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Acclaimed Australian author Craig Silvey has appeared in court in Perth, with his lawyer arguing he should be allowed access to his phone to delete his social media accounts after they attracted dozens of negative comments following his arrest.
The Fremantle-based writer, 43, was arrested at his home last month after he was allegedly caught “actively engaging” with other child exploitation offenders online.
Silvey, best known for his 2009 novel Jasper Jones, was banned from accessing the internet as part of his bail because police alleged he had engaged in online conversations over several days in January, during which he expressed a sexual interest in children and distributed child exploitation material.
He was eventually released on a $100,000 surety, but his lawyers were back in court on Friday asking to vary his conditions so he could access his phone and delete his social media accounts.
Silvey’s Instagram account in particular has attracted a number of negative comments since his arrest and has not been locked or deleted since.
His lawyer successfully argued that Silvey should be able to access social media sites in the future, but the magistrate ruled the author would only be allowed to disable the applications and not delete any comments.
Silvey is only permitted to access the internet for banking, medical and other critical purposes.
The state opposed allowing the author access to his phone over concerns he would re-offend, but Silvey was ultimately allowed to use the device as long as he did not access encrypted communication platforms.
The magistrate also reduced the number of times Silvey would need to report to the police station for check in, after his lawyer argued significant media attention on the case meant the accused was often confronted by reporters when it came time to report for bail.
He will appear in court again next month.
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