Author Craig Silvey charged with child exploitation offences

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Popular English books 'Jasper Jones’ and 'Rhubarb' are set to be pulled off the shelves of Western Australian schools, after author Craig Silvey appeared in court yesterday charged with the possession and distribution of child exploitation material.

Transcript

00:00The impacts of this high-profile case are already being seen in Western Australia, with

00:06the Education Minister asking the Department of Education to ensure that Craig Sylvie's

00:11books are not used and studied in schools across the state this year, at least while

00:16this case is ongoing.

00:18Mr Sylvie is a 43-year-old father of three who's facing two charges, one charge of allegedly

00:25possessing child exploitation material and the other of allegedly distributing it.

00:31He made an appearance in the magistrate's court in Fremantle yesterday, and the court

00:35was told that police executed a search warrant at Mr Sylvie's home in Fremantle, and it's

00:41at that home where police allege Mr Sylvie was actively engaging with child exploitation offenders

00:48online.

00:49The court was told that Mr Sylvie was using a website where he expressed an interest in

00:55in this material, and police also allege that Mr Sylvie played a part in allegedly distributing

01:02some of this imagery as well.

01:05Now he did make an application for bail which was granted with strict conditions, including

01:10that he only used the internet for certain purposes, including banking, access to legal services

01:16and for his work, and that he report to the local police station three times a week.

01:23He was also required to put up $100,000 as a personal undertaking and also provide $100,000

01:30in surety, essentially requiring someone to put up $100,000 in collateral for the bail.

01:37Now despite being granted bail by the court yesterday, Mr Sylvie actually left the Fremantle Magistrates

01:42Court in a police van still in custody.

01:46The ABC has been told it's because Mr Sylvie actually wasn't able to put up the $100,000

01:53surety.

01:54The case has been adjourned until next month to the 10th of February.

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