Jasper Jones author Craig Silvey pens 9000-word apology hours after jailed for child exploitation crimes

Disgraced children’s author and convicted paedophile Craig Silvey has penned a 9000-word apology to his readers, denying any sexual attraction towards children and rationalising the reasoning behind the vile offending he was imprisoned over.

The 44-year-old Jasper Jones author was jailed for seven months at the WA District Court on Monday, during which it was revealed he had confessed to wanting to “make out with little ones” and “drooling” over a sexually explicit photograph of a child.

In a Substack article published on Monday afternoon titled My Apology, Silvey admitted to downloading and sending child exploitation material in January this year.

“I am guilty of these offences. I am appalled and mortified by my conduct, and I am deeply, profoundly sorry,” he wrote.

“I want to acknowledge that my engagement with this material is reprehensible and indefensible.

“It is re-traumatising to victims, and perpetuates a cycle of harm. I am horrified and aghast that I have caused further suffering by contributing to this scourge.”

Silvey said he was not sexually attracted to children, writing: “I am painfully aware of the possible assumption that my offence must have been informed by a horrible and inappropriate attraction, and that my behaviour must then be connected to sinister and ulterior motivations.”

“I assure you this is not the case at all.”

Silvey said that he suffered “emotional neglect, violence and sexual abuse” as a child, which he suppressed and compartmentalised as a coping mechanism. He said that the shame led him to seek external validation and approval.

Silvey said that he suppressed his shame and grief with “soothing distractions” like cooking and reading, before turning to online pornography.

Silvey said that whilst the pornography started out “tame” and “vanilla”, it quickly escalated into a “confusing world of bodies and power dynamics, sex and shame.”

“This had nothing to do with sex or sexuality, and everything to do with a distant need for validation and reassurance ... this was a very sad, desperate, and deeply unhealthy way to resurrect the missing and repair the past,” he said.

“I did something unthinkable that I had never, ever done before. I sent that image. I pulled the trigger. I made everything stop.

“I sabotaged our lives. I got ahead of my failure. I engineered my abandonment. I destroyed it all. I caused unimaginable hurt. And there is no end to my regret.”

Silvey said he had no recollection of his offending after his arrest, but that the memories began to return after attending therapy.

He said he was “mortified” by his offending, and that he had betrayed the trust of his family, friends and readers and “breached a clear community standard.”

“I have broken so many hearts. I am so angry and frustrated and revolted with myself. I am mortified and dismayed by how truly lost I became,” he said.

“I am also besieged by anxiety. I have not been in public since my arrest. I feel hated and despised, and I fear for my safety.

“My work and my words have been erased. I state this with grief and devastation, not resentment. Those who have blessed me with support have the right to withdraw it.”

Silvey said that he was committed to rebuilding into a man who was “healthy, honest, humble, resilient, vulnerable, and a worthy contributor to our social contract.”

“In an effort to survive intolerable burdens, I made terrible mistakes, and I broke down and fell apart. But I am picking up the pieces, and I am committed to rebuilding,” he wrote.

“Again, I extend my deepest and sincerest apologies to every single member of the public. I am so very sorry.”

Silvey added an extensive list of sexual trauma resources and further readings at the bottom of his article.

During Monday’s hearing, the court was told that Silvey started a conversation with a “fictitious” user on an adult website on January 7 this year, telling them: “Fremantle guy here, you sound amazing . . . we have very similar interests, would love to chat more. Do you have Signal or Session?”

The pair engaged in a sexualised conversation, during which Silvey said: “I’m extremely open-minded, completely non-judgemental and I’m obsessed with taboos.”

He said he “preferred” children over the age of five, adding that “eight was the perfect age ... I haven’t had any experience I’m sad to say, I’m a bit obsessed.”

Silvey later sent a sexually explicit photograph of a man and pre-pubescent male child, writing: “It’s not mine, I wish, but I’ve been drooling over this.”

He also wrote: “I love, love, love, love mums being intimate with little boys. I think it’s the sexiest and most beautiful thing in the world.”

Other messages included: “I f***ing love paedo mum stuff” and “I wanna make out with little ones.”

And in another shocking message, Silvey admitted to having a “great collection”, but said he “panicked and deleted everything. I regret that every day.”

Detectives raided Silvey’s Fremantle home — which he shared with his ex-partner and young kids — on January 12, during which they seized an iPhone and Apple MacBook from his makeshift study which contained five videos and seven photographs of child exploitation material.

In handing down her sentence, Judge Hayley Cormann described Silvey’s offending as “repulsive” and “degrading”, and that the consequences of his crimes would have a long-lasting impact on his victims.

“Your communication was open, it was asserting and it was unmistakable,” she said.

“You did this as a means to engage with others, and ultimately as a means to sexually satisfy yourself as part of your fantasies.”

Silvey’s sentence was backdated to October 22 after spending 11 days in custody earlier this year. He was made eligible for parole.

Silvey is best known for his young adult novels Runt, Jasper Jones and Honeybee — set around Perth and Western Australia — and were regularly used as material in the school curriculum.

In 2017, Jasper Jones was turned into a film adaptation starring Toni Collette.

He has won several awards including Australian Book Industry Awards Book the Year in 2010, Dymocks Book of the Year in 2020 and Book of the Year for Younger Australians in 2023.

Most of Silvey’s books were stripped from Australian school reading lists after he was charged.

Silvey’s brother, Bret, was jailed for 12 years in May last year after swindling property developer Randal Humich — one of Perth’s biggest CBD landlords — and his father, Ivan Humich, out of $71 million.