Child porn accused face court

Six men, including a sports coach and a property manager, today faced charges associated with an international crackdown on child porn.

Two of the men, aged 51 and 42, were excused appearance at Manukau District Court. The pair were charged with importing objectionable material by downloading child porn from the internet between November 2002 and July 2003.

The 38-year-old sports coach was charged with the same offences between June 7 and July 10 2003.

All three are from the south Auckland area and were granted name suppression. They were remanded on bail, with conditions of residence, until their next appearance on April 8.

Three other men appeared in the North Shore District Court. They were also remanded on bail and granted interim name suppression.

None of the men entered a plea.

A 61-year-old company manager from Birkenhead was charged with downloading child porn from the internet between March and June 2003.

A 43-year-old manager from Greenhithe was charged with the same offence between April and July the same year. Both men were remanded on bail to reappear on May 2.

The third man, a 35-year-old from Glenfield, charged with downloading child porn from the internet between May and June 2003, was remanded on bail to appear on April 12.

Operation Tercel was a police, customs and Internal Affairs crackdown on child pornography and abuse after information received from overseas enforcement agencies.

- HERALD STAFF