A 56-year-old man has been sentenced to two years and three months imprisonment at the Nelson District Court, following an investigation by the Department of Internal Affair’s Digital Child Exploitation team.

Ian Durbin pled guilty to six charges of possession of objectionable material, including images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation and abuse of children.

The 56-year-old was found after uploading 21 child sexual exploitation and abuse images to a visual search engine, in an effort to seek out similar illegal material.

A search warrant executed at the offenders address on 23 April 2023 led to the seizure of several electronic devices. Following forensic examination, Durbin was found to be in possession of 2,077 objectionable image and video files. Investigators also found evidence that he had been consistently searching for child sexual exploitation material over a period of at least 10 years.

Analysis of the files showed that Durbin had a dedicated interest in one particular victim, with over 793 files from when she was aged approximately 4 years old, through to approximately 12 years old.

“This material represents the worst moments in a child’s life, captured and shared by offenders. We are committed to ensuring justice is served to those who fuel the demand for this horrific material,” says Tim Houston, Manager Digital Child Exploitation Team.

As part of Durbin’s sentence, Judge Reilly ordered Durbin to be registered as a child sex offender.

In 2023, the Digital Child Exploitation team conducted 47 investigations into child exploitation, identifying nearly three million pieces of illegal material held by New Zealanders. Additionally, the Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System blocked over one million attempts to access websites hosting child sexual abuse material.

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