Summarised by Centrist
A Waikato father who filmed himself sexually abusing his five-year-old daughter and distributed the material to a paedophile in the United States has been jailed for just three years and 10 months.
The man recorded two assaults despite his daughter’s protests, then produced six shorter videos and 182 images. He offered to create further material “no matter how weird” the requests.
Police found 47 objectionable videos and 282 images on his phone, including material depicting the sexual violation of a newborn baby.
The man admitted 12 charges but described his offending as “a terrible misunderstanding”, saying a “deviant streak” had taken him too far “down the rabbit hole”.
Judge Kim Saunders adopted a starting point of five-and-a-half years, then reduced the sentence by 25% for his guilty pleas and another 5% for his prospects of rehabilitation.
“You were supposed to care and protect her,” Saunders told him. “Instead, you abused her.”
The Platform’s Michael Laws condemned the punishment, asking what someone receives for abusing his own five-year-old daughter, filming it and distributing the material overseas.
“What do you get?” Laws asked. “Three years, 10 months.”
According to Laws, the sentence means the offender could become eligible for parole after about one year and 10 months, although release would not be automatic.
Saunders, who was appointed to the District Court in 2015 by then Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson, also granted the offender permanent name suppression to protect his daughter’s identity.
