A 47-year-old former nurse's aide, Greaves told ABC News he wasn't trying to promote pedophilia and was not himself a pedophile: "I'm not saying I want them around children, I'm saying if they're there, that's how I want them to [behave]."
In promotional material online, Greaves stated that he hoped to appeal "to the better nature of pedosexuals, with hope that their doing so will result in less hatred and perhaps liter [sic] sentences should they ever be caught."
But Greaves also admitted to ABC that he knew the book's indulgent tone toward child molesters ("pedosexuals," please, as opposed to "kiddie rapers") would generate controversy and possibly boost sales. Just how many copies were downloaded (at $4.79 a pop) before Amazon yanked the item is unclear. TechCrunch reported soaring sales in the wake of media coverage, while Greaves said he got far more threats than sales.
After two weeks of mounting anger over the title, Amazon finally issued a statement on Wednesday affirming that the company "believes it is censorship not to sell certain titles because we believe their message is objectionable" but removed the Greaves book anyway -- a decision that appeared to have been reached only after various media outlets began to pay attention to the viral protests.
Greaves couldn't be reached for comment.
More from our Follow That Story archive: "Top five ways to improve One Book, One Denver -- and great Colorado authors to consider."