Censors say 500 NZers obtaining objectionable material

More than 500 New Zealanders have been identified as being involved with objectionable internet material, the Internal Affairs Department says.

Since its Censorship Compliance Unit was established seven years ago "in excess of 500" people had been investigated, senior policy analyst David Wilson said in a presentation in Auckland yesterday.

"Of those, 111 have been prosecuted and convicted. There are approximately 25 court cases pending."

The unit also regularly passed on information about offenders based outside New Zealand to overseas authorities, Mr Wilson said.

A recent profiling survey of 106 offenders -- 105 men and one woman -- showed the overwhelming majority were New Zealand Europeans, and 81 per cent lived in cities.

"The offenders ranged in age from 14-67 at the time the offences were investigated. The average age... was 30 years."

The most common occupation for offenders was student (33) or a job in the information technology field (19).

"The majority of offenders (83 per cent) were not found to have a criminal history. However, at the time of their involvement with the censorship compliance inspectors, five offenders had already been charged and convicted of a sexual offence with a boy aged under 16 years, and two were being investigated regarding sexual offences with a boy under 16 years."

Three had been convicted of sex offences against under-age girls, and others had faced charges or been convicted of "minor" sex-related crimes.

"While it is not possible, based on this survey, to draw a causal link between viewing child pornography and offending against children, an association between the two is suggested by the findings," Mr Wilson said.

The unit noted with concern a trend by offenders to place themselves in situations where they had access to the subjects of objectionable material they collected.

Around a third of those surveyed had frequent access to children, and the survey also highlighted a person with necrophiliac images who was professionally involved with funeral directors, and another with images of bestiality who worked with animals.

- NZPA