Child sex book 'cashing in on Dunblane'

Published on 11/03/2006 01:40

A BOOKSHOP chain was last night criticised for selling an "absolutely disgraceful" book on the Dunblane massacre written by a man convicted of possessing child pornography.

Predicate, by Peter Sotos - the first man in the United States to be charged with owning child pornography - contains graphic and disturbing descriptions of the sexual abuse of children.

Each of the book's 191 pages contains pictures of all 16 of the primary school victims of Thomas Hamilton, who appears on the book's cover and on the last page.

The book, which is on sale at Borders, contains extracts from the public inquiry by Lord Cullen, but most of the text consists of harrowing descriptions of the rape and violent sexual abuse of children as young as six.

Yesterday afternoon - almost ten years to the day since the tragedy - it was on display beside bestsellers on a prominent table at the chain's Glasgow branch.

Although the book is available through internet bookseller Amazon, it has not been stocked in Scotland by either Waterstones or Ottakar's.

The cover of the book reads: "Ten years on, controversial author Peter Sotos re-examines Dunblane dissecting Thomas Hamilton's motives and life and revealing the gay subculture of clandestine paedophilia which spawned the most reviled of all killers."

The American author first came to attention when he published his own newsletter, dedicated to serial killers, on which he used a photocopied image from a child pornography magazine. The issue was taken up by Scotland Yard in London who alerted the authorities in Chicago.

In 1986, after nine months of police surveillance, his flat was raided and Sotos was charged with obscenity and possession of child pornography. He was later found guilty of possession of child pornography.

His previous work includes titles such as Proxy: Peter Sotos Pornography.

Last night Dr Mick North, whose daughter Sophie was killed in the shootings, said he had been aware of the title and had written to other families to warn them of its publication.

But he had not been aware of the author's criminal record nor its sexual content.

He said: "I did not know the author had been convicted of possession of child pornography.

"It is exploiting the name of Dunblane. If our children's photographs are being linked in to that in any way, even if it's marginal, it is absolutely disgraceful and he and the publishers should be condemned. I'm surprised that Borders have it on open sale. It does really surprise me, especially in Scotland and at this time."

Last night a spokesman for Borders said the book should not have been promoted at the front of the shop, but added the store had a policy of stocking a wide range of books.

"It is a legal book by a legal publisher and we believe in giving people the choice of what they wish to read."