Taranaki man jailed over child sex images
A Taranaki man has been jailed on charges related to child sex abuse images – some of which he requested over Facebook.
Justin Andrew Robinson was handed a three-year prison sentence by Judge Gregory Hikaka in the New Plymouth District Court on Wednesday.
The court was told Robinson had used a smartphone to commit the acts, which included accessing images and videos of a higher level of sexual activity between adults and children. The offending occurred on two separate occasions, once in August, 2017, and again in April, 2018.
At a previous hearing, he admitted six charges of importing objectionable publications and one of exporting, four of possessing the material and one of supplying or distributing an objectionable publication.
However, the case had been deferred for a number of months while defence lawyer Julian Hannam explored the health of his client and any potential links this had to his offending. At the sentencing hearing, it was heard a general practitioner had determined Robinson suffered from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Hannam submitted the disorder, a result of exposure to alcohol while in the womb, had contributed to the offending. He said there had been an element of impulsiveness to Robinson’s actions – a symptom of FASD. It was also partly responsible for Robinson’s low intellect and alcoholism, he said.
Due to Robinson’s personal circumstances, Hannam argued for a reduced sentence.
But Crown prosecutor Justin Marinovich, on behalf of Customs New Zealand, said there was no link between the disorder and the offending.
Furthermore, Robinson’s diagnosis had been made by a general practitioner and not an expert in the field of FASD, he pointed out.
He argued there had been no element of impulsiveness and rather the crimes were premeditated. Marinovich said Robinson had sought out child exploitation images, requesting them through social media.
‘‘Anyone got any CP videos?’ Which obviously stands for child pornography videos,’’ he said of the requests Robinson posted to his personal Facebook page.
‘‘Clearly in terms of this offending there’s a degree of foresight and seeking out and trying to obtain these images.’’
Robinson was added to child sex offenders’ register. the