DIA undercover investigation leads to jailing

22 October 2014

An undercover Internal Affairs investigation has led to a Hastings man being jailed for three and half years.

The 48-year-old unemployed man appeared for sentence in the Hastings District Court today after pleading guilty to multiple charges involving making intimate visual recordings, possessing and distributing objectionable material, unlawful conduct with a female under 16 and indecent acts with intent to insult or offend.

An Internal Affairs inspector had several conversations with the man operating on an Internet social network last year. He sent the inspector more than 60 images of underage and preteen girls in sexually explicit poses and acts. He was traced to his Hastings home where the Department seized computer equipment and gleaned information which led to the police being brought in to investigate other offending. This resulted in the charges of unlawful conduct with a female under 16 and indecent acts with intent to insult or offend.

Internal Affairs’ Community Safety Manager, Steve O’Brien, welcomed the successful conclusion of this case.

“Our search warrant uncovered other serious offending which led to the separate police investigation. This is a good example of how agencies work together to catch these offenders,” Steve O’Brien said. “It also showed that, despite the man's attempts to cover his tracks through using encryption and ‘cleaners’ on his computer, we were able to show a database that had contained thousands of objectionable images.

“No matter what you do, everything’s traceable on your computer and no matter how long it takes – he had been offending since at least 2007 - you will be caught and brought before the courts.”

Ends

Media contact:
Trevor Henry, Senior Communications Adviser, Department of Internal Affairs
Phone 04 495 7211; 021 245 8642