New Zealander jailed after NZ/Australian child sex abuse investigation

21/01/2004

A Christchurch man was sentenced to seven months imprisonment today on a total of 23 charges of making, copying and possessing electronic movie files, pictures and text files of adults sexually abusing children, incest and bestiality.

The General Manager of the Department of Internal Affair’s Gaming and Censorship Regulation Group, Keith Manch, said the conviction followed an investigation by the Department and the Queensland Police after an Australian was found to be using the Internet to describe sexually abusing his own daughters.

Mr Manch said that the man had pleaded guilty to all the charges at a hearing last year and was sentenced in the Christchurch District Court today.

He had been chatting on the Internet with an Australian known by the nickname “dewit”. During these sessions “dewit” described how he was sexually abusing his three daughters. The man encouraged “dewit” and discussed what sexual acts he would like to commit with and upon the girls.

Queensland investigations found that “dewit” did not have children.

“In this case two men boasted about their desire to sexually abuse children, and one sent an electronic movie of a baby being sexually abused,” Mr Manch said.

“It illustrates with appalling clarity the tragedy and danger of child sex abuse images on the Internet.

“This is not about pictures on computers. It is about real children being photographed and filmed while they are being sexually abused, those images being shared all over the world, and the images reinforcing the false views held by some that sex with children is acceptable.”

In June 2002 a Department Inspector detected a New Zealander operating in Internet relay chat channels dedicated to the trading of pictures of children being sexually abused and raped by adult men.

The New Zealander was using the nickname “kiddylvr” and was tracked to a Christchurch address. A search warrant was executed in August 2002 and several computer systems, CD-ROMs and diskettes were seized. The accused denied that he was “kiddylvr” and having sent any objectionable images to “dewit”.

Analysis of the computers and disks showed that he was “kiddylvr” and that he had electronically sent the movie to “dewit”. It also revealed 23 objectionable files, including the record of he and “dewit” chatting between June 2001 and January 2002.

He is a 38-year-old beneficiary who lives in Christchurch.

Vincent Cholewa
Communications Advisor Phone 04 495 9350, Cellular 025 272 427