Jail for Hastings man found with child pornography

Beaudene Bliss reacts during his sentencing. The court was told he was filled with self-loathing over his actions. Photo / Paul Taylor

A Hastings man was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison yesterday for possessing more than 17,000 objectionable images, photographing a local child and distributing child pornography.

Beaudene Justin Bliss, 37, appeared for sentencing at the Napier District Court having admitted several charges including one representative charge of possessing objectionable publications, five charges of distributing such publications, making an intimate visual recording and indecently assaulting a female under 12.

He had previously also pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing a knife and as well as possession of a cannabis pipe and a cannabis utensil.

The court was told that on May 7 last year Bliss was living out of his car when he approached two children, both under 12, who were playing outside their home address in Hastings.

He asked them where a shop was and they took him to one around the corner before the pair went on to a nearby school.

The defendant followed the children and offered them money if the female child, aged 11, pulled down her pants. The offer was refused.

Her pants and underwear were ultimately removed and Bliss took photographs of her private parts, gave the children money and then left.

Police found him several weeks later parked in a kindergarten carpark and searched his vehicle.

A large hunting knife and a handled filleting-style knife were found in each front-door pocket of the vehicle, along with a glass pipe and cannabis bong.

Police also seized a life-size, pre-pubescent latex sex doll, a laptop and an Apple iPhone, fitting the description of the one used to take photographs of the complainant.

Analysis of the defendant's electronic devices found 17,137 photographs and videos depicting objectionable child exploitation material, including 11 photographs of the complainant's exposed privates.

A sample of 23 electronic files in his possession were extracted for classification, eight of which were classed as Category A based on British Sentencing Guidelines 2014.

Of the 17,000-plus photos, 230 were in the most serious category.

Beaudene Bliss. Photo / Paul Taylor

It was also revealed that the defendant had shared five objectionable publications via Skype to another account on January 23, 2017.

Before sentencing, defence lawyer Paul Chambers told Judge Lance Rowe that Bliss felt "self loathing" due to the offending and had been attending counselling in prison while awaiting sentencing.

"There's no attempt by the defendant to minimise the impact on the child in this matter," he said, adding that Bliss' parents had made a late offer of $2000 in reparation to the victims.

Crown prosecutor Clayton Walker said this type of offending involved a cycle of abuse.

"Each image exploits a child and the victimisation continues through the circulation of those images, and that circulation increases the demand for more images, encouraging the future abuse of children. This cycle appears in this case."

Walker said that while the objectionable publication offending was serious it was made worse by the offending against the 11-year-old victim.

"This offending was an evolution of sexual deviancy from fantasy to reality - the demand for this type of material led him to creating a victim of his own."

He said the impact of Bliss' behaviour extended beyond the girl to her family as well, "this is every parent's nightmare".

Judge Rowe said he took into account an early guilty plea, and submissions that Bliss was addicted to prescription and non-prescription drugs, and was sorry for his behaviour, but the judge noted the grave nature of the offending and the need for a sentence that denounced such activities.

"The offending was pre-meditated - you went from possession of images and set out to create images of your own in an abusive and predatory way.

"You lack full insight into your sexual preoccupation with children and to some extent you blame the drugs - I think you need to accept the seriousness of this, we have some way to go for you to develop a full insight into what happened and why."

Judge Rowe noted the impact on the victim and family was significant and that an aggravating factor was the girl's ongoing hospital treatment, and the fact the situation had made her wary of male doctors and nurses.

He said that while three-and-a-half years in prison could be seen as lenient, it should not be seen as an indication of future sentencing patterns.

He ordered that the $2000 reparation be paid to the victim's family and that Bliss be recorded on the child sex offenders register.