When a 44-year-old plumber knelt down to tie his shoelaces beside a young girl outside the Smith & Caughey store on Queen St, her father saw red. He spotted the cellphone covertly put under the 7-year-old's skirt to take a photo last November, and held the man until police arrived
to arrest him.
That slip-up was all it took for the secret life of a paedophile to be exposed.
His cellphone was sent to the police electronic crime lab, who found a further 25 videos of a similar nature.
Detectives in the child exploitation team then seized his laptop, which stored 1300 videos images of hardcore child pornography, including sexual acts carried out on and by young children.
Even more disturbing, was the discovery of what seemed to be homemade videos of a 5-year-old girl sleeping naked. In total, more than 20 videos of the girl were found, including incriminating evidence that the man violated her, despite his denials to police.
The man has interim name suppression until he is sentenced this month in the Auckland District Court, where he has admitted 20 charges.
