Peter Leslie Sinclair, 65, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after earlier pleading guilty to making an intimate visual recording, sharing an objectionable publication and possessing objectionable publication.
The court heard that Sinclair came to police attention in early 2023, and on November 16 last year his devices were searched.
Police found two covert photos taken at Moana Pool of a man in a shower and the same man getting dressed.
Further analysis of Sinclair’s devices revealed he had copy and pasted a child exploitation video in a group chat named "Gay Pedo Base".
It was estimated the boy in the video was between 6 and 10.
Sinclair had also stored two other child exploitation videos of a child aged 6 to 10.
He admitted to having the objectionable publications but thought he had deleted them.
Counsel Meg Scally said the video her client copied already existed in the group chat.
"It’s reigniting it in terms of its placement in the group, but he hasn’t added anything that wasn’t already there," she said.
She highlighted that Sinclair’s offending lasted less than a month before disengaging.
Ms Scally said the defendant had been "groomed into this group" of people sharing child exploitation material.
"He quickly appreciated that this was not what he initially thought it was and was able to pull himself out of that group very quickly," she said.
Sinclair had no criminal history and wrote a remorseful letter to the court.
He had underlying mental health struggles which indirectly contributed to his offending.
"It will be a significant fall from grace," Ms Scally said.
Sinclair’s partner was aware of his crimes and he was assessed as being at a low risk of reoffending in a similar way.
Judge David Robinson stressed the harm that child exploitation material caused.
"The mere fact that this material exists in the first place means young children have been sexually abused," he said.
"For the brief period that you were involved in this, you were complicit in the abuse of these children."
The judge did not accept the defendant’s claim to probation that he unknowingly shared a video in a group chat to "fit in" with others in it.
Judge Robinson accepted Sinclair was remorseful and likely had not perpetuated the material to a very high degree.
He sentenced Sinclair to nine months’ home detention and 150 hours’ community work.
Sinclair was not placed on the Child Sex Offender Register.
"The risk is at such a low level that it is not necessary," Judge Robinson said.
