Disgraced author Craig Silvey jailed for child exploitation offences

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.

WARNING: The following story contains details some readers may find distressing.

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.

Silvey, 44, had pleaded guilty to charges of distributing and possessing child exploitation material earlier this year, and was sentenced on Monday.

Judge Hayley Cormann said the material Silvey had possessed and his communications about it were "repulsive" and "degrading".

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.

Explicit material

The court heard Silvey described himself as "extremely open minded" and "obsessed with taboos".

He said he liked children aged "five plus" and eight was the "perfect age".

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.

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.

Silvey sat in the dock and looked down for much of the hearing.

Judge Cormann revealed that the user he was communicating with online was "fictitious".

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.

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".

She accepted he had experienced a "challenging time in recent years", financially, after a relationship breakdown with his brother, and losing his savings.

Silvey displayed no emotion as the sentence was delivered.

Author once beloved

Silvey was one of Australia's most commercially successful and critically acclaimed authors. 

His 2009 book Jasper Jones sold more than 600,000 copies worldwide and was made into a feature film. 

A 2020 book, Honeybee, was another best seller while his 2022 children's novel Runt was also adapted into a feature film. 

His debut novel Rhubarb and Jasper Jones were both studied in high school English courses. 

Silvey was charged with distribution and possession of child exploitation material in 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.

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".

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".

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.

He had lost his publishing contacts and his books had been removed from shop shelves and school curriculums.

Ms Barker said Silvey had been subjected to extensive media scrutiny.

'Great betrayal'

But Mr Harrop said the state did not accept Silvey did not have a sexual interest in children.

Mr Harrop said distributing child exploitation material continued "the cycle of abuse" and called for a harsh sentence to act as deterrent.

The court heard Silvey had expressed regret over deleting a "collection".

Mr Harrop said Silvey's offending would cause further harm in a section of the 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.

He told the court Silvey's offending had "completely shattered" that feeling of safety, and said it was a "great betrayal".