Paedophile books banned

18/1/02
The State Government has moved swiftly to ban a series of paedophilia booklets found in Western Australia.
Attorney General Jim McGinty said 10 editions of a quarterly publication called Paidika: The Journal of Paedophilia had recently been seized by police at the home of a Perth man. It is expected the man will face criminal charges.
Mr McGinty said the booklets were appalling.
"They clearly promote paedophile activity, one of the most serious offences under the Criminal Code," he said.
"Equally disturbing, the publisher seeks to disguise this intent to some extent by presenting the material in the guise of a scholarly or academic journal.
"There is no doubt the aim is to condone and justify paedophilic behaviour, and I am very concerned these booklets have made their way to Perth.
"The material would offend any reasonable standard of decency and morality."
Mr McGinty said one of the publications, in its 'statement of purpose', says: 'We intend to demonstrate that paedophilia has been, and remains, a legitimate and productive part of the totality of human experience'.
The journals appear to be sourced from the Netherlands.
Mr McGinty said he immediately placed a 'refused' classification on the journals, which represented a total ban, once alerted by police of the seizure.
He said the ban reflected national censorship guidelines, which stated that publications would be classified as refused 'if they promote or provide instruction in paedophile behaviour'.
Minister's Office - 9220 5000