Samper appeared in the Napier District Court on Friday for sentencing on charges related to a girl who was aged between 5 and 7 when he filmed her.
He had pleaded guilty to knowingly making an objectionable publication, possessing an objectionable publication, doing an indecent act on a girl aged under 12, and manufacturing cannabis oil.
Judge Bridget Mackintosh said Samper made videos on 18 occasions and there was skin-on-skin touching of the girl on five of those.
He used the videos to generate 2500 images which were later found on his devices.
She said Samper was feeling “isolated and lonely” at the time and did not think of the consequences of what he was doing.
Judge Mackintosh jailed Samper for two years and eight and a half months.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay.