The literary world faced a disturbance as bestselling author Brendan DuBois of Exeter, NH, surrendered himself to authorities on child pornography charges. The 64-year-old writer, a collaborator with mystery icon James Patterson, is now at the center of a legal storm. The Exeter Police Department reported that DuBois faces six felony charges for possession of child porn, as per WHDH.
Details began to unfold following a March inquiry by the Exeter Police and the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, resulting in a search warrant being executed. Severn River Publishing, having promoted DuBois' work and recently publishing "Cross Down," responded to the charges with decisive action to halt sales and promotion of his literature. "We are deeply disturbed by the serious allegations against Brendan DuBois. While we respect the legal process, we have decided to immediately suspend all promotion and sales of Mr. DuBois’ books," said the publishing company in a statement obtained by Boston.com.
Authorities have placed DuBois under preventative detention. He expected to face the 10th Circuit Court in Brentwood for his arraignment the following day. DuBois' reputation, previously bolstered by his standing as a New York Times bestselling author of 29 novels and a recipient of numerous awards, now faces irreversible damage due to the gravity of the allegations at hand.
Meanwhile, representatives for James Patterson, who sold more than 100 million books across print formats last year, has not returned requests for comment about DuBois. The two authors had previously co-authored works such as "The Summer House" and "Blowback." With Severn River Publishing’s decision, the reach and availability of DuBois' comprehensive portfolio, including his latest title, will suffer a significant setback.
