KEY POINTS:
A 58-year-old man who sent photos of his penis over the internet and chatted graphically online to girls as young as nine faces a jail term after admitting 28 child pornography charges.
The man represented himself in Queenstown District Court today, where he admitted 11 charges of making
an objectionable publication and 17 of possessing objectionable publications.
Judge Dominic Flatley granted interim name suppression, but warned it was solely in the interests of the man's wife and children and there was no guarantee his name would be suppressed permanently.
Charges related to offences from 1999 to 2006 and arose from extensive files, photos and documents found on the man's desktop computer.
Under the Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act, he is liable for a prison term not exceeding 10 years for making an objectionable publication, and a term of up to five years for possessing one.
Representing the crown, lawyer John Matthews said the case came to light after the mother of a North Island 12-year-old girl intercepted a photograph of the man's erect penis, sent over the internet.
The man initiated contact with the girl through her Zorpia social networking web page when she was 11.
Mr Matthews said the mother found chat conversations that seemed to be sexual, contacted the Department of Internal Affairs, then operated her daughter's Zorpia profile, recording the conversations and the source's electronic address.
Because the mother intercepted the penis picture, no charges were brought in relation to that incident.
However, inquiries with United States Customs showed a 12-year-old American girl received the same material personally.
Police were notified after comments made in chats with the North Island girl talked about "meeting" and "being together". Search warrants identified the defendant.
The man's address near Christchurch was searched and a camera, hand-held computer, desktop computer, laptop computer, discs, and diskettes seized.
The desktop computer contained a directory of password-protected documents containing more than 1200 image files and 96 document files, Mr Matthews said.
Of the image files, 91 were considered objectionable because they featured the exploitation of children and young persons.
Seventy five of the documents recorded more than 400 chat sessions, with 48 considered objectionable because they involved girls aged from nine to 16 in sexualised chats with the man involving sex acts with him including vaginal, anal and oral sex.
The man had recorded a detailed summary with most chat logs in which he included the girls' ages, weights, measurements, locations and the sexual practices he had discussed with them, Mr Matthews said.
More than 6000 chat contacts were found on the man's computer, many with file names suggesting they were young girls.
Chat logs showed that the man masturbated while chatting with young girls or looking at their pictures.
Mr Matthews said one of the seized diskettes contained eight stories written by the defendant in 1999, describing sexual acts between an adult male and girls aged 10 and 12.
Interviewed by police on the day the search warrants were executed, the man admitted chatting to the North Island 12-year-old and sending her a picture of his penis.
He said this was typical of his online chats which were generally "about sex". He'd saved chat logs and pictures of the girls he chatted with, but denied they were objectionable.
The man described online sexual chat with 12 year olds as "fun and sexually exciting" but said his activities were "harmless" and the girls could "block" him from their computers if they wanted.
Mr Matthews said the man stated he only sent photos of himself to girls who wanted them "although he agreed later that the perception of how interested the girl was in him, and in sex, may be coloured by his own imagination".
The man -- who formerly worked in a field that brought him in contact with children -- denied his sexual thoughts extended beyond online activities.
He said as a "professional" he did not think about young girls while working with them.
Judge Flatley remanded the man on bail to May 7, saying he wanted to see a variety of reports before sentencing.
The judge ordered the man to report to Queenstown police three times a week while on bail.
He also ordered the man not to use a computer or to have any access to the internet during the remand.
He issued a destruction order for the objectionable computer files and forfeiture of the man's computer gear.
- NZPA
