Another jailing for child sex abuse images

5 November 2009

For the second time in a week a man has been jailed for 20 months after trading child sexual abuse images on the Internet.

The Invercargill man was sentenced by Judge Kevin Phillips in the Invercargill District Court yesterday on 30 charges involving the distribution and possession of objectionable publications. A Christchurch man received the same sentence last week for 10 similar charges.

Internal Affairs Deputy Secretary, Keith Manch, said the Department traced the offender after being told of a New Zealander operating on an Internet chat room.

“When our inspectors visited him they found evidence of hundreds of objectionable files on his computers and more than 42,000 files on discs,” Keith Manch said. “Over 15,000 of these were believed to be objectionable. They included the sexual abuse of girls aged six years or under.

“These sentences should serve as another warning to offenders that they risk jail for perpetuating this trade and that our investigators can uncover the most sophisticated attempts at concealment.”

Media contact:
Keith Manch, Deputy Secretary, Department of Internal Affairs
Ph 04 495 9329; cell 021 227 6363
Trevor Henry, communications adviser, Department of Internal Affairs
Ph 04 495 7211; cell 0275 843 679