Australian author Craig Silvey received a seven-month prison term Monday after pleading guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material following a January police search of his home, The Independent reported.
The 44-year-old entered the pleas in May, the outlet said. At the hearing, the Western Australian District Court was told Silvey had used a pornography site and encrypted messaging service to send sexually explicit messages, including messages signaling interest in boys as young as five. Prosecutor Daniel Harrop told the court Silvey had distributed an image classified as category one. Investigators found seven images and five videos on his phone and laptop, according to the report.
Judge Hayley Cormann described the conduct as “repulsive” and “degrading,” and said victims of such abuse were real and faced lasting trauma, The Independent reported. Prosecutors argued imprisonment was necessary to deter further distribution. Silvey’s lawyer, Eloise Barker, sought a suspended sentence, citing his counseling since arrest, remorse and low risk of reoffending. She linked his conduct to psychological distress and argued it was not driven by a sexual interest in children, according to the report. Prosecutors also argued his conduct had damaged the trust of young readers who identified with his characters.
According to the report, Oct. 22 was the starting date for the term, which made Silvey eligible for parole.
Silvey’s 2009 novel Jasper Jones passed 600,000 copies in global sales and was adapted for stage and screen, the outlet said. His bibliography also features Rhubarb and Honeybee, as well as children’s book Runt, later made into a film. Allen & Unwin and Fremantle Press halted promotion of his titles after Silvey was arrested. The report said bookshops removed several titles from sale and schools took some off their reading lists. Education officials in Western Australia began a process to bar his titles from public schools permanently.
