Secrecy extended around senior first responder accused of exporting, possessing child sex abuse material

The man appeared in the Christchurch District Court today. Photo / George Heard

Name suppression has been extended for a senior first responder accused of exporting and possessing material depicting the sexual exploitation of children.

Today, he entered not guilty pleas to all of the charges against him.

His name will remain secret until at least the start of his trial - which will likely take place before a jury in 2026.

The man, in his 50s, was arrested in June after an investigation by Customs NZ that began in April this year.

He was initially facing five charges of “knowingly” exporting objectionable publications depicting the sexual exploitation of children.

Some of the exportation charges are representative, which means Customs believes he committed multiple offences of the same type in similar circumstances.

The man also faced a charge of being in possession of 19 objectionable publications depicting child sexual abuse between January 13 and June 1 this year – without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.

The man first appeared in the Christchurch District Court in June and was granted interim name suppression and bail by community magistrate Elder Robati.

At his second court appearance in August four new charges were laid. Name suppression was continued to allow his lawyer, Craig Ruane, time to consider the new information.

The second tranche of charges came after Customs conducted forensic examinations of devices seized from the man’s home during the execution of a search warrant.

Today, Ruane sought a further extension of name suppression.

He said suppression was first granted to allow him time to tell his employer about the charges.

“His employment was terminated due to the mere nature of the charges… brings the employer into disrepute,” Ruane said.

“He is going through an employment process with that… the issue is whether he can retain employment.”

Further, Ruane said he was still waiting on information from Customs about the case, which made it “difficult” to offer legal advice.

Judge Elkin agreed to extend the suppression order saying publication of the man’s name at this stage would cause “undue hardship”.

Neither the man’s employer nor Customs could comment further while the matter was before the courts.

The man was remanded on bail until his next court appearance on December 17.

Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 19 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz