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Sydney author arrested over ‘pedophilia’ book titled ‘Daddy’s Little Toy’ that caused global outrage
An Australian author was arrested on child abuse material charges after her book, Daddy’s Little Toy, sparked global outcry over its objectionable content.
An Australian author was arrested on child abuse material charges after her book, Daddy’s Little Toy, sparked global outcry over its objectionable content. Lauren Tesolin-Mastrosa — who writes erotic fiction under the pen name Tori Woods – was arrested on Friday from her Quakers Hill home near Sydney, reported news.com.au.
Why the outrage
Daddy’s Little Toy is an erotic fiction novel that documents the relationship between an 18-year-old and her father’s friend. People who have read the book say that it features a man who speaks about desiring his friend’s daughter since she was 3 years old.
The themes of pedophilia sparked a huge wave of backlash against the book. Daily Telegraph said the "police received multiple complaints her latest book contains graphic fictional child abuse material."
The book’s Goodreads page has been taken down. However, the ‘reviews’ section of the author’s other books has been filled with enraged messages.
“BOYCOTT this author. Wrote another book “romance” about a grown man and a 3 year old child. Then she dedicated the book to her own daughters,” reads one comment.
“This author is a pedo enabler and shouldn't be allowed to have a platform,” another person wrote.
The arrest
According to the Daily Telegraph, Lauren Tesolin-Mastrosa is a 33-year-old Christian charity marketing executive who was arrested Friday after New South Wales Police received multiple complaints about the book.
“About 12.30pm [on Friday] detectives attended a home on Penn Street, Quakers Hill and arrested a 33-year-old woman before being taken to Riverstone Police Station,” NSW Police wrote in a statement, as quoted by news.com.au.
She has been charged with possessing child abuse material, disseminating child abuse material, and producing child abuse material.
Tesolin-Mastrosa was granted conditional bail and has been asked to appear before the court on March 31.
Author’s response
Lauren Tesolin-Mastrosa has deactivated her social media accounts, including her LinkedIn profile. Daddy’s Little Toy has been removed from Amazon and Goodreads.
Before she deactivated social media, Tesolin-Mastrosa called the outrage a “big misunderstanding.”
“DLT is definitely not promoting or inciting anything ever to do with child sexual abuse or pedophilia,” she wrote. “o int3rcOurs3 happened while she was young. YES there were thoughts and I can see how that is frowned upon.”
