Popular Australian author Craig Silvey, best known for his children’s and young adult fiction books, has pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material.
Silvey, 43, was arrested in January during a police raid at his Perth home in Western Australia where several electronic devices were seized.
In court on Tuesday, the Jasper Jones and Runt author admitted to two charges relating to child exploitation material produced in January. Police dropped two extra charges, one over material allegedly produced in 2022.
The father-of-three’s bail was continued and he is due back in court in July. Since his arrest, publishers, shops and schools have pulled his books from shelves.
Outside court, Silvey did not make any comments to the media.
His 2009 novel Jasper Jones – a coming-of-age story featuring a 13-year-old boy as its protagonist – garnered several awards in Australia and was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Awards.
In 2017, it was made into a feature film, starring Toni Collette and Hugo Weaving.
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. It was also adapted for film in 2024, featuring Celeste Barber.
Since his arrest in January, several of Silvey’s works – Jasper Jones, Runt and Rhubarb – have been removed from teaching lists in schools in Western Australia and Victoria.
