Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Licence needed for work use Learn More
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Child pornography penalties to increase


Hon Judith Collins
Minister of Justice

28 August 2012

Media Statement

Child pornography offences increased, updated for new technology

Justice Minister Judith Collins today announced Government plans to increase maximum penalties for child pornography offences and to future-proof laws against advances in technology.

Ms Collins says offenders can access objectionable material in ways and at speeds unimagined only a decade ago.

“The internet allows objectionable material to be easily viewed and shared. New technology enables transmitting, retrieving and storing an almost infinite quantity of data at high speed and low cost – offenders can possess collections of over 100,000 images of sexually exploited children.

“Possession creates a market encouraging further production. So we’re increasing the penalties for possession, distribution and production of child pornography.

“Social networking sites, online chat programmes and communication tools such as texting have made it easier for adults to communicate with children.

“This increases the risk of harm to children, so we are creating a new offence for indecent communication with a child (anyone under 16 years old).

“We’re also making it clear that possession includes intentionally viewing objectionable material, for example, via streaming video or online chat, even if that material is not downloaded or saved.

“Child pornography is a record of terrible abuse suffered by children. We’re making changes to ensure sentences reflect the seriousness of the crime, and we’re sending a strong message that the exploitation and abuse of children will not be tolerated,” Ms Collins says.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

The new measures include:

increasing the maximum penalty for possession, import or export of an objectionable publication from 5 years to 10 years imprisonment
increasing the maximum penalty for distributing or making an objectionable publication from 10 years to 14 years imprisonment
creating a presumption of imprisonment for repeat offenders - any person convicted of a child pornography offence for a second time will be sentenced to a term of imprisonment
making it clear in the Classification Act that possession of objectionable material includes intentionally viewing material over the internet without consciously downloading or saving it
creating a new offence of indecent communication with a child (anyone under the age of 16) which includes texting, online and verbal communication.

Officials will now begin working on legislation to be introduced to the House later this year.

ends


© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

Featured News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.