Press Release

Sex Tourism Sentencing sends Strong Signal

Today at the Auckland High Court a man previously charged for organising child sex tourism to Asia was sentenced to 3 years in prison. The Judge stated that this was the first time a New Zealander had been convicted of this crime and he hoped the sentence would send a strong message to anyone else tempted to sexually exploit children either here or abroad.

Alan Bell, Director of child protection agency ECPAT Child ALERT says “This is a ground breaking case for New Zealand and it is pleasing to see that the offender received a sentence that would discourage others considering being involved in this sort of activity. It is concerning that the offender was willing to organise a tour for New Zealanders that would result in children overseas being sexually exploited. We do not want this sort of illegal service being available in New Zealand.”

The offender was charged in August 2010 and has had name suppression and bail throughout. He was identified through an undercover operation conducted by the New Zealand Police forensic unit OCEANZ.

Bell states” It is disturbing that this case took eighteen months to bring to a conclusion. During this time the accused was free and could hide behind his name suppression. Criminal charges where the safety of children is concerned should be dealt with swiftly and unless there is a child protection issue the name should be released so that the public are aware.”

ENDS

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