Child pornography investigators are pleased with the jail term handed down to a Christchurch man yesterday for copying and possessing images of adults sexually abusing children, incest and bestiality.
The Internal Affairs Department polices illicit publications, including images traded on the internet.
Clifford James Robinson, 38, was yesterday jailed for seven months
for trading a three-minute movie of a baby girl being sexually abused and 22 other charges relating to objectionable images, transcripts, and movies.
In December he pleaded guilty to the charges.
A Internal Affairs Department spokesman said today the department was pleased with the jail term.
"We sought a jail term in this case, so we are naturally happy with the outcome," he told NZPA.
The department's gaming and censorship regulation group general manager Keith Manch said the case illustrated the danger of child sex abuse images on the internet.
"This is not about pictures on computers. It is about real children being photographed and filmed while they are being sexually abused, those images being shared all over the world, and the images reinforcing the false views held by some that sex with children is acceptable," he said in a statement.
Mr Manch said the conviction followed an investigation by the department and Queensland police after an Australian was found to be using the internet to describe sexually abusing his own daughters.
Robinson, a beneficiary, engaged in conversations with the man about abuse and sent him a copy of the three-minute movie. Investigators found that the Australian man did not in fact have any children.
Defence counsel claimed that Robinson acted as a moderator for internet chat rooms, where computer users pass messages and share information with others.
He was supposed to prevent users trading grossly offensive material, but instead collected images of child pornography and bestiality, including the graphic three minute movie of a baby girl being sexually abused.
- NZPA
