John Grisham has apologized after saying in
an interview that watching child porn doesn't make one a paedophile. The author says
he 'regrets' his comments, and that anyone caught watching child porn should
'be punished to the fullest extent of the law'. The comments were made while
the author was promoting his latest book, Gray Mountain.
John Grisham has apologized for saying that many men imprisoned
for child pornography offenses in the U.S. probably just had too much to drink
and 'pushed the wrong buttons.'
Daily Mail had reported the story which GRAPHITTI NEWS observed fans' reaction that Grisham said in a recent interview that U.S. prisons were 'filled with
guys my age. Sixty-year-old white men in prison, who have never harmed anybody,
would never touch a child.'
'Anyone who harms a child for profit or pleasure, or who in any
way participates in child pornography—online or otherwise—should be punished to
the fullest extent of the law,' he said in a statement today.
He then added, 'My comments made two days ago during an interview
with the British newspaper The Telegraph were in no way intended to show
sympathy for those convicted of sex crimes, especially the sexual molestation
of children. I can think of nothing more despicable. I regret having made these
comments, and apologize to all.'
In his interview, which was with The Telegraph, he stated that many of
those jailed on charges of child porn did not do anything wrong.
'We've got prisons now filled with guys my age, 60-year-old white
men, in prison, who have never harmed anyone,' he said.
'Who would never touch a child, but they got online one night,
started surfing around, probably had too much to drink whatever and pushed the
wrong buttons, and went too far and went into child porn or whatever.'
Grisham made a distinction between 'real pedophiles' and those he
said were being punished too harshly.
He said offenders did deserve punishment, but 'we've gone nuts
with this incarceration.'
He also revealed he has a friend serving time in prison for
watching child porn in Canada.
These comments caused public outrage among many, some of whom took
to Twitter to attack the author.
Child welfare advocates also criticized the comments, which were
made during an interview to promote Grisham's latest legal thriller, Gray
Mountain.
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Bad press: Grisham
(left) made the comments while out promoting his new book, Gray Mountain
(right)
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Jon
Brown of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children told
the BBC that 'every image is a real child who has suffered and every time these
images are clicked on or downloaded it creates demand that ultimately fuels
more child abuse.'
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