Sex offender tried to dupe police
A Tokoroa man jailed for possessing objectionable images of children tried to trick police when he handed over device passwords, the Stuff can reveal.
Steven Hope, 65, was jailed for two years and five months last week after pleading guilty to three charges that he ‘‘knowingly has possession of objectionable material – child exploitation’’.
It was also revealed at an earlier hearing he may have used ‘‘self-destruct’’ software to wipe images from a hard drive.
A police spokesperson told Stuff they cloned all of Hope’s devices, and that ‘‘he supplied passwords for all his electronic devices’’.
However, they also noted ‘‘upon further forensic analysis, police were able to determine that there was a second access code required to access the material’’.
‘‘Police took a sample size of material which the Crown and defence approved as sufficient to progress with the proceedings.’’
It was also revealed at his sentencing that Hope had previously volunteered at the YMCA, though it is believed this took place before his 2007 conviction for possessing objectionable material, and that a letter of support was filed with the court from someone at the organisation.
Current South Waikato YMCA general manager Julius Daniels said he had been involved in the organisation since 2013 and was unaware of Hope.
It was also revealed at sentencing that someone at the YMCA wrote a letter in support of Hope and his ‘‘positive contribution to society’’, something Daniels said the current leadership team supported’’.
He said they were ‘‘disgusted by the crimes he has committed’’.
Victoria University of Wellington lecturer in cyber security Dr Masood Mansoori told Stuff that software did exist to ‘‘self-destruct’’ content, though ‘‘they are not easy to find for an average user’’.
‘‘would not have
Mansoori also said that the use of such software could be detected by forensic analysis.
Stuff also filed an Official Information Act request on the number of registered sex offenders in Tokoroa, and while police were unable to give an answer they did note that, as of April this year, there are 197 registered persons in the wider Bay of Plenty district.