‘52 images, nine videos’
Police found Kingsford with two cellphones that had objectionable and child exploitation material.
There were 52 images and nine videos, with two in the most serious category, 1A, and 22 in 1B.
A further 26 images and videos were found in category 2A and eight that were 2B.
When questioned by police, Kingsford admitted downloading the content on both phones and knew it was illegal.
He said he purposely downloaded the content so that police would find it and did so because he was “miserable and deserved unhappiness”.
‘750,000 sexual predators online’
Court documents state there are more than 200 new child sexual abuse images circulated daily on the internet.
The number of sexual predators online at any one time was estimated at 750,000.
Demand for new child sexual abuse images resulted in a cycle of abuse for existing victims and demands for new ones.
The abused child carried that burden for the rest of their life, the documents say.
Kingsford, by possessing the imagery, directly contributed to the further revictimisation of those children.
There was also an increasing trend towards younger victims and greater brutality, with infants and toddlers being raped for the “enjoyment of viewers”.
Since 1997, the number of child pornography images on the internet has increased by 1500%.
‘Most serious’
Judge Noel Cocurullo labelled Kingsford’s offending as “most serious”.
He also noted Kingsford had been before the court on three or four occasions since first presenting a Section 27 report in February 2024.
Kingsford, through his counsel Jarom Keung, submitted a letter from his father outlining his “extremely difficult circumstances” growing up.
Given the repetitive nature and seriousness of his offending, Judge Cocurullo jailed Kingsford for 19 months.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 11 years and has been a journalist for 22.
