Man's dive down rabbit hole leads to 'disturbing places', 'extreme' offending

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A man’s vast collection of objectionable publications included many so "extreme” that a sentencing judge could say little to describe them and asked media to be similarly cautious in reporting about them. 

Sinclair Davie Clark, 23, of Wairoa, possessed more than 30,000 images and films containing child exploitative material (CEM) featuring children and infants — some as young as three months old — being subject to sexual acts and physically tortured by adult men and women. He had also supplied and possessed for supply 589 such publications, mainly films. 

Facing a starting point of 10 years imprisonment as Judge Warren Cathcart set about sentencing him in Gisborne District Court on Wednesday, Clark was ultimately sentenced to a term of three years, two months.

The judge allowed 64 percent (77 months) worth of discounts, citing a psychological report produced since a previous adjournment as an “enormously significant” mitigating factor.

He said it was “probably the best written, most insightful” report of its type he’d ever seen.

Clark came to police attention during an investigation into people accessing CEM files called Daisy’s Destruction — a series of objectionable videos that depict the extreme sexual and physical torture of three young girls aged about 18 months to six years.

His involvement in other offences, dating from 2018 to 2022, was discovered during the ongoing investigation.

The imagery ranged in classification from category A (involving penetrative acts) to category C (involving other abuse that was neither penetrative or non-penetrative).

Crown prosecutor Michael Blaschke said while it was easy to focus on the most extreme category, it shouldn’t distract from the still very serious criminality in the lesser categories. Category B imagery for instance often showed the aftermath of activities in category A.

Clark used four online platforms to share CEM material to other users including in 2021, when he curated and on-shared a folder with more than 500 CEM films. The link was removed after a complaint to the host site from a member of the public. However, it was not known how many people had accessed the folder in the six weeks it was online.

When questioned by police, Clark fully admitted possessing, supplying, and distributing CEM and that he had bought a lot of it, as recently as 2022.

He said he had amassed a large collection of the material over several years and he used it for his own sexual gratification and for trading with other like-minded people.

Clark subsequently pleaded guilty to 34 charges under the Films Videos and Publications Classification Act 1993 — 14 of knowingly possessing objectionable publications featuring child exploitation, nine of them representative of multiple offences; and 20 of knowingly making, copying and sharing objectionable publications, one of which was representative. The possession charge is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment or a $50,000 fine. The distribution charge is punishable only by imprisonment — up to 14 years.

Crown prosecutor Michael Blaschke said he had prosecuted several of these types of cases and that it was a difficult area of sentencing. It was an unfortunate reality that the court had to look at a starting point of such a high magnitude for a young man.

Case law hadn’t yet caught up with the reality that such serious criminal offending could be committed from someone’s bedroom and that it was being committed by young people who had found their way into dark corners of the internet at a young age and then “gone deeper and deeper down rabbit holes to some very troubling and disturbing places”.

That didn’t mean it wasn’t “very, very serious offending — it absolutely is”, Mr Blaschke said. However, there was a need for the court, especially in the face of proper psychological evidence as was present here, to make allowances for the reality about how it occurred. He accepted Clark would be entitled to significant discounts.

He also noted that unlike offenders in some other cases of this type, there didn’t appear to be signs of Clark doing things in real life that related to his offending.

What drove the starting point to 10 years or above was not just the vast number of images but the distribution and possession of them for supply. There was no way for authorities to control it. Some of the images were common in the underworld of this offending and featured in many New Zealand cases but even so, further distributing them to people was particularly serious, Mr Blaschke said.

Counsel Leighvi Maynard acknowledged the offending was “serious from every angle”, and that every single CEM had a victim — a child that had been abused and traumatised. Clark accepted his offending had contributed to the harm of those extremely vulnerable children.

Mr Maynard sought a starting point of nine years imprisonment based on Clark’s personal and individual circumstances and identified mitigating factors as Clark’s immediate guilty pleas, youth, otherwise good character and good prospects of rehabilitation.  The duration of the offending might typically negate a discount for previous good character but Clark had no previous convictions and came from a loving, supportive home, Mr Maynard said.

The psychological report explained difficulties Clark faced as a boy including with learning, low self-esteem, and social isolation. Aged 13 or 14 and in a vulnerable state, he turned inward, began viewing pornography and from there things developed and he “arrived at this really dark corner of the internet”, Mr Maynard said.

He had now gained insight and had already made genuine efforts to get appropriate help.

Judge Cathcart said the sentence had to be imprisonment — the law and facts directed it. The real question was the length of it as per the focus of counsels’ submissions.

Adopting a 10-year starting point, the judge gave Clark a full 25 percent (30 months) discount for his guilty pleas, 10 months for previous good character, 15 months for youth and prospects of rehabilitation, 16 months for overall background circumstances, including material contained in the psychological report; and six months for remorse including that expressed in an apology letter to his family, partner, and her family.

The custodial sentence means Clark will automatically be added to the government’s child sex offender registry.