Brazil judge orders '50 Shades of Grey' sealed

SAO PAULO >> A Brazilian judge has ordered bookstores to ensure that the erotic trilogy "Fifty Shades of Grey" is out of the reach of minors.

Judge Raphael Queiroz Campos issued the order Jan 14 after he saw children in one of city's bookstores looking through erotic books, according to a statement issued by the Rio de Janeiro State Judiciary Department Thursday night.

Eleven copies of the "Grey" series were among 64 books taken from the shelves of two bookstores because their content was deemed improper for those under the age of 18.

Two days after the judge's order, the books were back on the shelves, but sealed and out of reach of minors, as Campos instructed.

The judge based his decision on a law that says "magazines and publications whose content is improper or inadequate for children and adolescents can only be sold if sealed and with warnings regarding their content."

E.L James' works were the most-sold books in Brazil last year, according to newsweekly Veja. "Fifty Shades Freed" was the top seller, followed by "Fifty Shades of Grey" and "Fifty Shades Darker."

Although ordering books off the shelves is unusual, the move has not caused any major backlash or uproar in Brazil.

Last year public libraries in several U.S. states pulled the trilogy from their shelves or did not order the best-seller at all, saying it's too steamy or too poorly written.

Libraries in Wisconsin, Georgia and Florida either declined to order the book or pulled it from shelves.

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