A Napier man who possessed hundreds of photos and videos of children being sexually abused has been sentenced to 10 months' home detention.
Richard Turner admitted to the Department of Internal affairs his "problems" with the child abuse content extended back for 20 years.
The 49-year-old pleaded guilty to the charge in Napier District Court, admitting possessing 363 images and videos of pre-teens, some where they were posed sexually and others where they were engaged in sexual activity with other children as well as adults.
He told the Department of Internal Affairs he was relieved to have been caught because he "didn't know how to seek help", the Department said in a statement after the sentencing.
He's since sought counselling, which is included as part of his sentence. His sentence also prevents him from contacting anyone under 16 without an informed adult present, and he can't have an internet-capable device without permission from a probation officer.
Stephen Waugh, the Department's Censorship Compliance Unit manager, said this kind of child abuse won't stop until people stop viewing it.
"Collecting and viewing this material is not passive offending and it is not a victimless crime. It condones the abuse children suffer to satisfy the market for these images," he said.
"If those who are fuelling this abuse really want to remove themselves before we intervene, they only need to look for local treatment providers, specialist therapists, or to organisations such as Safe Network, Stop and Well Stop."
Turner was eventually caught after an online video chat service reported his activity.
Newshub.