Man jailed for videos of children being sexually abused

A 22-year-old man has been jailed for importing and distributing videos of children being sexually abused.

Thomas Stratton was sentenced in the Palmerston North District Court yesterday to 25 months' imprisonment.

He was convicted on five counts of importation - by downloading - and 12 counts of supply and distribution, which were a sample charge for more than 3000 electronic images and videos that New Zealand Customs found in his possession, Customs' manager of investigations Maurice O'Brien said.

Stratton was part of a group email used actively by members to swap and talk about child sexual abuse images.

Customs carried out a search warrant at Stratton's home after it found him emailing links of child sexual exploitation and abuse videos from a US-based website in March this year, Mr O'Brien said.

During the interview, he told Customs officials he was addicted to the images.

Offenders often tried to deny or minimise their behaviour, blaming addiction, but they were still viewing images of a horrendous crime where innocent children were exploited and victimised, he said.

"Children often don't even understand they are victims until later. This should never be described as pornography ? these are images of crimes committed against children who are too young to understand.

"In this case, Stratton was viewing horrific abuse images and keeping them to exchange with others," Mr O'Brien said.

"Our ultimate aim is to save and protect victims, and it is unacceptable their images are used as a trading commodity."

Offenders should seek help, he said.

"It is never okay - you are causing serious harm to innocent victims and yourselves.

"Don't do it, you will be caught - [instead] seek help from professional agencies like the SAFE network or Well Stop network."