My name is Chris Pelloski. I am a former cancer doctor and researcher who pleaded guilty to accession with an intent to view child pornography in the Federal Southern Ohio District in 2014. From my perspective, I had a moral obligation to tell my story, in full detail and brutal honesty, once I personally experienced the extent of public misunderstanding and misinformation surrounding my offense and sex offenses in general.

The first book, Trauma, Shame, and the Power of Love: The Fall and Rise of a Physician who Heals Himself, opens with the police raid on my home, the pretrial phase of my case, house arrest and the legal machinations of my charge, the concurrent therapy I underwent for my childhood sexual abuse and PTSD diagnosis, and ends at my sentencing. This book has won several awards. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1500755532

My second recently published book, A Tortuous Path: Atonement and Reinvention in a Broken System, relates the experiences of sex offenders in federal prison, the difficulties encountered during reentry into society and life on the Sex Offender Registry. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1726303314

The books have been read by law enforcement, mental health professionals, my fellow inmates and registrants, federal probation officials and members of the general public with near-universal praise. Books that can gain that type of acceptance form “both sides” of an issue can be a powerful one. The main theme in the feedback I have received is that these books can truly inform and educate the public, while weaving into them a personal story; putting a human face the problem. I put “the System” and myself under intense scrutiny and hold all accountable, while offering solutions to make things better. If Information, education, and understanding of the masses are the first steps towards achieving reform and change, then I believe these books have a role to play in those goals.

I tried to publish these books through the traditional route. But given the subject matter and the stigma attached to the author, no literary agent or publishing company picked them up. At a great personal cost of time, energy, money and resources, I have self-published these books because I believe in their importance, because, as you know, without serious change things are only going to get worse.