Ty-Rae Zachary Cherry was jailed for three years and two months when he appeared in the Dunedin District Court in December 2022 on 15 objectionable-publication charges.
At a parole hearing at Rolleston Prison last month, the board heard the inmate was scheduled to be assessed for specialist sex-offender therapy in September.
But panel convener Martha Coleman expressed some reservations about that course of action.
"The board agrees there are issues as to whether it would be appropriate for Mr Cherry to undertake that programme with older participants. We are also mindful that the other participants on that programme are likely to be people who have been convicted of serious sexual offending involving actual contact with young children.
"When that assessment takes place, we trust that factor will also be taken into account," she said.
Customs officials raided Cherry’s St Kilda home in March 2022 after a tip-off from US authorities.
The man immediately admitted he had been looking at the illicit material for more than a year and knew it was “bad".
Cherry had established an account on a social media platform in December last year and within a week he was involved in the illicit trade of child-sex files, the court heard.
Cherry would send the material — featuring children as young as 3 — to other users around the globe and also chatted with some of them.
Over five weeks, he distributed 137 images and videos and was found in possession of 506.
The Parole Board urged Cherry to make inquiries about possible treatment options in the community.
It scheduled another hearing in two months.
