Novelist John Grisham has apologised for saying in an interview with the British Newspaper – The Daily Telegraph, – that many men imprisoned for child pornography offenses in the US probably just had too much to drink and “pushed the wrong buttons.”

Ending Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Child Trafficking for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT) interim general manager Debbi Tohill said Grisham’s argument was incorrect.

“Mr Grisham is clearly not taking into account the effect that the use of sexual images of children has on the children who are used for these images.

“His argument is a sad indictment of this.

“Whilst the perpetrators of the physical crimes deserve harsh punishment, as long as demand continues for child sexual abuse images, we will continue to see our most vulnerable children abused and the people who access child pornography need to be held accountable.”

Full story: AP – 17/10/14 See: – http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/10629092/Grisham-says-sorry-for-child-porn-remarks

Note: ECPAT Child Alert Trust – also known as ECPAT NZ Inc. – was registered as a New Zealand Charity on 19/02/2010. Reg. No. CC43653. Its website is www.ecpat.org.nz