New act helps crackdown against cyberbullying
A Horowhenua man who used social media to elicit nude photos from pre-teen girls is one of 22 cases prosecuted under a new act.
The Harmful Digital Communications Act was passed in July 2015, which meant civil and criminal action could be taken against harmful online behaviour.
Information released under the Official Information Act shows 22 cases were prosecuted under the new act between November 2015 and October 2016.
Seven of these resulted in imprisonment, three in home detention, 10 in community sentences, one led to a fine and one is to come up for sentence if called upon.
Netsafe legal adviser Ben Thomas said the act gave them the power to approach online agencies, like Trade Me and Facebook, and work with them about any harmful comments happening on their forums.
It also meant Netsafe could approach and contact the people who were making the comments.
Thomas said there could be remedies for people whose online behaviour caused emotional distress, but which was not at a level where there could be criminal prosecution.
Nationally, for the 12-month period ending September 2016, police said 154 people were charged for causing harm by posting digital communication.
Of those, six were from Manawatu, with nine in the Central District region. One of the Manawatu cases involved Brandon Kimuragregory, 24, who was sentenced in in July 2016 for two charges of having indecent communications with a young person.
His offending involved him using Instagram Chat to talk to two people online, with one a 12-year-old girl from Kansas and another a police officer pretending to be a 12-year-old girl.
He was sent a partly nude image of the girl from Kansas and sent sexually explicit images of himself to the two ‘‘girls’’.
Cybercrime unit supervisor investigative support Detective Sergeant Greg Dalziel said the new act filled a gap for investigators.
‘‘This co-operative approach allows police to focus on the most serious cases whilst retaining an overview of what is happening with victims.’’