Man gets home detention for child porn

A man whose child pornography stash was discovered when he took his computer to a repair shop was sentenced in Wellington District Court today.

Tyrone John Bartlett, 56, had earlier pleaded guilty to 24 charges of possession of an objectionable publication, relating to 24 images and videos found on his computer.

The material included children as young as four, bestiality and defecation.

Judge Bruce Davidson accepted Bartlett had not accessed the material for some time and may have forgotten about it when he took his computer to the store.

Store employees contacted police after finding the images and videos.

Judge Davidson said there were concerns about a sentence of home detention, as Bartlett had accessed the pornography from his home.

Bartlett did not see the connection between the material and the exploitation of the children in it, he said.

He also had previous convictions, including of a sexual nature, from 1967, 1992 and 1995.

But with support from his elderly parents whom he lived with, and treatment, he would not pose a danger to the community, Judge Davidson said.

He sentenced Bartlett to four months home detention with intensive supervision for two years, and 100 hours community work.

He also ordered the computer and images which had been seized by police be destroyed.

- NZPA