Child pornography boast brings fine and community service

A Palmerston North man who boasted he could hide his child pornography on the internet was today convicted of trading the material.

Timothy John Jepson was convicted at Palmerston North District Court of 11 charges of trading child pornography, fined $6000 and ordered to do 300 hours' community work, the Internal Affairs Department said today.

His computer was ordered to be destroyed and all material seized.

Jepson was caught after he unwittingly told an Internal Affairs inspector, who was monitoring the internet child porn channel they were communicating through, that he could hide his child porn trading on the internet, conceal files and avoid detection.

Jepson hid his identity and address in a computer operating in the United States, said Internal Affairs gaming and censorship regulating group general manager Keith Manch.

He operated under the nickname "Brigadeer" on a channel dedicated to trading sexually explicit pictures and films of children, Mr Manch said in a statement.

He also accessed child porn news groups, downloaded material from them and distributed it.

In September 2001, he sent the inspector pictures of a six-year-old-girl in sexually explicit poses and carrying out sexual acts.

After boasting to the inspector and sending him the pictures, Brigadeer was traced through the internet to a Palmerston North address, and identified as Jepson.

In December 2001, Jepson's house was searched and his computer, CD-Roms and floppy disks seized and taken for forensic analysis.

They showed a history of his internet activity and contained objectionable images of children.

He denied any offending, but after being shown written copies of his conversation with the inspector admitted he was Brigadeer.

Last month, Jepson pleaded guilty to 11 breaches of the Films Videos and Publications Classification Act, which prohibits child pornography.

Mr Manch said Jepson's pictures of the girl highlighted the myth that child pornography was "only looking at pictures".

"A six-year-old girl was degraded and abused to create these pictures.

"That was done for the 'pleasure' of Jepson and other collectors and traders. These men create a market that encourages the abuse of children."

Jepson's conviction was the 13th in New Zealand in the last 12 months and the 104th since the unit was set up in 1996, Mr Manch said.

"The offenders have been from all over the country -- rural areas, towns, cities -- and they have often been trying to hide behind websites and computers all over the world."

Last month, a Paeroa man was convicted after information was shared between Internal Affairs and German police. In December, an Auckland man was jailed for running websites at the centre of an international child pornography ring.

- NZPA