A 51-year-old Hamilton man has been charged with importing child sexual abuse publications after returning from a holiday last week.
He appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Friday, and further charges are likely, authorities said today.
The man was questioned and searched by customs officers on arrival at Auckland Airport last Wednesday after spending three weeks in Thailand, the agency said in a statement.
His USB storage device and tablet were searched and evidence of child sexual abuse images were found, NZ Customs alleges. A search of his home later that day also located a large number of child sexual abuse images and videos, the statement says.
Customs Investigations Manager Bruce Berry says customs takes child protection "very seriously" and actively targets the cross-border movement of child sexual exploitation material, including physically importing or carrying material across the border, or sharing images and videos across the cyber border.
"Child exploitation is a significant and growing threat to New Zealand, due to the increasing use of the dark web, live-streaming and cybersex trafficking, as well as an increase in the number of sex offenders who are travelling.
"It is important to understand this is not a victimless crime – the trade of child sexual exploitation material directly correlates to increased risks of physical abuse," Mr Berry said. "And each image or video is actually a crime scene of children being exploited and abused."
He said customs had "a small but dedicated team of specialist investigators and forensic experts" who were working to combat the "horrendous" crimes, as well as additional investment in Budget 2019 to further strengthen customs’ ability to identify and respond to child exploitation.
Budget 2019 allocated $10.2 million, over four years, to customs to enhance its services to combat child sexual exploitation throughout the country's cyber and physical borders.
So far this year, 11 people have been arrested or charged by customs for such crimes.
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