A Pueblo man who self-published a guidebook for pedophiles is in Florida to face charges of violating that state’s obscenity law.
Phillip Ray Greaves II, the 47-year-old author of “The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-lover’s Code of Conduct,” was arrested in his home about 8 a.m. Monday by Pueblo police working with detectives from Polk County, Fla., said Pueblo Police Department Deputy Chief Andrew McLachlan.
Greaves waived his right to contest his extradition to Polk County at a hearing Monday afternoon in Pueblo, Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Laurie Kilpatrick said.
He was flown to Florida on Monday, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.
Greaves, who has no criminal record, has publicly argued that being a pedophile is not a crime, although acting on those urges is.
McLachlan said Polk County detectives contacted his department Sunday to coordinate the arrest.
Polk County investigators first contacted Greaves on Nov. 29 when a detective mailed a $50 postal money order for a hard-copy edition of the book, the Orlando Sentinel reported after reviewing the arrest warrant.
Amazon pulled book
On Dec. 3, Greaves sent the undercover detective an e-mail stating, “I can’t order any new copies at this time, so I am sending you my own personal copy. I hope that is alright with you.”
The book arrived with a personal inscription on the flyleaf: “For all of your encouragement, Phillip R. Greaves, 2nd,” the warrant stated.
Greaves’ book was self-published at . The online publisher pulled the title in November after national controversy erupted. E-book versions of the title were $4.79.
Sheriff Judd said he saw national press coverage of Greaves and felt frustrated that Colorado authorities could not arrest a man he called “obviously deviant.”
“I knew we had a very strong obscenity law here,” Judd said.
Judd said his office was able to arrest Greaves because he sold and mailed the book directly to undercover deputies, who paid $50 for it.
“It was clearly a manifesto on how to sexually batter children,” Judd said. “You just can’t believe how absolutely disgusting it was.”
Florida obscenity law prohibits the “distribution of obscene material depicting minors engaged in conduct harmful to minors.” It is a third-degree felony that carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.
The book, Judd said, included first-person descriptions of sexual encounters, purportedly written from a child’s point of view.
Greaves told The Smoking Gun website that he suffers from depression and that he had sexual contact with children while he himself was a child. When asked whether he engaged in sexual acts with children while an adult, Greaves said he “could have” before saying that he had not.
Greaves said he had sold only one book and said it doesn’t advocate for adults to harm children.
Pueblo DA investigating
Pueblo County District Attorney Bill Thiebaut said that his office became aware of Greaves’ book several weeks ago and that Pueblo authorities investigated Greaves.
“Our statute is not as broad as the one alleged to have been violated in Florida,” Thiebaut said. “We are not concerned with the writing or publication of the book.”
Thiebaut said that Greaves remains under investigation and that Pueblo County will coordinate with Polk County if local investigators decide to file charges against him.
Judd said his office was told by the Florida state attorney’s office that they would prosecute Greaves if Judd could get jurisdiction. He said he didn’t think it mattered that Greaves doesn’t live in Polk County.
“No one else seemed to do it who was closer,” Judd said. “So we said, ‘What the heck?’ If somebody came from outside of this county and robbed a bank, we’d arrest them too.”
Judd has a reputation as a crusader against child predators. “That comes from my passion to protect those who are most vulnerable,” he said.
Judd said that he was “excited” by Greaves’ decision to waive his extradition rights. “It was my goal to have him eating processed turkey here in jail on Christmas Day.”
Kyle Glazier: 303-954-1638 or kglazier@denverpost.com
