Child sex abuse material included instructions about where to find and how to seduce children

A Wellington man was convicted today on a total of nine charges of distributing and possessing child sex abuse images and stories, including instructions on where to find vulnerable children and how to seduce them so that adults could have sex with them.

He pleaded guilty to three charges of distributing objectionable material and six representative charges of possession. He is 37 years old. He was dismissed by his employer because of his offending and sentenced today in the Wellington District Court to 300 hours community work. An order was made for the destruction of his objectionable publications.

In sentencing, the court noted that the material represented only a sample his collection and included highly objectionable material. Judge Anthony Walsh said that offending of this kind is completely unacceptable, and he considered premeditation was involved in that a considerable amount of material was collected. He noted that the man was not in a position to pay a fine, had lost his job, and was less likely to get new employment because of his conviction.

The Director of the Department of Internal Affairs Gaming and Censorship Regulation Group, Keith Manch, said that the man's instructions targeted children and teenagers aged from 11 to 17.

Mr Manch said that most of the Department’s cases involve offenders who were distributing and collecting electronic pictures and videos of children being sexually abused. He said that this case was different because most of the objectionable material that he was collecting from, and distributing on, the Internet was text files.

His collection included an image of a child who was being forced into bestiality, and 500 stories about incest with, and rape of, children and young teenagers.

“This case goes to the heart of why distributing child sex abuse material is illegal,” Mr Manch said. “This maan was distributing and collecting material that encouraged the sexual abuse of children.

“Even if he did not himself go on to physically abuse children, he was spreading a message that encouraged others to do so.

“Without the actions of offenders like him, fewer children would have been abused and there would be less danger of abuse in the future.”

This case began in February 2003 when a Department Inspector found a New Zealander operating in a file sharing area of the Internet. The New Zealander was offering to share thousands of files with anyone who could access them.

The Inspector downloaded the list of files being offered and found many of them seemed to be stories about incest with young children. The Inspector downloaded 28 files, one of which was the bestiality picture and 27 were incest stories.

Further investigation identified the manshowed that he was operating from his employer’s premises in the Hutt Valley .The employer was unaware of his activity until Inspectors executed a search warrant in May 2003.

He admitted to the Inspectors that he had set up and operated the file sharing system. Three computers, several hard drives and a large number of printed stories were seized with the co-operation of the employer.

The Department’s analysis of the computers and hard drives found the objectionable files. The stories the man had printed were about the sexual abuse of children and teenagers aged from eight to 15 years.

NOTE: [his employer asked the Court for an order prohibiting publication of its name and information likely to lead to its identification. The Court granted this.]

Background note for writers and editors:

“Child sex abuse images”: explaining our terminology

The Department of Internal Affairs has made the decision to no longer use the words “pornography” or “porn” when it describes the images on which most of its prosecutions are based. This avoids the risk of confusing the abuse of children with images of consensual adult sexual activity.

Most of the Department’s action is against electronic movies and pictures of children being raped, abused or violently assaulted. It uses the phrase “child sex abuse images” to more accurately describe these images.

Where the images are of children in sexual poses or involved in sexual acts, the Department uses the phrase “sexual images of children”. However, it is important to always keep in mind that children being sexually posed, or made to take part in sex acts, are being abused and exploited by those very actions, their images may be on the Internet forever, and the images promote the exploitation of more children.

The Department never uses the phrase “kiddy porn”. Most people working in prevention of sexual abuse, and those who work with its victims, find the term offensive. It is a mocking phrase that minimises rape, assault and exploitation of children.

The Department acknowledges the right of writers and editors to set their own style and standards. While the final decision on what words to use is their responsibility, the Department asks that the points made in this note be considered when our statements are used.

Media contact:

Keith Manch
Director Gaming and Censorship Regulation
Phone 04 495 9449
Cellular 027 445 6420