Two jailed for child abuse collections

6 April 2017

Two men have been jailed in the last 48 hours for possessing child sexual exploitation and abuse material.

In Napier (today) Neville Bruce Crockett, 62, podiatrist, of Napier, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to two representative charges of possessing objectionable publications, seven of making a copy for distribution and one charge of obstruction.

Internal Affairs seized computer equipment, containing over 5000 files of child sex abuse, from his home after United States authorities told the Department that he had tried to email pictures of young children being sexually abused. Crockett tried to conceal a USB drive from an inspector during the search and had used many computer applications to conceal his activity. He had visited on the ‘dark web’ two child sexual abuse websites subsequently closed down by the FBI.

In Tauranga (on 5 April) David Frederick Moore, 56, general caretaker, of Tauranga was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to four charges of making a copy of an objectionable publication for distribution and one representative charge of possessing objectionable publications. He was convicted in 2008 of possessing objectionable images.

Internal Affairs inspectors discovered almost 4000 objectionable pictures or videos on computer equipment seized from his home. The Department was tipped off by the United States’ National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that Moore had uploaded objectionable material on a social networking website.

Judge Geoff Rea in the Napier court said Parliament had sent a message that there was zero tolerance for this offending when, in May 2015, it doubled the maximum penalty for possessing objectionable publications to 10 years’ imprisonment. Both men’s offending was subject to the stiffer penalties.

Censorship Compliance Manager, Stephen Waugh, said the Department continues to work closely with international agencies to detect those people using the Internet to traffic in child sexual exploitation and abuse material.

“We continue to meet the challenges presented to us by persons who attempt to conceal their offending from us and our international partners,” Stephen Waugh said. “We work towards ensuring our community is safe from this material and its effects, material that always represents abuse to a child victim. This is not a victimless crime.”