Community urged to accept child porn addict

A South Canterbury community has been urged by a judge to accept the return of a child porn addict.

Temuka man Cornelius Baars, 62, was yesterday sentenced to home detention for downloading 116 objectionable images over a two to three-year period, The Timaru Herald reported.

It was a "significant fall from grace", said Judge Jane Farish in Timaru District Court.

She noted that his offending was likely to isolate him in the community, but hoped that he would be accepted again.

"I hope that your community can see the offending for what it is, that is a significant lapse in judgment on your part."

The majority of images Baars downloaded were of pre-pubescent children, some as young as 18 months.

"It is important that you accept that these children have been raped or sexually exploited. This is not a victimless crime," Judge Farish told him.

Baars had told police that curiosity had got the better of him, and in time he had become addicted to the images.

Judge Farish sentenced Baars to five months home detention and 100 hours community work on two charges of possession of objectionable material.

A condition of Baars' sentence is that he does not own or have access to a computer, or have an internet connection at his home.

Judge Farish said that a sentence of imprisonment would be too short to enable any rehabilitation to be carried out, and a sentence of home detention was appropriate to denounce and deter.

- NZPA