Disgraced Australian author Craig Silvey has been jailed for seven months for possessing and distributing child exploitation material, with a Perth judge condemning his "repulsive" actions.
asserted
judge → jail → actions
WARNING: The following story contains details some readers may find distressing.
uncertain
readers → follow → details
The WA District Court heard confronting details of Silvey's offending for the first time, including how he shared graphic photographs of adults sexually abusing children after connecting with a fellow user of an adult pornography website.
asserted
he → hear → website
Silvey, 44, had pleaded guilty to charges of distributing and possessing child exploitation material earlier this year, and was sentenced on Monday.
asserted
Silvey → plead → Monday
Judge Hayley Cormann said the material Silvey had possessed and his communications about it were "repulsive" and "degrading".
asserted
Silvey → say → it
Prosecutor Daniel Harrop said Silvey was on an adult pornography website in January when he began messaging another user on a separate platform where videos and images could be shared.
uncertain
videos → say → platform
Explicit material
The court heard Silvey described himself as "extremely open minded" and "obsessed with taboos".
asserted
Silvey → hear → taboos
He said he liked children aged "five plus" and eight was the "perfect age".
asserted
children → say → ?
Silvey sent an explicit image of an adult male with a prepubescent child, which police found after executing a search warrant at his Fremantle home and inspecting his phone and laptop.
asserted
police → send → phone
Further images and videos were found of adults sexually abusing children, with five videos and two images found on his laptop, and five images on his phone.
asserted
adults → find → phone
Silvey sat in the dock and looked down for much of the hearing.
asserted
Silvey → sit → hearing
Judge Cormann revealed that the user he was communicating with online was "fictitious".
asserted
he → reveal → ?
She accepted Silvey was "appalled" and "mortified" by his own conduct, was at a low risk of reoffending and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
asserted
Silvey → accept → opportunity
Judge Cormann said Silvey had sought to explain his criminal behaviour as a type of "role play", where he "went down into the dark", and got "smaller and smaller".
asserted
he → say → dark
She accepted he had experienced a "challenging time in recent years", financially, after a relationship breakdown with his brother, and losing his savings.
asserted
he → accept → savings
Silvey displayed no emotion as the sentence was delivered.
asserted
sentence → display → emotion
His 2009 book Jasper Jones sold more than 600,000 copies worldwide and was made into a feature film.
asserted
book → sell → film
A 2020 book, Honeybee, was another best seller while his 2022 children's novel Runt was also adapted into a feature film.
asserted
novel → adapt → film
His debut novel Rhubarb and Jasper Jones were both studied in high school English courses.
asserted
novel → study → courses
Silvey was charged with distribution and possession of child exploitation material in January.
asserted
Silvey → charge → January
Further charges of possessing and producing child exploitation material followed, but after Silvey pleaded guilty to possession and distribution, the other charges were discontinued.
asserted
charges → possess → possession
Books pulled from shops
Silvey's lawyer Eloise Barker said he had undertaken weekly psychological counselling since the end of January and had written a letter to the court displaying "genuine remorse".
asserted
he → pull → remorse
She claimed Silvey "doesn't have a sexual interest in children" and his desire for "the most depraved material" was a form of "emotional suicide".
asserted
desire → claim → suicide
Ms Barker said the "high-profile" author, who was "known worldwide", had already suffered because of his offending, with his ex-partner and their young children moving from Perth to New South Wales.
asserted
partner → say → Wales
He had lost his publishing contacts and his books had been removed from shop shelves and school curriculums.
asserted
books → lose → shelves
Ms Barker said Silvey had been subjected to extensive media scrutiny.
asserted
Silvey → say → scrutiny
But Mr Harrop said the state did not accept Silvey did not have a sexual interest in children.
asserted
Silvey → say → children
Mr Harrop said distributing child exploitation material continued "the cycle of abuse" and called for a harsh sentence to act as deterrent.
asserted
distributing → say → deterrent
The court heard Silvey had expressed regret over deleting a "collection".
asserted
Silvey → hear → collection
Mr Harrop said Silvey's offending would cause further harm in a section of the community.
asserted
offending → say → community
"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," Mr Harrop said.
asserted
Harrop → grapple → novels
He told the court Silvey's offending had "completely shattered" that feeling of safety, and said it was a "great betrayal".
asserted
it → tell → safety
The Aporia
