20 July 2011

The ruling by the Court of Appeal, released today, to give permanent name suppression to a man who fuelled demand for child rape images, has angered advocacy group Stop Demand Foundation.

Stop Demand’s founder Denise Ritchie said that the precedent from such a high-standing court in New Zealand was a big blow for child rape victims here and around the world.

The 50-year-old Rangitikei man had been found in possession of some 100 images and movies, together with 900 pages of text describing bestiality, incest and other sexual violations on children. The images, which depicted violent sex acts including pack rape on children from toddlers to teens, some of whom were bound and gagged while being raped by men, were downloaded off the internet over a two and half year period.

Last December the offender was sentenced to a paltry six months’ home detention and fined $5250, despite facing up to five years imprisonment. The man appealed a decision to lift interim name suppression, arguing that hurt to his family would outweigh the public interest.

In a very disappointing decision, the Court of Appeal agreed.

“It seems the Court of Appeal had more regard for this sex offender and his family than the countless numbers of child rape victims and their families”, says Denise Ritchie. “These victims will be identifiable. They will live the rest of their lives without anonymity, with the knowledge that predators who fuel the demand for their images do so in order to replay their rape and degradation for their own sexual excitement and release.”

”These offenders operate in secrecy. Ongoing secrecy through name suppression is not a signal that should be coming from our courts. Naming offenders increases their future accountability to others. It reflects the gravity of offending and hopefully acts as a deterrent to others. The public, particularly caregivers and children, are entitled to know the identity of people who have a sexual interest in the rape, pack rape, binding and gagging of children. The fact that the New Zealand Court of Appeal is willing to show such leniency to this man and his family is a slap in the face to child victims of rape and sexual exploitation. Hurt to family members is a given with every crime and something he should have thought about prior to his offending.”

“If we are to make inroads into stopping this modern-day sexual abuse of children here and overseas, we must work to stop the demand for such images. This Court of Appeal decision goes against international efforts to crack down harder on offenders,” says Denise Ritchie.

ENDS

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