New Zealand Children used for Child Pornography

Aaron John Ellmers, 41, appeared in Hastings District Court today where he pleaded guilty to about 60 charges including sexual violation of children, stupefying, making an intimate visual recording, dealing in people for sexual exploitation and attempted sexual conduct with a child under 12.

Child protection agency ECPAT Child ALERT is concerned about this case where it is understood four New Zealand children were saved from further abuse due to this arrest. Director Alan Bell says ”This is outrageous behaviour and I hope the sentencing is robust enough to cause this offender to reflect on the damage he has done to innocent and vulnerable victims. He needs to receive treatment over a period of time to ensure he can be rehabilitated back into society and not be threat to other children in the future.”

Child pornography is more accurately defined as child sex abuse images. These are images of real children who know the pain and suffering of violent rape and sexual abuse. Very often this abuse results in post traumatic stress disorder that can negatively affect the victim for a lifetime.

Bell says “The dealing in child sex abuse images via the Internet by organised criminal rings is increasing. Most of these sites originate overseas but this is not the first case of a New Zealander exploiting our own children. The disturbing reality is that there is a demand from people willing to pay to view such images and this results in an industry where children are marketed as commodities.”

Legislation and law enforcement in New Zealand against this type of crime is robust and both the Police and the Department of Internal Affairs have specialised units to monitor and track down offenders. “It is great that in this case the Police have been able to recover the child victims and protect them from further abuse. However we all need to take responsibility for children who are vulnerable and do what we can to prevent this totally unacceptable criminal activity in our midst.” says Bell.

ECPAT Child ALERT is a registered charitable trust working to prevent the sexual exploitation of children including child prostitution, pornography and trafficking.

ENDS

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Scoop Business: Bathurst Gets Nod For DoC Access To Denniston Mine

Conservation Minister Nick Smith has approved access over conservation estate land for Bathurst Resources to develop an open cast coal mine on the Denniston Plateau, above Westport, to the dismay of environmental opponents.

The timing for Smith’s move avoids Bathurst having to resubmit applications for access agreements under the revised Crown Minerals Act, which comes into force tomorrow and would have required public consultation.

The announcement lands in the middle of delicate negotiations between the company, environmental groups and other interested parties that could pave the way to a broader agreement on the Escarpment proposal, whose resource consents are still subject to court appeals. More>>