The Children’s Author Convicted on Child Porn Charges – The Daily Beast
PORTLAND, Oregon—For the most part, the 19 reviews on Amazon.com of K.P. Bath’s children’s book, The Secret of Castle Cant, are glowing. “A fun read for everyone,” says one reader. “Splendid storytelling,” adds another. “Great for kids as well as adults.” “I couldn’t put it down.”
Then on Friday a couple of new reviews of the Portland author’s first novel found their way to the site, with a markedly different tone. “The author of this book was convicted of child pornography,” a reviewer wrote, adding an excerpt from news reports that Bath was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison for possessing kiddie porn. “Do you really want your money going into this guy’s pocket?”
Bath’s publisher, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, had a head start in managing the bad publicity; the imprint pulled the 51-year-old’s newest novel, Flip Side, after he was first arrested in April 2009 on federal charges of trafficking child pornography on the Internet.
What’s unexplained is how a guy who writes books designed to educate and illuminate the lives of grade schoolers spent a healthy portion of his free time consuming sexually exploitive images of them.
By all appearances, the quiet author conducted his foul deeds only in front of his computer terminal, and not the children’s library where he worked, or anywhere else he might have had an opportunity to interact with youngsters face-to-face. Bath pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child pornography, which meant he avoided the stiffer penalties he faced if convicted on more serious charges of trafficking. He offered no apology in court except a letter complaining that government prosecutors wielded too much power over his punishment.
But really, a children’s author who peddles child porn? How twisted can you be? A closer look at the case and Bath’s background reveals a recluse with no wife and kids of his own who volunteered in the children’s wing of the county library—no doubt fueling his disturbing fetish.
“It never ceases to amaze and surprise me when people find a sexual attraction to children, and it’s disheartening a children’s author was involved,” said assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Sussman, who prosecuted Bath after federal Immigration, Customs and Enforcement officials came across graphic images and videos of children engaged in horrific, sadistic sex acts he collected and traded between 2006 and 2008.
via The Children’s Author Convicted on Child Porn Charges – The Daily Beast.
