his laptop and mobile phone. His messages to other users on a pornographic site included comments that “eight was the perfect age”. “I want to make out with little ones,” the author said in another message. “These children, the victims of this type of offending, are real and are traumatised… the consequences for them from these abuses are long lasting and very, very traumatic,” Ms Cormann said. The judge also rejected attempts to minimise the seriousness of the offences, as Silvey’s defence had described the online exchanges as “role-play”, saying the victims were real despite the defendant’s explanation of his behaviour. Silvey’s lawyer Eloise Barker argued that her client had been struggling psychologically and had sought “the most depraved material” as a form of “emotional suicide” rather than because of a “sexual interest in children”. She said his “behaviour provided temporary relief from psychological agitation” and that he had shown “genuine remorse”. Ms Barker also told the court that Silvey had undergone counselling since his arrest and posed a low risk of reoffending. She sought a suspended sentence, citing the extensive media attention and the impact of the case on his family, including his former partner and their children relocating interstate. However, prosecutors argued that distributing the material perpetuated the “cycle of abuse” and warranted imprisonment as a deterrent. “A generation of children, and particularly vulnerable children grappling with questions of gender identity and sexuality, found comfort and safety in the protagonists of Mr Silvey’s novels,” the prosecution said. Mr Harrop said Silvey’s conduct represented a “great betrayal” of readers, particularly young people who had identified with the characters in his books. He said the offending had “completely shattered” that sense of security and amounted to a “great betrayal”. The sentence was backdated to 22 October, making Silvey eligible for parole. Silvey was once among Australia’s best-known contemporary authors. His 2009 coming-of-age novel Jasper Jones sold more than 600,000 copies worldwide, received major literary recognition and was adapted into a film and stage productions. His other works include Rhubarb, Honeybee and the children’s novel Runt, which was also adapted for cinema. Following his arrest, publishers Allen & Unwin and Fremantle Press stopped promoting his books. Several titles were withdrawn from bookshops and removed from school reading lists, while Western Australia’s education authorities moved to permanently prohibit his books from being used in public schools. If you are a child and you need help because something has happened to you, you can call Childline free of charge on 0800 1111. You can also call the NSPCC if you are an adult and you are worried about a child, on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adults on 0808 801 0331