A 49-year-old Timaru man was today sentenced at the Christchurch District Court for his involvement in the online sexual exploitation of children. He received four-years and nine-months’ imprisonment following a Customs investigation which began last year.

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 was subsequently executed at his home address by Customs investigators from the Child Exploitation Operations Team. At this search warrant, another hard drive was located in a drawer, with at least 173,000 child sexual exploitation material files.

Further forensic analysis by Customs specialists from the Electronic Forensic Unit identified 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 – Child Exploitation Operations Team, Simon Peterson, said cases like this cause 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.”

If you have concerns or suspicions about someone who may be trading in, or producing child sexual abuse images or videos, contact Customs confidentially on 0800 WE PROTECT (0800 937 768) or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

If you are, or know of, someone who is at risk or being abused, contact the Police immediately.

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