A Customs investigation has resulted in jail time for a 33-year-old man.

The New Zealand man was sentenced on Monday, March 4,  to four years and four months’ imprisonment in the Auckland District Court for 32 charges relating to the possession and sharing of objectionable material including those depicting child sexual abuse.

The man had uploaded, or exported, a significant number of images and videos depicting child sexual abuse, and bestiality involving both adults and children, to an overseas based social media platform.

These uploads were detected by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a US-based non-governmental agency, which alerted Customs to the offending.

Further enquiries led to Customs identifying the man’s home address.

On February 2, 2022, Customs executed a search warrant in Mount Wellington, Auckland, and he was arrested on site.

Three electronic devices were recovered.

Analysis by Customs electronic forensic investigators found objectionable material on all the seized devices, some of which had been shared with other users of an online messaging app.

The man was found to be an active member of multiple online groups where members would share publications depicting extreme sexual acts, including many involving animals.

Child Exploitation Operations Team chief customs officer Simon Peterson says Customs is committed to identifying individuals at the earliest opportunity to disrupt this type of offending.

"The fact this material is shared online does not reduce its impact on the victims – it is all abuse, with children re-victimised every time material showing their abuse is viewed and shared, and the demand this offending then creates for new images and new victims."