Candidate won't be charged over sexts

Paul Findlay during his 2004 campaign for a Christchurch City Council seat.

A Christchurch community board candidate who withdrew from the election race after posting explicit images and messages online to someone purporting to be 15-years-old will not be charged, police said today.

People's Choice candidate for the Hagley-Ferrymead community board Paul Findlay quit the race after a blog published screenshots of an online conversation apparently between 27-year-old Mr Findlay and a 15-year-old.

Detective Senior Sergeant Neville Jenkins today said police have completed an assessment of the material and concluded there was "insufficient detail in the material'' to take the matter further.

"It does, however, highlight the foolishness and risk associated with sending private material which is of an indecent nature through social networks,'' Mr Jenkins said.

"There is always the prospect of it ending up with someone it wasn't intended for.''

A statement from Mr Findlay on Friday said he regretted his actions and agreed they were wrong.

He also resigned as a board member of Q-topia, a social support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex youth aged 14-25 in Canterbury.

The group accepted the resignation.

"We understand that at no time did any interaction progress beyond the online environment,'' Q-topia said in a statement.

"As a board, we have every confidence that Paul's time on the Q-topia board was undertaken with the utmost integrity, and that he maintained the highest standards that are expected of all board members while undertaking Q-topia duties.

"We respect Paul's decision to remove himself from the board, and believe that this decision has been undertaken to ensure that the Q-topia standards are not affected in any way.''