Pair Will Test Readers’ Boundaries And Free Speech Values In The Untold Story
Gil Valle: Many people know me as “The Cannibal Cop”, but to my friends and family I’m just Gil. I was born in Queens, NY. Growing up, two things meant a lot to me: family and baseball. I’m a graduate of the University of Maryland and a former proud member of the New York City Police Department.
I had a bit of a tough time and was prosecuted for a crime that I didn’t commit, and although it has been a total nightmare, this experience let me know who I could count on. I love my family and friends who stuck with me through the criminal case from the start, and I am forever grateful to everyone at the Federal Defenders of New York who worked tirelessly to ensure that justice was reached.
There is still a lot about the criminal case that is either unknown to most people or just simply misunderstood. Much of the confusion is because of blatant distortions of facts by the FBI agents and US Attorneys involved in my prosecution. Also, HBO Documentaries chose not to accurately portray the circumstances of my arrest and prosecution in the film they made about the case.
Thanks to WildBlue Press, I finally have an opportunity to correct the record and get the true story out there for the first time. This is a brutally honest book that will likely challenge your boundaries, but I hope you will keep an open mind and think about how my case relates to all of us in society. I think you would agree that we cannot have a society where people are arrested for thoughts without actions.
Stay tuned for more, and please follow me on Twitter @gilvalle3!
Author Brian Whitney
Brian Whitney: I have been writing for a few years now, in that time I have been the ghostwriter for spiritual gurus, Christian grandmothers, and adult film stars like Porsche Lynn. I also wrote a book called Raping the Gods, which has become a bit of a cult classic, and I write regularly for numerous websites, such as Alternet, and The Fix.
Before I started writing, I had numerous jobs in social justice, one of them was as a prisoner advocate for the ACLU. I have long been interested in civil rights, and I have a particular interest in people who are shamed, or even prosecuted, for being different.
I first sent a letter about the possibility of writing a book to Gil’s Lawyer, Julia Gatto, when the case was being prosecuted and was all over the news. The story just cried out to me; here was a guy who was being prosecuted because he had sexual fantasies that were different than “normal” people. I didn’t hear back.
This summer I was looking for a project and I thought I would try again. I sent Julia another email, telling her that I was still interested. A day or two later I got an email from Gil and we ended up talking on the phone. I told him I was the perfect person to work with on his book, that I not only didn’t judge, but I got all of it. A few days later we got started, pulled together a proposal and signed with WildBlue Press.
