Author Craig Silvey pleads guilty to possessing child abuse material
What's the story
Award-winning Australian author Craig Silvey has pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material. The 43-year-old was initially charged in January after a raid at his Fremantle home by Western Australia's police child abuse squad. During the raid, police allegedly discovered Silvey communicating online with offenders of child exploitation and seized his electronic devices.
Charge update
Additional charges dropped
Subsequently, Silvey was hit with more charges, including allegations of producing child exploitation material between February and June 2022. However, these two additional charges have now been dropped. Today, he admitted to the remaining counts of possessing and distributing child exploitation material linked to offenses in January at Fremantle magistrates court.
Career impact
Silvey's works removed from reading lists
Silvey is best known for his 2009 coming-of-age novel Jasper Jones, which has been adapted into a feature film and stage productions. Other notable works include Rhubarb, Honeybee (which won the 2021 Australian Indie Book Award), and children's book Runt. After the initial charges were laid, publishers Allen & Unwin and Fremantle Press stopped promoting his books. Most of Silvey's titles have also been removed from reading lists across Australia.