After Pedophilia Book Pulled, More Controversy for Amazon?

Nov. 12, 2010— -- Amazon may no longer sell one controversial book on pedophilia, but it looks like it's still playing host to other books and videos with similar content.

Days after the online retail giant came under fire for the self-published book "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-Lover's Code of Conduct," which was available for download in its Kindle store, customers and critics continue to assail the company for continuing to sell content that depicts children in sexual situations with adults.

After thousands of Twitter users and Amazon customers called for Amazon to remove the book, with some threatening to boycott the company altogether, the company apparently pulled the book from its online store. But some concerned parents who led the protest said the book's removal was bittersweet.

"We initially saw it as a victory, but realized that unless they come out and make a statement explaining the contradictions, it's only a half-victory," said Audrey Holden, an upstate New York mother and co-creator of the Facebook page "!!!Boycott Amazon for Selling How Guide for pedophile." "There are other books out there that advocate the same thing."

Facebook Group Encourages Amazon Boycott

In the two days since the page launched, it has attracted more than 14,000 "Likes." Holden said she and the other co-creator (who asked to be identified as Kim D.) plan on Monday to launch a new website, ParentsTakeaStand.com, entirely devoted to the Amazon boycott effort.

Among the pro-pedophilia content still on Amazon, Holden said, is the book, "Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers," by David L. Riegal.

The book's dedication says it was written for "those courageous boys and men of past generations who shared love with one another, sometimes with the approval of society, sometimes with only grudging acceptance, and sometimes at the peril of their freedom and even their lives."

It also said it was dedicated to men and boys of the present generation, as well as those "who when they are older boys and men will understand their pedosexual attraction to younger boys."

Holden said she would like to see Amazon apologize to its customers for profiting from books that encourage pedophilia and explain its review policy for self-published books on its site.

In a statement, an Amazon spokeswoman said, "Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable. Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions."

It did not immediately respond to a request from ABCNews.com to clarify why it apparently pulled one book on pedophile but continues to sell similar books.

As for Philip R. Greaves II, the author of the original book to stir controversy on Amazon, Colorado police said they checked his background and determined that he is not a sex offender.

Jim Billings, chief of police for the Pueblo Police Department in Pueblo, Colo., said officers made contact with Greaves and learned that he had received a threat from someone who posted his address on the Internet. Billings said police gave him some general guidance about how to protect himself.

Author: Book on Pedophilia Not Written From Personal Experience

When Greaves spoke to ABCNews.com Wednesday, he said that his critics are misunderstanding the point of his book.

"They're accusing me of wanting to hurt children, said Greaves, 47, a former nurse's aide who retired because of a disability. "They're accusing me of encouraging pedophilia and all these other things. But that's not why I wrote the book."

"I wrote the book," he said, "to establish guidelines so that people would behave in a manner that is non-injurious to each other, for one, and, for two, to communicate the fact that these people who are so different in maturation, etc., that when they develop relationships, they use certain principles that regular people, adults, would be well to attend."

Though Greaves said he was not encouraging pedophilia through his book, he pointed to the case of Mary Kay Letourneau, the Washington state teacher who had an affair with her student, as evidence it is possible "to have a loving, sexual relationship with a child."

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Author Said He Wanted 'That Kind of Notoriety

While the book was written from the perspective of an adult, Greaves emphasized that he was not speaking from personal experience as a pedophile.

"The only personal perspective it was written from was that I was introduced to sex at the age of 7 by a 10-year-old girl," he said. "It was oral sex. And I carried on through that, having that kind of sex with children until I was about 15. ... And everybody involved enjoyed it."

When asked why he wrote a "code of conduct" that appears to endorse an illegal, abusive act, he said, "I'm not saying I want them around children; I'm saying if they're there, that's how I want them to behave."

Before Amazon stopped selling Greaves' book, more than 3,000 customers left comments on Amazon's site, most protesting the controversial book.

"As a mother of a child who has been molested, shame on Amazon for allowing such garbage to be sold on its site," wrote "thirtysomething."

"The author of this book is a predator and should never have been allowed to write or promote this trash that is called a book of information. How many children will be assaulted because of this? Amazon--take it off your site."