Press Release

“The ultimate parental depravity “

Described by the Judge as “depraved” a paedophile who traded on sexual offending against his own infant son has been sent to prison. The 27-year-old South Canterbury man was sentenced in the Oamaru District Court this afternoon to eight years 10 months' imprisonment by Judge Joanna Maze for offending which will have a profound effect on his child.

Alan Bell of ECPAT Child ALERT says ”This has got to be one of the worst examples of child sex abuse in New Zealand. Not only did a father sexually abuse his baby son, he was willing to trade the subsequent images of this abuse to others so that he could gain access to images of young girls being sexually abused. Further he was willing to then sell his baby boy to others for sexual abuse.  Sadly this is yet another case that proves the point that New Zealand is not exempt from this inhumane behaviour against our most vulnerable.”

The man sat motionless in the dock as he was sentenced on a raft of porn charges, including two of sexual violation and indecent assault, and selling the use of his then 13-month-old son for sexual gratification for $500.

The charges also included eight of doing an indecent act and 15 of making, possessing and distributing objectionable material and breaching a restraining order. Police found 815 objectionable images on his computer and 84 videos. Judge Joanna Maze said “You traded your son like a commodity. It is degrading and cruel. You created a trading commodity so you could get pornographic film in return”

The prosecution was part of a larger web of child sex abusers that involved other New Zealanders in addition to international offenders in an organised network sharing illegal images. It follows on from a recent case concerning Aaron John Ellmers who was sentenced in the High Court at Napier to preventive detention for a minimum period of imprisonment of 20 years.

“Whilst we should be grateful that we have robust law enforcement in New Zealand and for the fact that their action in this case prevented further abuse of four New Zealand children, we should be outraged that this sort of behaviour occurs in a country such as ours” says Bell. “As a society we all need to be alert to the actions of those who choose to take advantage of our children in return for their own depraved pleasure and for gain. Children are not commodities to be traded as sex objects. The Government is taking positive action in strengthening the legislation but more is needed in terms of education and public awareness.”

The child is in the care of his mother. The offender was granted permanent name suppression to protect the identity of his victim.

ECPAT Child ALERT is a registered charitable trust working to prevent the sexual exploitation of children.

ENDS

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