Grandmother Glenda J McGregor charged with child exploitation after links to author Craig Silvey

The woman arrested after award-winning author Craig Silvey for allegedly producing child exploitation material was on a police watch list for serious offenders. Grandmother Glenda J McGregor is accused of producing child exploitation material as is the author of Runt and Jasper Jones, Craig Silvey. The 69-year-old Marangaroo woman, an administration manager, is classified as a reportable offender — someone who has committed a sexual or serious offence which requires police monitoring. Alongside charges of producing and distributing child exploitation material, Mrs McGregor has also been charged with three counts failing to comply with reporting obligations. She has been remanded in custody to appear at Joondalup Magistrate Court in April. Ms McGregor was arrested on February 18, a month after police raided Mr Silvey’s Fremantle home and allegedly gathered evidence leading to her arrest. Mr Silvey allegedly stated to another user of an adult website: “Fremantle guy here, you sound amazing, looking gorg too, we have very similar interests, would love to chat more.” The 43 year-old father-of-three was later slapped with two more charges of producing and possessing child exploitation material. His lawyer Natalia Tasic said in court that one of the charges relates to “written material”. The West does not suggest Ms McGregor or Mr Silvey are guilty of any of the charges. After his arrest the writer’s novels were pulled from bookstore shelves and are no longer being promoted by two publishers. Publisher Allen & Unwin as well as Fremantle Press have paused promotional activity of Mr Silvey’s work while major bookstore chain Dymocks is no longer selling his books. Meanwhile, his books Jasper Jones, Runt and Honeybee have been removed from the WA school curriculum. The City of Subiaco announced that Mr Silvey would no longer lend his name to its annual competition for young writers, open to school-age children from across WA. His other books include Honeybee, about a transgender teen, and Runt, his first book for younger readers, about a girl and her dog who save their family farm by winning a London dog show. Runt was made into a feature film, shot in the Wheatbelt town of York, in 2024. A sequel to Runt went on sale late last year and Mr Silvey visited schools and bookshops across Australia to promote it.