A couple of months ago, you might have heard about the controversy regarding a book that a man wrote about pedophilia. The book is called “The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child Lover’s Code of Conduct,” and many throughout the country protested the sale of the book, saying it taught readers how to engage in child molestation.
But the writer of the how-to book has defended his name and First Amendment rights consistently throughout the debate. Even after Amazon stopped selling the book, the author continued selling his work from his Colorado home.
It seemed as though all was fine, that was until he sent the book to a buyer, who happened to be undercover Florida detectives. Once the book crossed the state lines into Florida, authorities here believed they had enough to arrest the author and lock him up.
The author is charged with violating Florida obscenity laws, was taken out of Colorado and now sits in a Polk County, Florida jail cell. To be clear, this suspect is not accused of actually committing sex assault on a child; he is being charged with distributing “obscene material depicting minors engaged in conduct harmful to minors.”
Though the author claims he has never committed a sex crime against a child and he is not charged with such, critics still see him as incredibly dangerous. Some think that the book should be legally banned because it teaches others how to “rape” children, which is illegal nationwide. But that line of thinking, including Florida’s obscenity law in general, worries those who want to protect freedom of speech.
The defendant claims that supporting sex assault on a child is not the purpose of his guide and is confident that he will win his case. He says his “… book is just a help book for pedophiles to help them live legally,” according to an ABC report. Adding to his defense, the suspect points to the fact that he lives in Colorado, where Florida’s obscenity law doesn’t exist; therefore, the Florida charges should be dropped.
We will post an update to this post as more case details develop.
Source
ABC Action News: “Pedophilia book author Philip Greaves booked into Polk County Jail,” Cary Williams, 21 Dec. 2010