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A Hamilton IT manager has admitted to possessing and sharing child exploitation files.
Matthew Daniel Gregory, 33, was sentenced to three years and nine months behind bars after an investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua’s (DIA) Digital Child Exploitation Team.
He pleaded guilty to 19 chargesrelated to distributing and possessing child sexual exploitation and abuse files.
DIA started an investigation after receiving 19 reports from the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) between August 2021 and May 2023.
These reports came from a range of social media platforms linked to accounts later attributed to Gregory.
On November 16, 2023, a search warrant was executed at the 33-year-old’s address and several devices belonging to Gregory were seized for forensic examination.
A Department of Internal Affairs investigation into a Hamilton man has led to him being sentenced to more than three years in prison. Photo / 123rf
During the search and while being formally interviewed, Gregory admitted his offending and creating fake profiles to avoid detection when sharing the material.
Forensic analysis found 1067 objectionable publications in the form of child sexual exploitation material, which exploited the sexual abuse and harm of real children on three of his devices, while other material showed adult bestiality and computer-generated abuse and exploitation of children.
In April last year, during the investigation, a further 11 tips from NCMEC were related to Gregory for offending between August 2021 and March 2023.
“The department and its partners, across Aotearoa and overseas, are committed to protecting children and prosecuting anyone involved in their harm,” DIA’s Digital Child Exploitation Team manager Tim Houston said.
“When offenders share this horrific material, they contribute to a cycle of abuse.
“Stopping that cycle is at the heart of what we do.”
Gregory has been placed on the child sex offender register and DIA said all devices involved in the offending will be destroyed.
Last year, 69 investigations were made by the Digital Child Exploitation Team into child exploitation and helped to safeguard 14 New Zealand children from harm, DIA said.
