Alexander Power at his sentencing in the Rotorua District Court. Photo / Andrew Warner
Warning: Distressing content
A repeat sex offender who was "trolling" Instagram and Facebook to offer young girls money for sex has been jailed for four years.
Alexander William Power, 28, appeared before Judge Paul Mabey for sentencing in the Rotorua District Court today.
In August, Power admitted a raft of new charges relating to offending in 2019 and 2020, including three counts of possessing objectionable material, three counts of distributing an objectionable publication, one count of indecent communication with a young person under 16, one count of dealing in people under the age of 18 for sexual exploitation, and four counts of failing to comply with reporting obligations under the Child Sex Offender Register.
The charges relate to possessing and distributing objectionable child pornography - including images showing the rape and torture of babies, infants and young children.
Power is not a first-time offender as he was convicted in 2013 of 21 charges relating to sexual grooming and sexual connection with young girls mainly around the Tauranga and Coromandel areas.
He was jailed for two years and 11 months and was released in 2017, later moving to Tūrangi.
In court today, Crown lawyer Sam Bird argued Power should serve at least half of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
He said Power had shown a lack of insight and empathy in relation to the offending.
"This is someone who needs to have a firm hand ... because so far punishments haven't worked, he hasn't developed any insight into his behaviour."
But Judge Mabey said how much of his sentence Power served would be determined by the parole board and did not impose a minimum imprisonment period.
The judge sentenced Power to a total of four years and 10 months' prison.
This included concurrent prison terms of two years for the possession of objectionable material charges, two years for distribution charges, one year for the indecent communication charge and six months for the four charges of failing to comply.
Mabey said Power was a high-risk reoffender.
He quoted a report which said Power "showed a lack of appreciation of the harm the offending had produced or any remorse for his offending".
Power attributed his offending to "being bored during lockdown and really having nothing better to do".
"Until such time you deal with whatever drives you to offend ... you are at high risk of reoffending," Judge Mabey said.
The judge did not outline the details of Power's latest offending but a police summary of facts previously released to the Rotorua Daily Post contains the details.
On June 8, 2020, authorities received a report from Netsafe about a 14-year-old girl who was the first victim of his latest offending, the summary said.
She had been communicating with Power, posing as a fictitious woman, on Instagram. Power asked the teen to flirt with a "boy", which she agreed to do.
The teen then received text messages from a person, who was in fact Power.
The text conversation included messages asking if the teen liked older guys. The teen said she was in love with someone else and Power asked the teen how she felt about keeping "feelings out of it babe" and just flirting "and I'll pay you for fun".
Power then texted that he'd pay the teen $200 if they met up.
He then asked her if she was a virgin and when she replied yes, he asked her how far she had been. When she said everything apart from "that" he said, "Aww yeah, that's all good, we can work with that x".
The following day, the text messages were reported to Netsafe by the teen's father.
On June 8, Power sent a message to 25 different cell phone numbers which said: "Hey are you around friday night for some fun 200 is yours baby".
In July 2020, Facebook sent a report about chats on Messenger between an account belonging to Power, and a 15-year-old.
In the chats, Power discussed meeting to exchange sexual activity. The teen also sent Power videos of an explicit nature in exchange for money.
Power disclosed in the chats he sent $30 five times but then he stopped because the teen didn't meet him when he requested.
"You should be straight up ... and tell me your (sic) using me or your shy then I'll transfer the money," Power messaged the teen.
He then asked: "Do you have any mates that would be down to f*** for money any age babe .... Any age from 12 to 30 do you know anyone xx".
The summary said Power's offending relating to child pornography related to a significant New Zealand online Child Sexual Exploitation Material inquiry managed by the Department of Internal Affairs in connection with the Digital Exploitation Team, New Zealand Customs Service and New Zealand Police.
The Department of Internal Affairs received a report in October 2019 which identified a URL associated with the provider Mega.nz that was operated by Power.
The contents of the URL returned several folders containing child abuse content, including a series that had footage of violent and sexual abuse of very young children including infants and babies.
A similar URL was also being investigated by the Digital Exploitation Team and in May 2020 a zip file for the Mega.nz account belonging to Power found 686 files that included 178 images and 508 videos.
These showed indecent assaults, sexual violation by rape, sexual violation by unlawful connection and torture of many babies, infants and young children.
Power's house in Tūrangi was searched in September 2020 and his electronic devices were seized. On his computer, there were 230 images and 16 videos showing child abuse and exploitation.
Further investigation found two Mega links containing child abuse and exploitation material were sent by Power via a messenger service in September and November 2019.
Power admitted using the Mega.nz account to view the content but denied viewing content of babies and infants. He also admitted to sending the links to others.
When Power was released from prison in March 2017, he was taken through the obligations of reporting under the Child Protection (Child Sex Offender Government Agency Registration) Act 2016.
He signed the conditions which said he had to make annual reports, had to notify authorities if he changed his phone numbers and any online accounts including service providers, gaming and online storage accounts.
When interviewed by police, Power said he couldn't recall specifically communicating with the teens but admitted the social media profiles belonged to him.
In general, the summary said he admitted "trolling" social media platforms to communicate with young people aged 13 and over.
He admitted offering them money but said he didn't meet up with them in person.
In regard to breaching his reporting obligations, he said he thought he had disclosed all he was required to do but admitted there were several email addresses that were not disclosed.
SEXUAL HARM - DO YOU NEED HELP?
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone contact the Safe to Talk confidential crisis helpline on:
• Text 4334 and they will respond
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• Visit https://safetotalk.nz/contact-us/ for an online chat
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been abused, remember it's not your fault.
One man is charged with manslaughter, and another with being an accessory after the fact.