Child abuse porn message 'not getting through'

File photo / Bay of Plenty Times

The deterrence message about child abuse pornography is not being taken on board by the community, the crown and a judge agreed at a former teacher's sentencing in Christchurch today.

Crown prosecutor Kathy Basire said the courts were seeing a new class of offender.

"General deterrence doesn't seem to be working. The type of person getting caught by the police net is not what you would normally consider criminal. It would seem to be rife throughout the community," she said at the Christchurch District Court sentencing.

Offenders were able to afford legal advice and were working to protect their privacy with a rash of applications and appeals for name suppression.

Judge David Saunders said the "naming and shaming" of offenders had a real deterrent effect in these cases, rather than the prospect of terms of imprisonment.

The 40-year-old married man was a high school teacher in Canterbury but had since given up teaching and was working as a cleaner.

He had admitted three charges of possession of objectionable material after Department of Internal Affairs inspectors searched his home following information provided by inspectors overseas.

Ms Basire described it as "serious offending which exploits young children".

Judge Saunders said it raised the question of whether imprisonment did act as a general deterrent to other offenders.

The man had begun counselling and treatment and the court was told it was likely he would be accepted for the Stop programme for sex offenders.

The Teachers' Registration Board would be told of the conviction.

Defence counsel Tony Greig said the man knew he was on the cusp of a prison sentence. He applied for final name suppression for the man.

Ms Basire said: "The court needs to send a message that generally name suppression will not be afforded to men who sit on their computers and view objectionable publications in the privacy of their homes."

The judge acknowledged that the material had not been saved for file sharing or commerciality but for the man's own use.

The court was told the man was a first offender who had held a responsible position.

He ordered the man to undergo two years intensive supervision, during which time he will do the Stop programme. He must not have access to a computer system on-line unless under the direct supervision of a responsible adult who know about his offending.

He also imposed four months' community detention. The curfew hours were delayed one night a week so that he could continue his work at a church.

Suppression was granted, and the reasons were also suppressed except to say that it had been properly considered on medical grounds. The judge said he was prepared to accept this was one of those genuine cases where it should be granted but the order was not made lightly.

Another teacher pleaded guilty to 15 charges of possessing objectionable images on his computer in a different Christchurch District Court today.

Neil Stephen Frayle, 66, took his computer in for repairs in June, but the technician working on it noticed the documents and informed the police.

The court was told 1771 images were found on the computer, including bestiality, rape, and underage sex.

Frayle told the police that at the time he didn't think they were objectionable, but he now thought they were.

Judge Christopher Somerville asked for a pre-sentence report including a report to determine if Frayle was suitable for home detention.

He has been remanded on bail for sentencing on April 19 and police have asked for an order for destruction of the material.

Meanwhile, another New Zealand man who downloaded thousands of images of children being sexually abused has been tracked down and charged after an investigation by New Zealand Customs.

The 52-year-old man was caught after the Department of Internal Affairs revealed his IP address had been used to access and download child abuse images from an overseas website.

Searches on his computer and two Auckland addresses connected to the investigation uncovered more than 6300 images of "child objectionable material".

He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Customs Controller Martyn Dunne said people accessing images of child abuse was a growing problem in New Zealand.

The man was the third his organisation had arrested for importing child abuse material in 18 months.

"Our officers are experienced in looking out for these offenders and although they may think they are conducting this activity in their own home, it is illegal and will not be tolerated."

"Our communities need to be educated that the online movement and trading of child sexual abuse material is regularly happening throughout all corners of our society. The worrying aspect of this activity is that it is not a victimless crime, it is increasing in volume, numbers of offenders, and seriousness of content."

The investigation involved New Zealand Customs, the Department of Internal Affairs, New Zealand Police and Child, Youth and Family.

- NZPA, NZ Herald staff