Jaycee Dugard's Memoir Dubbed 'Child Porn,' Claims Convicted Sex Offender
New York prison prohibits sex offender from reading Jaycee Dugard memoir.
June 26, 2013— -- A convicted sex offender is miffed that New York State prison officials won't let him read the memoir of kidnap survivor Jaycee Dugard, because it includes graphic depictions of sex and violence against women and children.
Peter Braunstein, a former newspaper editor serving an 18-year sentence for impersonating a firefighter and assaulting a co-worker whom he'd drugged claimed the New York State Department of Corrections has labeled Dugard's "A Stolen Life" "child pornography" and "banned" him from reading it.
In a makeshift press release given only to the New York Post, the ex-journalist breathlessly claims "NEW YORK OFFICIALS ACCUSE CHILD ABDUCTION SURVIVOR JAYCEE DUGARD OF 'PROMOTING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY' IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY."
The memoir details Dugard's abduction by Philip Garrido in 1991, when she was 11 years old. Garrido kept Dugard as a sex prisoner for 18 years, during which time she gave birth to two of his children.
In documents obtained by ABC News, state prison authorities denied Braunstein's petition to mail order the book because his sentence bars him from reading material that includes "child pornography/sexual performance of a child" and "rape/violence against women."
In a "media review" directive from 2011, also obtained by ABC News, prison officials said, "It is departmental policy to encourage inmates to read publications ... if such material does not encourage them to engage in behavior that might be disruptive to orderly facility operations."
The directive also prohibits "publications ... which promote a sexual performance of a child."
According to prison officials, each media request is reviewed, on a case by case basis, for each prisoner.
"The material was censored as other publications are," said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Linda Foglia. "We determined the inmate would be precluded from having access to the book due to the content. This is in no means is meant to disrespect Jaycee Dugard."
