The man was sentenced in the Christchurch District court on Friday. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
WARNING: This story discusses rape and sexual abuse.
A 49-year-old Timaru man has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for the online sexual exploitation of children.
The sentence, which was handed down at the Christchurch District Court on Friday, follows a Customs investigation which began last year.
The maximum penalty for the importation or exportation of objectionable publications is 10 years' imprisonment.
On 20 August 2024, the defendant arrived at Christchurch International Airport when returning from a holiday overseas.
He was spoken to and searched by Customs officers and, as a result, 306 child sexual abuse files were located on his phone.
He was arrested and a search warrant carried out at his home address by Customs investigators from the Child Exploitation Operations Team.
Another hard drive was located in a drawer, containing at least 173,000 child sexual exploitation material files.
Further forensic analysis by Customs specialists from the Electronic Forensic Unit found the man had distributed child sexual abuse files even while on holiday overseas. Customs also charged him for that offending.
The man's collection had been curated over a number of years and included at least 33 hours of video of the worst category of material, involving the rape and sexual abuse of hundreds of children from around the world.
Chief Customs officer in the child exploitation operations team Simon Peterson said cases like this caused devastating and ongoing harm to child victims.
"This offending is horrific. It's crucial to realise these are not just images or videos being censored because they are not good for public consumption.
"The proliferation of child sexual abuse material amongst clandestine global online networks has a much more profound effect on the victims themselves, every day.
"We continue to work closely with our colleagues at New Zealand Police and the Department of Internal Affairs, as well as our offshore partners, to combat this despicable trade and protect our border and vulnerable children all over the world, from those involved in it."
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