Accountant on child porn charges

An accountant is facing 16 charges of possessing child pornography.

Kenneth Edward Stokes, 54, appeared briefly in the Rotorua District Court yesterday and did not plead to charges relating to possessing objectionable material.

He was bailed to reappear in court on November 17.

The charges were laid against Stokes after United States authorities set up an undercover operation involving alleged child pornography on about 50 websites.

Rotorua businessman Geoffrey Craven was also charged after the undercover sting. He was fined $3500 in the Rotorua District Court in June for importing child pornography.

At the time of his offences, Craven was a prominent insurance broker in Rotorua and partner in the insurance broking firm Sweeney Craven and Associates.

The father and husband have since resigned. Craven paid for 10 images of children and young people involved in sexual activity over a six-month period in 2003.

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)