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A man who amassed thousands of images of child porn and bestiality was sentenced today to community service.
Geoffrey Hunt, 22, earlier pleaded guilty to 15 charges of possessing objectionable material -- including images of sexual abuse involving children as young as three years old.
Hunt was charged after he took his computer to a repair firm, where staff found the material and alerted police.
An investigation showed the former information technology professional had been collecting the images from early 2004, and perhaps earlier.
At least 12,000 images and about 60 videos were found, featuring sexual abuse of children as young as three, with the majority aged between seven and 15, as well as images of bestiality and other sexual fetish material.
In Wellington District Court Judge Denys Barry sentenced Hunt to 250 hours of community service.
The judge said Hunt deserved credit for his early guilty plea, and the fact that he sought help from a sexual offending prevention programme.
- NZPA
