A New Hampshire father who protested his 14-year-old daughter’s class assignment of a book containing a sexually explicit scene had charges against him dismissed on Thursday.
According to CBS Boston, a judge said the actions of William Baer, 50—whose objections to the book at a May school board meeting went over the two-minute time limit—were “impolite, but not criminal.”
Breitbart News reported that Baer spoke out against the assignment of Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, which reportedly contains not only an explicit sex scene on page 313, but also the issue of a mass murder in a school. Baer maintained that parents should have been notified their children would be assigned the book ahead of time.
As the school board meeting convened to discuss parents’ concerns about the book, Baer attempted to read the sexually explicit passage but was refused by the board after his protest went beyond the two-minute limit. During Baer’s exchange with school board members, he challenged the board to arrest him for going over the time limit. Subsequently, a police officer appeared and arrested him on three misdemeanors, alleging disorderly conduct.
Another parent, Sarah Carrignan, said she was also “utterly appalled” that the book was assigned to her son.
When the Union Leader informed author Picoult of Baer’s concerns about the book, she said, “Who is trying to ban my books now? My books have been banned from many schools.”