German tip-off sees South Auckland man convicted

1/5/2006


A South Auckland man has been fined $20,000 for possessing images of adults sexually abusing children following a tip-off from German police.

Internal Affairs Department national censorship compliance manager, Steve O’Brien, says the department’s successful prosecution of a 37 year old Papatoetoe man, shows how wide the net is spread in tracking down offenders.

And Judge Anna Johns in the Manukau District Court, expressing disgust at the nature of the offending, told the man she would have sent him to prison if she had had the power.

The offending occurred before February 2005 when Parliament substantially increased penalties for possessing objectionable images from a maximum fine of $2000 for an individual to up to five years’ jail or a fine of up to $50,000.

He pleaded guilty (April 28) to 20 representative charges of possession. When DIA Inspectors seized his laptop computer they found more than 50,000 sexually explicit images, over 35 per cent involving the sexual abuse of children.

Steve O’Brien also welcomed the successful conclusion of a Christchurch case in which a former Christchurch Polytechnic computer tutor admitted representative charges of possessing and making available objectionable publications.

The 23 year old computer course facilitator was sentenced (April 28) to 140 hours community work, placed on a year’s supervision and fined $500.

Judge Brian Callaghan commented that he acknowledged this was not a victimless crime as these were children in these degrading acts.

Steve O’Brien says the Department will continue to seek out offenders.

“The material these latest offenders were involved in is only possible because adults are abusing children,” Mr O’Brien said. “Parliament sent a strong warning that our society will not tolerate this and offenders are now facing much stronger consequences.”

Media contacts:
Steve O’Brien National Manager Censorship Compliance
Phone: 04 495 9371 Cell: 027 220 5899
Trevor Henry, Communications Adviser, Phone: 04 495 7211Cell: 0275 843 679