John Grisham, the Memphis lawyer whose legal thrillers have sold millions of copies worldwide, argues that the law is too harsh on those who have been found guilty of downloading child porn.
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.
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.
"We have prisons now filled with guys my age, 60-year-old white men in prison who've never harmed anybody, would never touch a child, but they got online one night and started surfing around, probably had too much to drink or whatever," Grisham told the Telegraph. "They haven't hurt anybody, ok? They deserve some type of punishment, whatever. But ten years in prison?"
He explained:
A friend of mine, ten years ago, was drinking. His drinking was out of control. And he went to a website—it was labeled, 16-year-old wannabe hookers, or something, some stupid website. And it said, 16-year-old girls. So he went there. Downloaded some stuff. It was 16-year-old girls who looked 30. You know, they were all dressed up and whatever. He shouldn't have done it, it was stupid. But it wasn't 10-year-old boys and he didn't touch anything. And golly, a week later there was a knock on the door. FBI. And it was a sting set up by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to catch people—sex offenders. And he went to prison for three years.
Grisham, who said he would have no sympathy for "a real pedophile," emphasized that old white men who only halfheartedly download child porn while drunk really deserve a break.
"There's so many of them now, so many sex offenders—that's what they're called—that they put them in the same prison, like they're a bunch of perverts or something," he said.
His comments seem to have angered a lot of people who have been lashing him on social media since.
He just took to his Facebook page to apologize.
A Statement from John Grisham:
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.
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.
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.
Post by John Grisham.
Nice of him to apologise case closed. Luchiano
ReplyDeleteOh yes, sorry when wrong should be easy!
Delete