Speaker 1: Already and this is the Daily This is the Daily.
Speaker 2: Ohs oh, now it makes sense. Good morning and welcome
Speaker 2: to the Daily OS. It's Thursday, the fifteenth of January.
Speaker 2: I'm Emma Gillespie, I'm Billy fitz Simon's books by popular
Speaker 2: Australian author Craig Sylvie have been pulled from shelves in
Speaker 2: Western Australian schools after the forty three year old author
Speaker 2: was charged with child exploitation. Several of Sylvie's books, including
Speaker 2: Runt and Jasper Jones, are studied by students in schools
Speaker 2: around the country, but following a raid on his home
Speaker 2: on Monday, the WA Education Minister has ordered state schools
Speaker 2: not to use texts by the author in classrooms this
Speaker 2: year while the allegations against him are investigated. Today we'll
Speaker 2: explain who Craig Sylvie is, the charges against him, and
Speaker 2: how schools are respect Before we get into it, just
Speaker 2: a heads up that today's episode discusses distressing themes. Listener
Speaker 2: discretion is advised.
Speaker 3: Emma, Do you want to start by just explaining who
Speaker 3: Craig Sylvie is.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he is one of Australia's most prominent authors. If
Speaker 2: you haven't heard of him. There is a good chance
Speaker 2: you've read one of his books, or heard of one
Speaker 2: of his books, or watched it in a film adaptation.
Speaker 2: So we're talking about critically acclaimed titles like Rhubarb, Runt,
Speaker 2: Jasper Jones and Honeybee. Craig Sylvie has won multiple awards
Speaker 2: for those books, both here in Australia and overseas. And
Speaker 2: his book Runt was turned into a movie just in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four of the same name, and his two
Speaker 2: thousand and nine book Jasper Jones was also made into
Speaker 2: a film and stage production.
Speaker 3: He is such a popular author in Australia. A few
Speaker 3: of us in the office or study Jasper Jones at school. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I know we'll get into because it is a very
Speaker 3: popular book in the education system.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 3: And so the reason we're talking about him is because
Speaker 3: he was arrested this week.
Speaker 1: So what was he arrested for.
Speaker 2: Yeah, On Tuesday afternoon we learned from WA Police that
Speaker 2: a forty three year old man had been arrested in
Speaker 2: Fremantle on Monday. We now know that man is the
Speaker 2: author Craig Sylvie. During a raid of his home on Monday,
Speaker 2: police alleged Sylvie was caught engaging with child exploitation offenders online.
Speaker 3: And so just to be clear, police are saying that
Speaker 3: when they raided his home, he was mid some form
Speaker 3: of child exploitation. So he was kind of their saying,
Speaker 3: allegedly caught in the act.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that is what the allegations say at the moment.
Speaker 2: In a statement, WA Police said that he was immediately
Speaker 2: arrested and his electronic devices were seized. Sylvie was allegedly
Speaker 2: talking to someone online and during that conversation he expressed
Speaker 2: a sexual interest in children, according to police. Investigators also
Speaker 2: claim that there was evidence of image sharing in that conversation. So,
Speaker 2: following the raid on his home, Sylvie was charged with
Speaker 2: possessing and distributing child exploitation material between January seven and
Speaker 2: January nine.
Speaker 1: So this all.
Speaker 3: Relates to child exploitation material. Do you want to just
Speaker 3: explain what that means?
Speaker 2: Yes, So, in Western Australia, where Sylvie was arrested and
Speaker 2: where he'll face court, child exploitation material refers to any material,
Speaker 2: including images, video, writings, or data, that depicts or describes
Speaker 2: a person who is under sixteen in a sexual context,
Speaker 2: or being subjected to abuse or cruelty. So again, there
Speaker 2: is a lot we don't know about the specifics of
Speaker 2: the charges against Sylvie, but he's been charged with distributing
Speaker 2: and possessing this kind of material distribution is a more
Speaker 2: serious charge.
Speaker 1: It should be noted.
Speaker 3: Okay, So he was arrested and charged earlier this week.
Speaker 3: When this story first broke, there was a lot that
Speaker 3: we didn't know, but now there's been more time we
Speaker 3: have learnt a little bit more about these allegations in
Speaker 3: the days since.
Speaker 2: Right, Yes, so we know now that Sylvie appeared in
Speaker 2: the Fremantle Magistrates Court on Tuesday. No police were entered
Speaker 2: during that hearing, but the ABC did have a reporter
Speaker 2: inside the courtroom at the time and according to their report,
Speaker 2: the police prosecutor told the court that Sylvie was not
Speaker 2: cooperating with investigators. Police are alleging the author refused to
Speaker 2: grant detective's access to his devices, so that included his
Speaker 2: mobile phone and computer, and as a result of this
Speaker 2: alleged non compliance, police opposed bail for Sylvie, so they
Speaker 2: told the court they did not believe that he should
Speaker 2: be released from police custody. The prosecutor, again, according to
Speaker 2: the ABC, said Sylvie quote may hinder the investigation and
Speaker 2: describe him as a flight risk. Now that means police
Speaker 2: are concerned that if he's released from custody, he might
Speaker 2: flee the state or the country as he awaits further proceedings.
Speaker 3: Which would be illegal. Yes, so was Sylvie in the
Speaker 3: end granted bail.
Speaker 2: He actually was granted bail despite the wishes of the
Speaker 2: police prosecutors. But interestingly, he did spend Tuesday night in
Speaker 2: police custody after being granted bail, and that was because
Speaker 2: he didn't meet his bail conditions. Sylvie was granted bail
Speaker 2: with something called a surety as well as a personal undertaking.
Speaker 2: Now that means he was ordered to put forward one
Speaker 2: hundred thousand dollars of his own money to secure bail,
Speaker 2: but he also needed a one hundred thousand dollars surety,
Speaker 2: meaning someone else needed to put forward money, basically vouching
Speaker 2: for Sylvie. Now, the court defines this surety as a
Speaker 2: person who enters into a legally enforceable agreement to forfeit
Speaker 2: a specific amount of money, in this case one hundred
Speaker 2: grand if the person they are standing surety for in
Speaker 2: this case, Sylvie fails to appear at court. So if
Speaker 2: for whatever reason the accused breaches bail conditions, they leave
Speaker 2: the state or country, they miss a hearing, that surety
Speaker 2: amount gets forfeited. Now, at the time of recording, it's
Speaker 2: not clear if Sylvie is still in custody, but we
Speaker 2: know that he could not meet those conditions on Tuesday night,
Speaker 2: got it okay?
Speaker 3: And you mentioned that we don't yet know how Sylvie
Speaker 3: will plead to these charges. Sometimes in these cases we
Speaker 3: would hear from a lawyer on whether or not they are.
Speaker 1: Claiming to be innocent or not. We haven't heard anything right.
Speaker 2: At the time of recording. That's right, we haven't heard anything.
Speaker 2: We don't know how Sylvie will plead, And of course
Speaker 2: it should be noted this is an ongoing investigation and
Speaker 2: Sylvie does have a legal right to presumed innocence and
Speaker 2: a fair trial. That means that the prosecution must prove
Speaker 2: the charges against him beyond reasonable doubt. That will matter
Speaker 2: if he pleads not guilty. It'll be a different situation
Speaker 2: if he pleads guilty.
Speaker 3: And what I said before about many of his books
Speaker 3: are very popular in Australia's education system, and I know
Speaker 3: the WA Department of Education has weighed in on Sylvie's arrest.
Speaker 1: What did they say?
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is a really interesting aspect of this story,
Speaker 2: and quite an unusual one. The core texts or recommended
Speaker 2: texts that students study in high schools and primary schools
Speaker 2: across the country is determined on a state by state basis,
Speaker 2: but in Wa at least we do know that Sylvie's
Speaker 2: books are included in the curriculums of some of its
Speaker 2: subjects for some students. Now, the Daily Os did reach
Speaker 2: out to the Education Minister there, Sabine Winton, and she
Speaker 2: called the nature of the allegations against Sylvie deeply concerning.
Speaker 2: Wynton confirmed that Jasper Jones and Rubab, two books by
Speaker 2: Craig Sylvie that are included in a list of texts
Speaker 2: that students might study in Year eleven and twelve literature
Speaker 2: or in general English courses, that they would be removed
Speaker 2: this year for study. So in light of the charges
Speaker 2: against the Winton has asked the Department of Education to
Speaker 2: quote ensure that schools cease using texts by Craig Sylvie
Speaker 2: for the twenty twenty six school year while the allegations
Speaker 2: are under investigation. Now there are some Year twelve students
Speaker 2: in Wa who may have already studied Sylvie's books in
Speaker 2: previous years for literature studies. The Education Minister confirmed they
Speaker 2: will not be penalized if they refer to those texts
Speaker 2: in their exams later this year.
Speaker 1: Do we know if any other states will follow suit? Well?
Speaker 2: I did look into this on Wednesday morning and Runt,
Speaker 2: which is a very famous book by Craig Sylvie, was
Speaker 2: included as a Level four English Core text in Victoria.
Speaker 2: But when I checked the list again a few hours
Speaker 2: later on Wednesday afternoon, Runt had actually been removed from
Speaker 2: that document. So I reached out to the Victorian Department
Speaker 2: of Education and a spokesperson told TDA that Sylvie's texts
Speaker 2: have been removed from the Victorian Lessons plans and are
Speaker 2: not on any VCE English or literature lists. So VCE
Speaker 2: is the year eleven and twelve program for school leavers
Speaker 2: in Victoria. The spokesperson also said that Sylvie's books quote
Speaker 2: will not feature in the twenty twenty six Premieres Reading Challenge.
Speaker 3: Okay, so what are the next steps here? I presume
Speaker 3: there's a trial that will happen.
Speaker 2: Well, Sylvie is scheduled to appear in court next on
Speaker 2: the tenth of February, so we've got to wait a
Speaker 2: couple more weeks till we learn more about the future
Speaker 2: of this case. We have heard from his publisher, Alan
Speaker 2: and Aunwin. It said it was aware of the allegations,
Speaker 2: which are called deeply distressing, and said the publishing house
Speaker 2: would pause promotional activity of Sylvie's work while the legal
Speaker 2: process takes its course. I did have a quick browse
Speaker 2: online across a few major book retailers, so some retailers,
Speaker 2: including Dimicks and QBD Books have actually removed Sylvie's titles
Speaker 2: from their websites now. In terms of the penalties that
Speaker 2: Sylvie's facing for these child exploitations chargers in wa Specifically,
Speaker 2: a person found guilty of possession of child exploitation material
Speaker 2: could face seven to ten years behind bars, and distributing
Speaker 2: child exploitation material carries a penalty of ten years jail time. Sylvie,
Speaker 2: we know is facing two counts, so that could mean
Speaker 2: a longer penalty or that those sentences are stacked if
Speaker 2: he is found guilty, and the magistrate who granted him
Speaker 2: bail did say that imprisonment is a likely outcome, but
Speaker 2: investigations are continuing. We will continue to keep you guys
Speaker 2: updated as we learn more about this case.
Speaker 3: Yeah, a very disturbing case. I mean, I've read so
Speaker 3: many of his books and it's something that you just
Speaker 3: never expect to read about such a popular author.
Speaker 1: Emma, thank you for taking us through that.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Billy, and thank you for listening to today's episode.
Speaker 3: If it has raised any issues with you, help is available.
Speaker 3: You can call Lifeline on thirteen eleven fourteen or the
Speaker 3: Kids Helpline on one eight hundred fifty five one eight hundred.
Speaker 3: We'll be back with your evening news headlines a little
Speaker 3: later on, but until then, have a good day.
Speaker 1: My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda
Speaker 1: Bungelung Kalkutin woman from Gadighl Country.
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