WARNING: This story discusses child sexual exploitation material.
A registered sex offender deported from Australia after targeting children has been returned to jail.
This time, in New Zealand after he was caught having explicit online chats with an undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.
Donovan Earl Tippett, 41, was sentenced for similar offences in Australia in 2014 and 2018.
“The protection of the community is important,” Judge Anna Fitzgibbon said recently at Tippett’s sentencing in Auckland’s North Shore District Court.
Tippett’s most recent legal troubles in New Zealand began in February last year, when police searched his Kelston home, suspecting he had breached requirements of the sex offender registry.
His devices were seized and police later discovered 27 illegal images and videos on his phone. The disturbing imagery included children in bondage gear and explicit depictions of child rape.
“A number of other electronic devices seized as exhibits also contained deleted objectionable files and links to cloud storage,” police noted in the agreed summary of facts.
“However, no charges in respect of these items have been filed.”
The 501 deportee was charged with multiple counts of possessing objectionable material, punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
While still facing those charges, he was caught offending again in September when he struck up a conversation with someone he thought was a 13-year-old named Lily in a free text chatroom.
Shortly after the conversation started, he asked to move it to WhatsApp so they could message privately.
“The defendant steered the conversation to a sexual nature,” court documents outline, including asking for a photo of the girl in her underwear.
“I’m horny and would be yummy to see lol,” he explained before making more explicit statements about what he wanted the two to do together.
“Best to keep me secret for now,” he later said. When asked why, he replied: “coz I so old and shouldn’t be talking to you anyway”.
As the days-long exchange continued, Tippett sent nude photos of himself.
“The defendant was told by the fictitious young person that she was a 13-year-old female multiple times throughout their conversations,” the agreed summary of facts noted.
He was arrested 12 days after the conversation began.
He had made arrangements for the two to meet at an Ōtāhuhu park, but he was arrested at his home after changing his mind and deciding not to show up.
Grooming for sexual conduct with a young person and exposing a young person to indecent material – the nude photos of himself – are punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.
Judge Fitzgibbon noted during Tippett’s recent sentencing that he had already participated in an intensive rehabilitation programme in prison in Australia.
Police overseas found a pornographic image on his phone of a 5-year-old in 2014 and he was later convicted of having indecent communication with a minor. In 2018, he was caught trying to groom a 14-year-old online.
Tippett was also sentenced in the Auckland District Court in April last year for failing to comply with reporting obligations.
He’s now been deemed a high risk of reoffending due to the “recidivist nature” of his crimes to date, Judge Fitzgibbon said.
Tippett said the offending had been a “coping mechanism” due to the high level of stress in his life, including not being able to find employment.
“I was isolated,” he said of his new life in New Zealand.
Tippett also said in previous reports that he doesn’t believe he has an unusually high sexual preoccupation. He only views child sexual exploitation, not adult pornography, he said.
Prosecutor Samara Wakefield said the judge should be unswayed by the defendant’s excuses and expressions of remorse.
“The risk to the community, especially to our young people who operate online, is high,” she said.
Wakefield advocated for a three-year sentence, while defence lawyer Sue Kim suggested a short prison sentence, with a direction by the judge that her client could apply to convert it to home detention if a suitable address was found.
“Mr Tippett is not going to be in custody forever,” Kim said, arguing that the defendant would likely get much better rehabilitation treatment in the community than in jail.
She described Tippett as “a highly motivated offender who would like help”.
Judge Fitzgibbon ordered a starting point of 21 months for the objectionable material charges, and added four months for the grooming and another four months for his previous offending.
After a reduction for his guilty plea, she settled on an end sentence of two years and one month in prison.
“I consider, having seen your pattern of offending for a number of years ... that an electronically monitored sentence would not be appropriate,” she concluded.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
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