Blaenavon booktown man facing rape and child porn charges in US (From South Wales Argus)

Blaenavon booktown man facing rape and child porn charges in US

12:10pm Friday 19th October 2012 in Gwent news

THE man who tried to revitalise Blaenavon as a booktown nine years ago has been charged in America with rape and child pornography offences.

James Daniel Hanna, 66, was arrested in Madison County in August, but speaking to the Argus, Sheriff Phillip Morgan said he has now been charged and is due to appear in court in January.

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office website states the charges Hanna faces are four counts of rape, 50 counts of distributing/possessing viewing matter depicting sex with a child, three counts of computer child pornography, three counts of computer exploitation of a child first degree and three counts of sexual indecency with a child.

The website states Hanna was taken into custody on August 28 and a $500,000 bond is stated.

Sheriff Morgan said he was aware that Hanna had lived in Wales in the past, where he had owned a bookshop.

He said Hanna was arrested at the Japton Grocery and Farm Supply Store, which he owns, on August 28, and is due to appear at Madison County Circuit Court on January 8.

He confirmed the case had been under investigation for more than a year.

The Argus reported back in 2003 that New Orleans-born Hanna worked to launch Blaenavon as a booktown similar to Hay-on-Wye.

Seven bookshops were opened at the time and tens of thousands of books were stored in a Blaenavon warehouse ready for distribution to would-be booksellers keen to set up their own businesses.

The town also became the setting for the Blaenavon Booktown Festival, which attracted top writers.

But three years later a number of the bookshops had closed and Hanna left the area.