Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
A man who took photos of naked children in changing rooms across Nelson and Marlborough and went on to perform an indecent act in front of two young boys, has been sent to prison for four years.
The 48-year-old man,was sentenced in the Nelson District Court on a representative charge of possessing objectionable publications with knowledge and four charges of doing an indecent act for offending which occurred between 2018 and 2021.
He was declined permanent name suppression, but his interim name suppression was extended for another 28 days to allow for an appeal to be filed.
The father of one his victims told the court that the man's behaviour had a profound effect that was hard to describe.
His son, who was 10 years old at the time of the offending, had gone from being a happy, sociable child who never had a reason to be scared of anyone - to being guarded and felt unsafe walking to school on his own.
The man's denial of the charges for two years further compounded the damage.
"[He] has not only corrupted the innocence of a child by committing this crime, but he has also exacerbated the trauma by making our son feel that his integrity is being questioned and that telling the truth may not be the right thing to do."
The court heard how the man took covert photographs of children in the changing rooms of two recreational facilities in Nelson and Blenheim in 2018 and 2019. He was trespassed from of those facilities. He then went on to commit an indecent act in the changing room of another facility in 2021.
That same year, objectionable images showing naked children were discovered on the man's laptop while it was being repaired and the matter was reported to police.
Crown prosecutor Jeremy Cameron said the man's offending was persistent and spanned five years, over which time it had escalated in seriousness.
"This is not fleeting or one off behaviour...[he] has habitually been engaging in harmful sexual behaviours towards children."
There were only two known victims, and two other children the man had taken photos of were not able to be identified.
"He has gone from possessing images of naked children, to creating images of naked children, to outright [indecency] with naked children."
The man had autism, and Cameron disagreed with the defence position that a discount for his diagnosis was appropriate.
"There is no evidence before the court that people with Asperger's Syndrome are somehow more inclined to offend sexually against children."
Cameron argued the man remained a threat to the community at large as he had no insight into the offending and denied exposing himself. He had previous convictions for possessing objectionable material between 2008 and 2010.
"He has preyed on the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society and he has done so when they have been unsupervised and in a state of undress."
Defence lawyer Steven Zindel said the man originally disputed some of the facts in the case, which is why he originally plead not guilty. He had also gone "down a rabbithole" when downloading images and had ended up with some "particularly yucky" ones.
Zindel said a prison sentence was likely to make his condition worse and argued home detention was appropriate.
Judge Tony Zohrab said it was clear the man knew what he was doing was wrong as he had filmed the children covertly. The man had denied having any sexual interest in young children when interviewed by a psychologist and it had taken him a long time to accept responsibility for his offending.
Judge Zohrab said every parent who had taken their child to a recreational facility would feel sickened by what had occurred and that a sentence of home detention would not be appropriate in this case.
"This sexual offending occurred at an important developmental stage for [the victims] and their understanding of sexual matters has been tainted by this experience and the effects upon them endure.
"I hope that you are able to, for a moment, stop feeling sorry for yourself and perhaps reflect on what you have done and how it must have affected these children."
In sentencing, Judge Zohrab gave the man a 15 per cent discount for his guilty pleas and a 10 percent discount for his background and adversity.
The man will be automatically added to the Child Sex Offender Register.
Where to get help:
Victim Support 0800 842 846
Rape Crisis 0800 88 33 00
HELP Call 24/7 (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): 04 801 6655 - push 0 at the menu
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) 022 344 0496