Repeat child sex offender back in jail after authorities alerted to ‘questionable online purchases’

Rhys Firth, a registered sex offender, in the dock at the Nelson District Court where he was sentenced today to another term in prison for possession of banned material involving child exploitation. Photo / Tracy Neal

WARNING: This story discusses sexual abuse of children

A judge has made a plea to a recidivist child sex offender, and others like him, to think about the children suffering as a result of their “abhorrent” offending.

Registered child sex offender Rhys Nathan Firth, who was caught for a second time when his bank alerted authorities to his suspicious online purchases, was today sent back to prison for three years and four months on six charges of possession of an objectionable publication and failing to comply with the conditions of his release from prison in 2020.

The charges related to the discovery of a total of 463 images and videos depicting mainly female victims aged from 1 to 15 years and arose not long after he’d been out of jail for “unbearable” similar offending.

In July 2016 Firth was sentenced to four years and two months in prison on charges of possessing and distributing objectionable videos and images depicting the sexual abuse and exploitation of children, many of them girls aged 10 or younger, including babies and toddlers.

Judge Jo Rielly said in sentencing him today in the Nelson District Court that it seemed people such as Firth who used objectionable material ignored, overlooked, or put to one side that the images they viewed or shared were of real children.

Judge Jo Rielly pictured earlier in the Nelson District Court, has urged a repeat online child sex offender to think about his victims, who were real people . Photo / RNZ

“If people like you did not view, possess or share this material there would be no market in the world for these acts to occur.

“I sometimes wonder if people in New Zealand who access this material on foreign sites, whether that gives some sense of comfort they are not directly impacting on the lives of children, but it doesn’t matter where they are - every child deserves to grow up in a safe environment, free from being targeted by adults as sexual objects,” Judge Rielly said.

Firth was not long out of prison when he came to the attention of the authorities again in 2020 after using various social media sites.

The bank he used alerted the police after it was found he was making “questionable online purchases” via those sites and by 2021 Firth was caught with hundreds of objectional visuals on his phone and messages revealing a desire to engage in sexual activity with young females.

The charges for which Firth went to prison in 2016 related to his activities from July 2013 to September 2014, but there was evidence he had been engaging in such conduct since 2002, the police summary showed.

He used a Russian-based website to find contacts with whom to trade material.

He also encouraged a woman believed to be in the Philippines to send him “fresh” material, having sent her several videos to sell featuring child sexual abuse.

He justified his actions then by saying he was “assisting children who would otherwise be starving”.

Firth’s sentence then incorporated a further charge laid after he engaged in internet activity in January 2016, when he secretly photographed young girls changing on a Nelson beach, using a zoom lens.

It was later established that Firth had not notified the Child Sex Offender Registry that he was a member of a particular instant messaging service, which he was obliged to do.

As a result, in October 2021 his cellphone, computer and related property were seized for evidence of this and other unreported social media sites.

The police digital forensic unit found 274 objectionable images and 25 objectionable videos on his cellphone.

The content of messages analysed on his phone showed that between early June and late October 2021, Firth had taken part in multiple conversations where child exploitation material was received or talked about.

Judge Rielly said Firth’s attempts to hide his activities through the use of the particular instant messaging service showed his actions were pre-meditated.

In sentencing him, she outlined the severe emotional, psychological and often lifelong impact on victims from such offending. She said it was sad that in New Zealand there was an “extensive amount of case law” that provided sentencing guidance.

“I say sadly because the courts are seeing an increase in the number of people appearing for this offending behaviour.”

Latest figures from the Ministry of Justice show the number of people convicted of offences linked to harmful digital communications had increased from two in 2015 to 75 last year.

There was a 47 per cent increase last year compared with 2018, with the number creeping up slightly during the lockdown years of 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Defence lawyer Dave Holloway said it was regrettable that prison hadn’t deterred his client, and neither had he benefited from the help offered in prison.

Firth was deaf and this had led to social isolation which had given rise to his offending, Holloway submitted.

He said Firth struggled to adjust to release from the controlled environment of prison, and the ease at which he was able to regain access to material.

“This is all online offending – this is the world he inhabits.”

Crown lawyer Maddie Harris said there was no evidence to support a finding that Firth’s isolation had caused his sexual interest in young children.

She said Firth’s willingness to engage in child exploitation material so soon after being released from prison showed he lacked insight into his offending and into the vulnerability of the young people who were the victims of such behaviour.

Judge Rielly emphasised Firth’s need to work on his lack of insight and remorse into the harm his behaviour caused.

She said the treatment and rehabilitation received during the last time he was in jail would now have to start again.

“You cannot be released and reoffend and harm more people in communities around the world.”

Firth’s sentence was reduced by three months from a start point of three years and seven months in recognition of the extra difficulties he had communicating with family in the Nelson region.

His profound deafness and inability to access equipment needed to assist with communication, and his family’s inability to travel to see him were likely to increase his level of isolation, Judge Rielly said.