A 47-year-old former nurse's aide, Greaves told The Smoking Gun that he suffers from manic depression and began writing as a form of therapy after being hospitalized for a "mental collapse." He describes himself as a "rogue scholar with respect to the topics of religion, sexuality and politics" and has self-published four titles.
But his latest effort, the "code of conduct" for pedophiles, touched off outrage since its appearance on Amazon two weeks ago.Greaves has maintained that he's not a pedophile and that the book's intention has been misunderstood. Yet the molester guide isn't Greaves' only work that seems to endorse what he calls "consensual" pedophilia. Gawker posted excerpts of another Greaves effort, Our Gardens of Flesh: From the Seeds of Lust Springs the Harvast [sic] of Love (see the cover here), which features some bizarre, jaw-dropping, and queasy musings on the way "true" child-lovers supposedly operate.
How queasy? Greaves insists that certain forms of sexual contact between "true pedophiles" and children "are essentially harmless and enjoyable from a few days after birth into old age. Pedophiles put the child in charge of the relationship."
"Should it be banned from Amazon?" the site asks.
Ask no more. Shortly after that post appeared, Our Gardens of Flesh vanished from the online retail giant's database, along with other Greaves titles, including the innocuous-sounding The Grand Book of the Godless and Free: The Fall of Faith and the Rise of Reason. (Still available in paperback from other sources, including Barnes and Noble.)
According to the Pueblo Chieftain, Greaves has lived in Pueblo most of his life and once announced an intention to run for president of the United States. That office may be out of reach now, but the controversy has apparently prompted at least a few sales for the author -- primarily among curious bloggers and law enforcement.
Although there's no evidence that Greaves has committed any crime, a Pueblo detective told the Chieftain that members of the police department's special victims unit are now reading A Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure -- no doubt with a keen degree of professional interest.
More from our Colorado Crimes archive: "MSNBC's prison-reality show and the death of a pedophile."
