A judge has sentenced an Auckland man to home detention for sending and possessing child sex abuse images as part of network of online offenders.
The man was caught in an international sting involving authorities in New Zealand and the United Kingom.
Auckland District Court denied the man name supression, but that decision is being appealed against.
An examination of the man's computer systems revealed hundreds of images of child sexual abuse.
The man was the first of six offenders caught, after a tip-off from Queensland police that a New Zealander was chatting online and sending images of very young girls performing sex acts.
The operation led to four arrests across the North Island and two in the United Kingdom, including a 62-year-old grandfather.