Two years' jail for child sex abuse pictures

Downloading from the Internet images of children being sexually abused has resulted in a Hokitika man being jailed for two years.

Gilbert James Cooper, 65, retired, appeared for sentence in the Greymouth District Court today after pleading guilty to 21 charges involving the possession of and making objectionable publications.

Internal Affairs' censorship compliance manager, Steve O'Brien, said an Interpol tip that a New Zealander had tried to download an encrypted child sexual abuse video from a German web server led the Department to Cooper's home.

"The web browser on his computer was found to have been used extensively to visit, and download from, websites featuring the sexual exploitation of children and young persons," Steve O'Brien said. "They included a significant number of files featuring extreme sexual abuse of very young girls by adult males.

"It was conservatively estimated that Cooper had at least 9500 images and 245 video clips classed as objectionable.

"People who use the Internet to collect such material must take responsibility for the victimisation of the children abused for this trade. And they must also realise that there is a world-wide team tracking their activity on the Internet, so that it is only a matter of time before they get caught."