The US deals effectively with paedos, NZ…not so much.

The NZ Herald today is singing the praises of a kiwi cop that helped the FBI catch an American paedophile that had amassed a huge collection of violent child abuse images.

The perp has just been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole. Great result. Good to know the US takes these matters very seriously.

Contrast that to a case in 2010 when the FBI caught a Kiwi paedophile who’d amassed a huge collection (300,000) of pornographic images, many of them of children.

The prominent “Manawatu Man”, as he came to be known, was sentenced to 4 months home detention and given name suppression. It was no surprise that the sentence was handed down by a Palmerston North court, but the reasoning behind the decision may astound you, the judge said

“In this case there is no offending against any individuals within the New Zealand community. Therefore publicity in my view is not required to flush out any potential offenders or to enable members of the community to keep themselves safe from you.”

Just another example of New Zealand’s double standards protecting people in positions of infulence, or a failure to acknowledge the harm that child abusers create? Its little wonder that the child abuse figures are so high in New Zealand.

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Name suppression of prominent Manawatu man condemned by child advocacy group (Feb 2010)

…Crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk said granting name suppression could be seen as protecting a person in a privileged position. He also disputed the need to protect the man’s children as they were well informed about the offending. If he feels so strongly why does he do us all a favour and appeal the court’s decision? One has to wonder just what the offender’s profession was.

Now a child advocacy group Stop Demand has stepped in to condemn the suppression:

“Today Stop Demand’s founder, Denise Ritchie, said the man’s sexual interest in young girls and his prolific appetite for more and more images contributed directly to market forces of demand and supply, leading to more children being violated and degraded.

“Yet Judge Fraser’s decision suggests that if you participate in and fuel the global sexual exploitation of children but you are a prominent member of the New Zealand community, the courts will protect your interests.

“This is a disappointing and unacceptable message from our courts,” she said.

Naming offenders removed the shroud of secrecy under which they lurked, and increased their future accountability, Ms Ritchie said. It acted as a deterrent to others.

“The public, particularly caregivers and children, are entitled to know who these offenders are.
“The fact that the court places more weight on the personal circumstances of ‘prominent’ offenders, than on the serious issue of child sexual exploitation and its long-term impact on victims, is disturbing,” she said.

Ms Ritchie described the sentence and anonymity as an insult to the man’s victims, “all of whom will live the rest of their lives without anonymity, fully identifiable to sexually aroused predators”.

“If we are to make significant inroads into stopping this modern-day sexual abuse of children here and overseas, we must crack down heavily on those who fuel demand for such material,” she said.”

New Zealand is fast becoming a safe haven for any sexual offender who is even remotely in the public eye. Not only will they have their name suppressed but they can also pretty much get off with little or no punishment if they whine loudly enough.

Take the case of the “NZ muso” who assaulted a young girl pleaded guilty and got nothing more than a slapped wrist in case it damaged his career in some way in the future. Even though most of New Zealand now knows the man’s identity the name suppression order still stands… read on