Prison for child porn charges
A Nelson man in possession of child pornography tried to thwart police by failing to give up his computer passwords during a search warrant.
Kenneth Lee Woodward, 32, appeared in the Nelson District Court on Tuesday to face sentencing on child pornography charges.
Woodward had previously pleaded guilty to representative charges for the possession and exportation of objectionable publications, and failure to carry out obligations in relation to a computer search.
Between September 9 and October 16, 2017, Woodward uploaded 63 files depicting the sexual exploitation of children to the online storage account Dropbox. The files were traced back to Woodward’s IP address where he had made the Dropbox Account from.
Woodward was also found to be in possession of 12 more objectionable publications, after authorities in Belgium investigated the source of another Dropbox link. A search warrant was carried out by police on February 15, 2018 at Woodward’s address, with police locating Woodward’s computer and cell phone.
Despite being asked multiple times, Woodward refused to provide officers the password to his devices, and did the same again with Customs officers four days later.
A subsequent analysis of Woodward’s cell phone and computer showed he had changed passwords and deleted accounts after the search warrant. While he had deleted the objectionable material from his computer, the examination confirmed the link between his Dropbox account and the objectionable material.
In his submissions, Lawyer John Sandston said Woodward felt remorse and shame for his offending, not only for the victims he would never meet, but also towards his family who had tried to help him.
Sandston said Woodward wanted to turn his life around, and had worked consistently to take those steps.
At the time of offending Woodward had been a registered Child Sex Offender, and had previously been convicted on related charges.
As an 18-year-old in 2005, Woodward had been convicted at the Nelson District Court of unlawful sexual connection with a 14-year-old girl. Sandston said Woodward had also experienced ‘‘tragic circumstances’’ during his childhood which may have contributed to his situation.
‘‘It doesn’t excuse his offending, but it is a factor.’’
In her submissions, Crown prosecutor Abigail Goodison objected to any discount given for remorse or childhood mental health issues.
Goodison said Woodward had been assessed in the pre-sentence report as being at high-risk of future offending, either contact or non-contact. She said there was no link between any childhood issues and the offending, and that Woodward had chosen not to make use of the ample support made available to him.
‘‘He’s said the right things, but he hasn’t done the right things.’’
She said while he had not had any contact with the victims, it was ‘‘far from a victimless crime’’.
‘‘The question needs to be asked, what is it going to be like for these children to become normal functioning adults knowing these images are out there?’’
Judge David Ruth agreed with Goodison, saying it would be inappropriate to provide a discount on those grounds. Judge Ruth sentenced Woodward to three years and four months in prison on both objectionable material charges.