HB man fined for child porn

A Waipukurau man faces fines and court costs totalling almost $10,000 after admitting 40 computer pornography offences uncovered in a major international crackdown on the sexual exploitation of children.
Appearing in Napier District Court yesterday, Owen Lewis Potter, 44, was told by New Zealand's chief district court judge that what was found on the man's computer after it was seized on February 21 was "dirty pictures" of boys and the "dirty stories"of a perverted author.
The charges included 20 of possessing objectionable publications, comprising picture files of naked boys and sexual activity involving the prepubescent children, and 20 charges of importing objectionable publications, comprising files of fictional text.
Reading an "agreed" summary, Crown prosecutor Nicola Graham said the charges were "representative" or "specimen" charges relating to the overall offending.
Judge Russell Johnson admitted some confusion in setting an appropriate sentence but, based on a recent case summary provided by the prosecutor, imposed a fine of $200 with court costs of $130 on each of 30 of the charges - a total of $9900.
Miss Graham said Potter, described on a charge sheet as a painter, but currently without a job, according to defence counsel Steve Manning, was one of thousands investigated around the world in a hunt begun two years ago by the United States Department of Homeland Security's bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
An undercover operation penetrated a United States business which was a "clearing-house" for people paying by credit card for internet access to child pornography channelled through servers in Europe, she said.
To subscribe to any of about 50 websites identified as containing offending material, customers sent credit card details via the Internet to the US business and in return received an account name and password to enable them to access the pornography sites.
Investigations uncovered the access gained by Potter, and the transaction details in his bank account in New Zealand.
Miss Graham said that when interviewed, Potter acknowledged an interest in viewing homosexual pornographic material that included images of young boys, and admitted accessing the sites and downloading the material.
Potter had no previous criminal record. Mr Manning said that in the case of the fictional text there had been no other direct victims.
There were no participants in the activity described, and Potter lived alone, and viewed the material alone.
Judge Johnson agreed, saying: "The documents did not involve other people, except for some perverted author of them. They were not pictures of other people debasing themselves for some pathetic coinage."
But the "dirty pictures" did, he said, involving young people who would have been employed to take part in activities so that "perverts" could look at them.
Justifying not imposing a prison sentence for the offences involving the pictures, the judge noted Potter lived alone "swilling-in your own company, looking at these things ... not involving anyone else".
Convictions were entered on all counts, and the judge said the fines on some charges and not others was a method to impose the penalty, not a "qualitative" judgement on the material in each case.