John Grisham has apologized for the critical comments he made about the heavy sentences handed down to child porn viewers in a recent interview.

John Grisham On Child Porn Offenders

Grisham, the bestselling author and lawyer, had been addressing the high number of individuals incarcerated in the United States. After mentioning the disproportionate sentences for white collar criminals and non-violent drug offenders, Grisham brought up the sentences for those who’ve looked at child porn.

“We have prisons now filled with guys my age. Sixty-year-old white men in prison who've never harmed anybody, would never touch a child," Grisham told The Telegraph while promoting his latest novel Gray Mountain. "But they got online one night and started surfing around, probably had too much to drink or whatever, and pushed the wrong buttons, went too far and got into child porn."

Grisham went on to provide an anecdote about a friend of his from law school, who was busted in a child porn sting in Canada.

“His drinking was out of control, and he went to a website. It was labeled 'sixteen year old wannabe hookers or something like that'. And it said '16-year-old girls'. So he went there. Downloaded some stuff — it was 16 year old girls who looked 30,” said Grisham. “He shouldn't ’a done it. It was stupid, but it wasn't 10-year-old boys. He didn't touch anything. And God, a week later there was a knock on the door: ‘FBI!’ and it was sting set up by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to catch people — sex offenders — and he went to prison for three years."

"There's so many of them now. There's so many 'sex offenders' – that's what they're called – that they put them in the same prison. Like they're a bunch of perverts, or something; thousands of ’em. We've gone nuts with this incarceration," the writer added. “I have no sympathy for real pedophiles. God, please lock those people up. But so many of these guys do not deserve harsh prison sentences, and that's what they're getting."

John Grisham Apologizes

Grisham received a considerable amount of backlash for his statements regarding child porn offenders. Among the comments that proved most troubling were the excuses that he seemed to make for his friend, who was found guilty of viewing child pornography. In light of the criticism, Grisham penned a statement to clarify that he believes that both pedophiles and child porn viewers should be punished in the court of law.

"Anyone who harms a child for profit or pleasure, or who in any way participates in child pornography — online or otherwise — should be punished to the fullest extent of the law," Grisham wrote. "My comments made two days ago during an interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph were in no way intended to show sympathy for those convicted of sex crimes, especially the sexual molestation of children. I can think of nothing more despicable."

Grisham added, "I regret having made these comments, and apologize to all."