Auckland man jailed for child sexual abuse material
12.00pm 30 June 2026
A 30 year-old Auckland man was sentenced in the Manukau District Court yesterday (29 June 2026) to three years and seven months’ imprisonment after he was arrested by Customs officers and charged with importing, possessing and distributing objectionable publications. He was automatically registered as a Child Sex Offender.
The man arrived at Auckland International Airport on 14 February 2025 following a trip to Australia. Customs officers had identified him as a risk for online child sexual abuse material offending and located a total of 385 files depicting child sexual abuse in a protected application on his phone. He was arrested at the airport by officers from Customs’ Child Exploitation Operations Team and charged with importing objectionable publications.
Further forensic analysis of the man’s phone identified that since 2020 he had used multiple online accounts to store and share at least 754 objectionable files, all but one showing the sexual abuse of real children. The material included distressing videos involving infants, and totalled approximately 33 hours of footage.
In the first six months of 2026, Customs has charged fifteen people with importing or exporting offences involving objectionable publications, among other related charges. This is the same number of arrests Customs made for the same offending across the whole of 2025.
Chief Customs Officer - Child Exploitation Operations Team, Simon Peterson, said "Anyone intercepted moving such material across our borders, whether physically on devices or via the internet, should not be mistaken for being caught merely in possession of undesirable material: these are real children being terribly abused.
Importing or exporting child sexual abuse material across our borders contributes significantly to the global proliferation of this deeply troubling offending. This re-victimises those vulnerable children in the material who suffered the recorded abuse, and creates a sinister demand for more material, and more victims."
If you have concerns or suspicions about someone who may be trading in or producing child sexual abuse images or videos, contact Customs confidentially on 0800 WE PROTECT (0800 937 768) or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. If you are, or know of, someone who is at risk or being abused, contact the Police immediately.