I thought maybe it was a sick joke but it’s not. I checked it out myself. Amazon.com not only sold a guide for pedophiles, it stood by that offering in the face of rampant criticism.
Called The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure – A Child Lover’s Code of Conduct, it is a self-published e-book by Phillip R. Greaves II who claims he wrote the book to – and I quote – offer guidelines for pedophiles to behave in a way that’s safer for children and to help the pedophile conduct themselves if they get caught so they can hope to get a lighter sentence. I’m not kidding!
I read an interview with this Greaves fellow and he said he wrote the book as a guideline for those who love children because “a true pedophile would never hurt a child – they love them.” It goes into great detail about what is and isn’t acceptable in Greaves’ view. It’s sickening.
When the outcry first began, an Amazon spokesman said it wasn’t up to them to be a censor. The spokesman said the e-book didn’t violate Amazon’s definition of “offensive”. That lasted less than a day after thousands of outraged people signed up to a Facebook group promising to boycott the online retailer this holiday season. The company turned tail later in the day and pulled the book off its inventory.
The damage may already be done, though. How stupid do you have to be to think for a minute that offering a forum to market such a tome is okay? That first reaction – it’s not offensive – is what’s sticking with me even though the book is now gone. Chapters.ca, here’s your chance to win me over, for good.