A man found with 90 files of images featuring child sexual abuse and exploitation had an "incredibly warped mind". Stock Photo / 123RF
A man found with 90 files of images featuring child sexual abuse and exploitation had an "incredibly warped mind". Stock Photo / 123RF
Dale Cramond's failure to accept responsibility for downloading explicit child abuse material was evident in his dramatic exit from a courtroom today.
The 32-year-old described by a judge as having an "incredibly warped mind", and by the Crown as having "no realistic rehabilitation prospects" was escorted yelling and cursing, from the courtroom at the start of his 26-month prison sentence.
"This is bullshit," he yelled, blaming an "incorrect" probation report for the outcome, and supported by his mother who blamed the defence lawyer for the prison term her son is now serving.
Cramond had earlier admitted seven charges of possessing image and video files depicting child sexual abuse and exploitation, and females engaged in sexual activity with animals.
A man has been sentenced to two years in prison for downloading images of child sexual abuse and exploitation. Stock photo / 123RF
Among the material found were 90 image and video files showing children as young as toddlers through to pre-teens subjected to sexual activity with adults.
The charges related to Cramond having the files between March 2019 and November 2020.
Judge Tony Zohrab expressed at today's sentencing in the Nelson District Court his abhorrence for what he had himself had to see – samples of young, naked girls in highly sexualised poses – some of them just toddlers, and graphic depictions of others taking part in sexual activities, including young teenage girls engaged in sexual activities with dogs.
"The reason these people were being abused is because of people like you who are willing to access and share this information," Judge Zohrab told Cramond, as he grew increasingly defiant.
"I accept you have had issues but they are nothing against those of the children featured," Judge Zohrab said.
Cramond, who was already in custody on unrelated matters, was charged following a search in November 2020 of two addresses known to be used by him. A number of computers, mobile phones and data storage devices were seized for examination.
The Crown's summary of facts showed that on May 31, 2019, Cramond created a cloud storage account, using a hotmail email address which featured his name and year of birth.
In September that year he imported objectionable publications into the account, including videos which featured children aged between 2 and 3 years having graphic and explicit sexual acts performed on them.
Other files featured children not much older engaged in similar acts.
In November 2019 he created a cloud storage account using a gmail address, this time with his full name. The videos he downloaded into this account depicted the sexual exploitation of two young girls between the ages of 12 and 14 years of age. The videos showed the girls engaged in sexual activity with dogs.
Between March 2019 and December 2019, Cramond used a Google account to upload seven objectionable image files to the Google Photos service.
In April 2020 he created a cloud storage account, which again used his name in the Hotmail address, but with a different number.
From then until October, he stored five objectionable video files depicting the sexual abuse and exploitation of children between the ages of 3 and 12 years.
In November 2020 forensic examinations of Cramond's mobile phone located five objectionable video files saved to the SD card, depicting adult females engaged in sexual activity with animals.
He partially admitted the offending and that he had received links to cloud storage locations containing the four objectionable video files linked to the first charge from a user he had engaged with in an online chat application.
He admitted the files were illegal and that he was "disgusted by the material" but when asked about the bestiality files, Cramond said he did not believe they were objectionable as they were "available on the internet".
Crown prosecutor Jeremy Cameron told the court today that based on the pre-sentence report it was clear that Cramond denied the offending, and that he considered it was "accidental".
As to whether there was room for credit which might have reduced the sentence, Cameron said there were "no realistic rehabilitation prospects".
Defence lawyer Tony Bamford said an alcohol and drug report acknowledged a time in Cramond's life when he was "abusing methamphetamine at a reasonably significant level".
Tony Bamford lawyer pictured in the Nelson District Court. Photo / NZME
Bamford said he was using up to one gram a day depending on its availability, and it was during this time the online offending occurred.
Bamford said confronting his problems would be Cramond's priority, and while he was a little way down the track towards this, it would have been better if he had been further down the track by now.
Judge Zohrab said there might be some scope for Cramond to work on the issues he had, but in his opinion it was the conduct of someone with an "incredibly warped mind", and with an unhealthy interest in young children and sexual matters.
"You downloaded some terrible material. These were real people being abused in these publications."
Cramond stifled his growing anger but could be heard trying to argue his case as Judge Zohrab spoke of his high level of engagement with the material he had, and how he had characterised it as "accidental offending".
As he was sent to prison for two years and two months, Cramond managed to shout: "I love you Mum", in between his angry outbursts.
Cramond's mother, who minutes before had abused Bamford, was seen outside the court sobbing so hard she could barely roll the cigarette she was trying to smoke.
