A man caught with child abuse images on his devices at home has been sentenced to 10 months of home detention.
WARNING: This story contains details of sexual offending against children
A man his mother claimed had been “dealt the wrong cards” by men he trusted as a boy went on to develop a pornography addiction, leading to his downloading of more than 20,000 child sexual abuse images.
His tearful mother, whose name has been suppressed, cried as she spoke in her son’s defence at his sentencing in the Wellington District Court this week for possessing objectionable material.
She told Judge Noel Sainsbury that while working four jobs to make ends meet, she’d left the defendant and his brother in the care of two trusted role models, their father and stepfather, when they were younger.
The men had introduced the two boys to pornography, she revealed.
“They were dealt the wrong cards by men they trusted.”
The mother recalled the day, almost three years ago, when customs officers raided her now 28-year-old son’s home and found thousands of the images on his devices.
She said she was glad he had been caught.
Judge Sainsbury said about half the images were considered the worst of their kind, involving babies and young children being abused.
They were “truly disturbing and grotesque”, the judge said.
The mother also spoke of her shock at learning of her son’s charges, partly because he’d never been in trouble with the law.
After the raid, she flew to see him and described him as “broken” when they met at the airport.
Getting her head around the charges had been unbearable, she said.
But she also spoke of her pride at the steps he’d taken since his arrest. He had stayed off social media, engaged with medical professionals and did everything asked of him.
Her son was a perfect gentleman to his partner of six years and would give the shirt off his back to help others, she said.
“He’s a good person and I’m proud to be his Mum.”
Defence lawyer Gretel Fairbrother said that since his arrest, her client has shown an unwavering commitment to weekly counselling.
That also included help with post-traumatic stress disorder he’d been diagnosed with as a result of sexual abuse he’d suffered in his youth.
The Crown’s Lee van der Lem suggested the man be placed on the child sex offender register and name suppression be lifted, arguing the grounds he’d submitted didn’t amount to extreme hardship.
But Fairbrother rejected that, submitting that releasing his name could be detrimental to his rehabilitation.
Judge Sainsbury agreed.
“It is in everyone’s interest, in particular the community, as well as those who are the victims of your offending, that you do not reoffend. That will be most likely achieved if you remain in the community with support, remain in employment and undertake the Wellstop programme,” he said.
Entry into the programme, which treats sexual offenders, can only begin after an offender has been sentenced.
But in sentencing him, the judge said he was mindful of a direction from the High Court that the volume of material alone was a blunt instrument, particularly given the ease with which digital files could be downloaded.
Judge Sainsbury also emphasised that this was not a victimless crime, given the court had received two affidavits from American officers who investigated child exploitation and had found two of the victims identified in material the man had downloaded.
“I hope you appreciate the serious harm done to children,” the judge told the man.
On five charges of possession of an objectionable publication, the man was sentenced to 10 months of home detention.
Judge Sainsbury also suppressed his name, saying it was in the public interest for the man to get the help he needed.
“You’ve made first steps, but you have to go through the programme. Until then I consider there is a real risk to children”, he said.
The man’s name was placed on the child sex offender register, which the judge explained was necessary because it provided a level of protection.
Without it, if the man didn’t embrace his rehabilitation but had name suppression, he could escape a level of punishment and scrutiny that should have been there.
The man was also ordered to attend the Wellstop programme, not to associate with anyone aged under 16 unless accompanied by an approved adult, and not to possess an electronic device capable of accessing the internet.
Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.
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