Far North lawyer struck off for sharing child abuse images

Northland lawyer Vaughn Clement Hill was jailed in 2024 for possessing child sex abuse images. Photo: Open Justice

WARNING: This article discusses sexual exploitation and may be upsetting to some readers.

A lawyer caught with explicit images of children that he shared on social media has been banned from practising again, a move he did not challenge at a disciplinary hearing this week.

Vaughn Hill, 46, was previously the co-director of a Far North general practice law firm specialising in conveyancing, wills, enduring powers of attorney and small business transactions. He did not oppose the ban.

In September 2023, his career abruptly came to a halt when Customs searched his home, seizing electronic devices and arresting him.

According to a Customs statement, forensics specialists established he had shared child sexual abuse material on social media, which included depictions of bestiality, rape and torture.

His offending was discovered after Customs received a referral from the United States-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) after an overseas-based social media platform alleged a New Zealander had exported objectionable publications to its platform.

Hill had also been engaging in chatroom conversations about sexually abusing children.

He was charged with eight counts of possession, export and distribution of objectionable material and sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment in 2024.

His offending triggered the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal (LCDT) to investigate Hill’s fitness to practise as a lawyer.

On Tuesday, the tribunal decided his fate.

The hearing lasted seven minutes in the absence of Hill, who is still in prison and was represented by Matthew Mortimer-Wang.

"A strike off is the correct outcome," Mortimer-Wang submitted.

Tribunal chairman Dale Clarkson said from submissions filed, Hill had agreed to his acceptance of the charges and his unfitness to practise as a lawyer.

Accordingly, an order that Hill’s name be struck off the roll was made.