A 67-year-old Tauranga man has been sentenced to 3 months home detention after appearing at the Tauranga District Court.

Following an investigation by Tari Taiwhenua, Department of Internal Affairs, the offender pled guilty to one representative charge of knowingly possessing objectionable material depicting the sexual exploitation and abuse of children. The offender was granted name suppression and was not required to register as a child sex offender.

Investigators from the Digital Child Exploitation Team, DIA, opened the investigation after being notified by the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that an individual based in Aotearoa New Zealand had uploaded 262 images depicting the sexual abuse and exploitation of children to a search engine to locate similar illegal material.

A search warrant was then executed at the man’s home, where investigators located and seized a laptop for forensic examination. The offender admitted to Investigators that between October 2021 and August 2022, he actively searched for and amassed 8505 images of child sexual exploitation and abuse, with the majority depicting children being sexualized posed.

Investigators undertook checks to ensure that none of the images were created by the offender.

Tim Houston, Manager Digital Child Exploitation Team said:

"Though this offender claimed he did not want to abuse children, possessing these horrific images encourages further abuse as each time an image is created an innocent child is harmed.”

“The concerted effort and cooperation of DIA, NZ Police and NZ Customs is critical to tackling the proliferation of child abuse material and protecting children from abuse.”

DIA’s DCET is committed to keeping New Zealanders safe from online harm by responding to and preventing the spread of child sexual exploitation material online.

In 2023, DCET undertook 47 investigations into child exploitation, resulting in the discovery of almost 3 million pieces of illegal material possessed by New Zealanders. This is in addition to the over 1 million attempts to access websites hosting child sexual abuse material that were blocked by the Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System.

Help and support

We encourage parents and caregivers to talk to their Tamariki about their online activities. Advice and support for parents and caregivers about how they can keep their children safe online can be found at KeepItRealOnline.govt.nz.

If you are concerned about something you have seen or want to report a crime, please report it to the Digital Child Exploitation Team at DIA. If you know abuse is happening right now or a child is at risk, call police immediately on 111.

If you are the victim of a child abuse or sexual abuse crime, you can contact:

· https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/child-abuse-directory-information-and-support

· Safe to Talk: 0800 044 334 Text 4334

If you are concerned about your own or someone else’s sexual behaviour, please reach out for support:

Safe Network: 09 377 9898

WellStop: 04 566 4745

STOP: 03 353 0257

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