A defence lawyer's efforts to "bring some balance" to a child pornography prosecution brought a sharp response from the crown at a sentencing where a judge jailed his client for two years.
Nicholas Doun Wogan, a 58-year-old sickness beneficiary, pleaded guilty in Christchurch District Court on Friday to 50 charges of importing objectionable publications into New Zealand,
The prosecution said that Wogan amassed 22,322 still images and 76 video files, and much of the material involved serious abuse, sometimes involving children as young as five.
His counsel Gerald Lascelles asked the court to bring some balance to the situation and not get carried away "on a tide of moralistic fervour".
He had downloaded some material.
"He's never bought any, never sold or distributed it to anybody, never shown it to anybody else, never made additional copies for distribution," Mr Lascelles said.
"This was from a site that was accessed 12 million times, from 144,285 different addresses, in 170 countries."
But Crown prosecutor Kathy Basire immediately replied: "These children do exist. They are not animations. They are real children being abused all around the world."
Judge David Holderness commented: "Some might say that the internet has done nothing for us."
Mr Lascelles acknowledged they were distasteful images but pointed out that New Zealand Customs had called its swoop Operation Sledgehammer, and accused the department of laying a large number of charges "simply to encourage heavier penalties".
He said prison was not an appropriate penalty for Wogan, of previous good character, who was in poor health.
He urged a sentence of home detention, arguing that a jail term would mean Wogan would lose his house and the progress he had made so far.
Miss Basire said: "Parliament has indicated that child pornography and downloading it is not something that society is willing to accept."
She said Wogan's offending was at a very high level. He had committed the offences over three years and he was seen as a moderate to high risk of re-offending.
The crown urged a starting point for sentencing of up to three-and-a-half years, citing the large number of files, the significant percentage that contained more serious abuse, the age of the children involved, and Wogan's collating and organisation of the material.
Judge Holderness jailed Wogan for two years, a term that allows home detention to be considered. But he said High Court judges had said home detention was inappropriate for the nature and seriousness of this type of offending.
He noted Wogan's state of health, with diabetes and depression, his references, and his ability to contribute as an orchestral musician.
"You are plainly an intelligent man and you have seen the wisdom of engaging in the Stop programme. I am afraid all these factors don't outweigh the very real need for deterrence in relation to this type of offending. Home detention would not be appropriate."
