Te Kuiti man imprisoned for images of young children

22 August 2014

A Te Kuiti man caught with pictures of children being sexually abused has been sentenced to 10 months imprisonment.

The 35-year-old sickness beneficiary, appeared for sentence in the Tauranga District Court today (Friday) after pleading guilty to 20 charges of possessing objectionable publications.

An Internal Affairs Inspector, operating in Internet file sharing areas in August and October 2012, downloaded more than 30 objectionable files from the offender's computer – movies and images of young children being sexually abused and in explicit sexual poses.

The Judge was told the children involved ranged from six to thirteen years old.

His laptop was found beneath a mattress in his bedroom and a forensic analysis of the computer showed he had used a number of file-sharing programmes to seek and obtain images and movies of child sexual abuse material.

Community Safety Manager, Steve O’Brien, said people, who think they are safe in the confines of their own home, viewing this objectionable material, should think again.

“We have dedicated inspectors with the expertise to catch offenders. No matter what you do, everything’s traceable on your computer.

“Any sexual offence involving a child is disturbing but, by photographing and distributing pictures of the assault, the victim is victimized again and again every time their photo turns up on the internet. The abused child carries this dreadful burden into adulthood.”

Notes:

We strongly encourage the use of the phrase “online child sex abuse” and not “child or kiddie pornography,” because the word pornography:

• downplays child sexual abuse. Most of the public is unaware of the seriousness of this type of offending which includes images of oral, vaginal and anal sex, sometimes bondage, bestiality and sexual torture.
• indicates legitimacy and compliance on victim’s part, suggesting legality on abuser’s part. These are criminal acts and each act is a crime scene.
• conjures up images of children posing in ‘provocative’ positions, rather than capturing horrific abuse and suffering. Victims suffer physical and emotional abuse with the impact often staying with them for life.

The Department of Internal Affairs’ Censorship Compliance Unit works with the New Zealand Police and New Zealand Customs to investigate online child sex abuse.

The Department has an international reputation for its work investigating online child sex abuse.

Media contact:

Sue Ingram Communications Account Manager,

Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua
Direct Dial: +64 4 494 0584 | Mobile: +64 27 541 4696 | www.dia.govt.nz