Following media reports that award-winning author of children’s and young people’s books Vassilis Papatheodorou had been charged with the possession of over a hundred videos depicting child sexual abuse, prestigious Greek publishing house Kastaniotis announced on Wednesday that it terminated its association with him.
Kastaniotis publishers said it broke its contract with Papatheodorou “as soon as it was informed that a criminal investigation is underway” against the author, who also headed the publishing house’s children’s department.
Earlier that day, police announced that criminal charges had been filed against an unnamed individual after child pornography was found on two hard drives in his possession, following an investigation prompted by information from foreign agencies.
The Athens Macedonian News Agency further reported that Papatheodorou has been on remand in Tripoli prison since 18 October, following his appearance before an investigating magistrate, where he claimed he downloaded the videos “for professional reasons” as he was writing a book on a related topic.
Police sources say that more than 90 videos, some of which depicted children under the age of 12, were found on the hard drives. Authorities have also said that they had been closely investigating the author for over a month.
Papatheodorou, who won the Greek state children’s literature prize twice (2008, 2010), regularly visited schools around the country to talk with children about the problems they face.
Following the revelations against him, the Hellenic Author’s Society said it is withdrawing its nomination for him as a candidate for the 2022 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.
