Home detention for man who claims interest in child abuse images not sexually motivated

A man has argued his possession and distribution of child pornography was linked to the consequences of ill health and not sexual deviancy. He was sentenced to home detention. Photo / 123RF

WARNING: This story details child sex abuse images and may be distressing.

A man who said his possession and distribution of child sexual abuse images was not sexually motivated but linked instead to the consequences of ill health has been sentenced to 10 months’ home detention.

The 68-year-old had earlier admitted charges of child exploitation through twice distributing objectionable publications and 14 charges of knowingly possessing objectionable publications.

Some of the material depicted child rape involving very young children.

Name suppression was lifted in the Nelson District Court today, despite a concerted effort by the man to have it permanently suppressed, but the decision was immediately appealed, meaning NZME cannot name him at present.

Judge Jo Rielly reinstated an interim order, despite finding the consequences of naming him did not meet the threshold of extreme hardship to the man’s immediate and wider family.

Sentencing proceeded today, after several delays Judge Rielly noted were linked to the defendant, but were through no fault of his own so were therefore not aggravating features.

On October 7, 2020, the man was searching for images on a Russia-based free photo-sharing website.

He contacted another user on the site via email, after which the pair exchanged several more emails and talked about child exploitation material.

Two days later, the defendant emailed the other user two videos classified as objectionable.

The man shared more than 1000 images and videos over four years, although the charges laid related to a shorter timeframe and less material. Photo / NZME

On December 18, 2020, police searched the man’s home and arrested him.

He said at the time he had shared more than 1000 images and videos over four years, although the charges laid related to a shorter timeframe and less material.

A laptop seized was later found to contain nine Category C images, four Category A videos and one Category B video.

An iPhone was also seized and found to contain 399 images classified across all objectionable categories.

The iPhone also contained five Category A videos, plus one Category B and one Category C video.

The media files had been downloaded on to the devices between June 2019 and December 2020.

Defence lawyer Michael Vesty said the offending was “episodic” and had happened later in the man’s life over a confined period.

He said it was based on the man’s health issues, including long-standing addiction issues which emerged when faced with adversity, as opposed to being driven by sexual deviancy.

Vesty said the defendant had since educated himself that the nature of the offending was wrong, and he had shown remorse and shame and was well aware there were true victims involved.

Crown prosecutor Jeremy Cameron acknowledged the defendant’s efforts with regard to rehabilitation, but said his evolving empathy toward the victims of his offending should not be used as a shield against acknowledging any sexual deviancy was involved.

He said it was “bold to assume it wasn’t associated with any paedophile interest” and that the material found was “child exploitation of the grossest kind”.

Cameron said there was no medical evidence to support the defendant’s claims he suffered erectile dysfunction, which had been used to add credence to the lack of sexual deviancy.

He said distribution of the material was the key issue.

“This type of offending is so far beyond the pale of our comprehension, it invites speculation as to what drives it,” he said.

Cameron added the defendant had shown a certain “state of dissonance” between himself and the offending, in that he felt he was somehow different to others.

“I don’t think he should be able to differentiate as being of a different class,” Cameron said.

Vesty said the defendant owned the consequences of his offending by fronting up to the court and his family and had engaged fully with a psychologist and a psychotherapist over the past two years.

Judge Rielly reiterated that sadly, courts in New Zealand were now dealing with this type of offending far too frequently.

She said in this case, the relevant features were that it involved pre-meditation and was ongoing and repeated, which the defendant acknowledged.

Judge Rielly said it was well accepted that such offending impacted victims, even though they were unidentifiable.

She said it was through the willingness of people to view and share such material that a market existed for creating it.

“Children all over the world have been forced to engage in behaviour of this kind.”

Judge Rielly acknowledged the defendant’s personal circumstances and background which had involved trauma that led to addictive behaviours, initially with substances and then engagement with child sex abuse material.

His efforts to assist police in the investigation were also acknowledged.

The defendant, who was supported today by family members and a senior health professional, sat motionless throughout the hearing.

Judge Rielly also acknowledged he lived alone and was now coping with health challenges to the degree he had recently had surgery and faced more serious complications.

She said the defendant had come a long way with his rehabilitation in order to reduce the risk of him re-offending, but she could not ignore the behaviour which, in one expert’s opinion, did demonstrate sexual violence, though it was time-limited.

From a starting point of two years and three months in prison, the sentence Judge Reilly arrived at included discounts for the defendant’s early guilty pleas and the rehabilitation steps he’d taken, plus his own recent health issues.

Judge Rielly said home detention remained a “very restrictive sentence”.

She said that given all circumstances, registration on the child sex offender list was not necessary.