Hamilton man, 51, jailed again for possession of child sexual abuse images

Two men have been jailed for possessing child sexual exploitation material in the past week.

A Hamilton man has again been jailed for possessing explicit child sexual exploitation images after being busted at Auckland International Airport.

It's the second time Andrew Floyd Williams has been convicted and now jailed, receiving an extra six months on his first prison term in 2011.

Williams, 51, appeared in the Hamilton District Court yesterday when he was sentenced to two years and five months for importing and possessing child sexual exploitation publications.

In 2011, he was jailed for one year and 11 months for similar offending.

In June this year, Williams returned to New Zealand after a four-week holiday in Thailand, and was questioned and searched by Customs officers at Auckland Airport.

A search of his electronic devices found child sexual abuse publications.

A large number of child sexual abuse images and videos were subsequently located during a search of his home. In total, forensic analysis identified over 20,000 images and videos involving real victims and almost 1500 digitally generated publications such as animations.

Customs investigations manager Bruce Berry says Customs takes the combating of child sexual exploitation very seriously, and actively targets individuals who are suspected of travelling overseas to commit offences or carrying objectionable material across the border.

"This man is a recidivist offender – he was convicted for similar crimes some years ago, and Customs officers were ready to stop and search him on his return to New Zealand."

His earlier, 2009, offending bore stark similarities to June.

Again, he was stopped at Auckland International Airport after returning from another holiday in Thailand.

In that instance, Williams' material was brought in on 14 discs concealed within the covers of legitimate movie titles as well as downloaded from overseas websites.

They included images of children ranging in age between 2 and 13, depicting a wide range of child sexual abuse including pictures of children, naked children posing, and sexual activity between adults and children.

His computer was seized during a search of his Hamilton home and an analysis revealed in excess of 800 images and movie files containing child abuse messages.

His conviction is the second for child sexual exploitation in a week.

Last Thursday, 58-year old Stephen Heppleston was sentenced to one year and six months in jail at the Timaru District Court, for importing a child sex doll – the first conviction of its type in New Zealand – and for possessing child sexual exploitation publications.

In April 2018, Customs officers inspected air cargo from China and found it contained a life-like sex doll that resembled a young child.

In New Zealand, child sex dolls are considered obscene or indecent articles, and prohibited imports.

Following an investigation, Customs with the support of Timaru Police searched the man's home and found child sexual abuse publications on his computer and devices – 135 images and 28 videos.

"Child sex dolls are illegal in New Zealand. Customs investigates every seizure as these can be linked to other crimes, such as child sexual abuse images or physical offending."