Jailed for child sex abuse pictures

A 38-year-old Wanganui man was jailed for 11 months when he was resentenced on 10 charges of possessing objectionable publications – pictures of children being sexually abused by adults.

Terrence Paul Cavanagh, was originally sentenced in June 2007 to community work and supervision for the offences. Judge John Clapham warned him then that imprisonment would result if he breached the terms of the sentence.

In Wanganui District Court (eds:last week April 18) Judge Michael Radford resentenced Cavanagh to nine months' jail on the possession charges plus two months for breaching the original sentence.

Internal Affairs Deputy Secretary, Keith Manch, said a Department inspector discovered Cavanagh offering objectionable material on the Internet in January 2006. He was traced to a Wanganui boarding house where his computer system was found to have contained over 65,000 image files, more than 1800 of them objectionable.

"Cavanagh's jailing is a timely reminder of the seriousness of such offending," Keith Manch said. "The trade in child sex abuse images exists only because such people provide a market.

"In 2005 Parliament toughened the sentences for these types of offences and just a month ago another offender was jailed for five years for collecting and distributing child sex abuse pictures.

"Our team of inspectors constantly monitor the Internet and are part of the worldwide fight against this trade. It is only a matter of time before offenders receive a visit from our team."