- Published
Australian children's author Craig Silvey has been sentenced to seven months in jail for possessing and distributing child exploitation material.
asserted
author → publish → material
In handing down her sentence, Judge Hayley Cormann called Silvey's actions "repulsive" and "degrading".
asserted
Cormann → hand → actions
In January, Silvey was arrested after police raided his home in Western Australia and seized several electronic devices.
asserted
police → arrest → devices
In May, the 44-year-old pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material and in October he was jailed pending his sentencing.
uncertain
he → plead → sentencing
The father-of-three is best known for his award-winning young adult novel Jasper Jones and children's book Runt, both of which were later made into movies.
asserted
both → know → movies
"You have devastated and betrayed the trust of thousands of people, and you've let entire communities down," Cormann said on Monday, according to WA Today.
uncertain
Cormann → devastate → Today
Police said Silvey had online chats, in which he discussed child exploitation, open at the moment they turned up to raid his house.
asserted
they → say → house
In them, the court heard, Silvey had described himself as "extremely open minded" and "obsessed with taboos".
asserted
Silvey → hear → taboos
He'd discussed his sexual interest in children as young as five with another user of a pornography site, and detectives found images and videos of other adults abusing children on his devices.
asserted
detectives → discuss → devices
He was initially charged with four offences, but prosecutors later dropped two.
asserted
prosecutors → charge → two
Prosecutors said Silvey contributed to the "cycle of abuse" victimising the children in the images, and argued a harsh sentence was required.
asserted
sentence → say → images
However, the author's defence lawyer said he did not have a "sexual interest in children" and was seeking out "the most depraved material" as a form of "emotional" self harm.
"His behaviour provided temporary relief from psychological agitation," Eloise Barker said.
asserted
Barker → say → agitation
She said Silvey had displayed genuine remorse for his offending, and that his high profile and the resulting media scrutiny - which lead to his former partner and children relocating interstate - was already a form of punishment.
asserted
partner → say → punishment
Judge Cormann did not accept many of her arguments, and said Silvey's offending was extremely serious.
asserted
offending → accept → arguments
"These children, the victims of this type of offending, are real and are traumatised…
asserted
children → traumatise → offending
the consequences for them from these abuses are long lasting and very, very traumatic," she said, according to The Australian.
uncertain
she → last → Australian
Silvey was sentenced to seven months in jail, backdated to 22 October.
asserted
Silvey → sentence → October
Silvey's coming-of-age novel Jasper Jones sold more than half a million copies and was awarded the Book of the Year Award by the nation's peak publishing body in 2010.
asserted
novel → come → 2010
The novel, set in Western Australia with two teenage boys as the main characters, was also shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Awards and the Miles Franklin Literary Award.
asserted
novel → set → Awards
It was later turned into a film starring Toni Collette and Hugo Weaving in 2017 as well as a stage play.
asserted
It → turn → 2017
Another of his acclaimed works is 2022's Runt, about the adventures of an 11-year-old girl and her stray dog and set in the Australia outback.
asserted
Another → set → outback
It was also adapted for film in 2024, featuring Celeste Barber.
asserted
It → adapt → Barber
Since his arrest, publishers and book shops have pulled his works from shelves while schools in some states have removed Jasper's books from teaching lists.
asserted
schools → pull → lists
The Aporia
