Source: Radio New Zealand
Tokoroa District Court, Waikato. Google Maps
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A Tokoroa man has been sentenced to nearly 5 years imprisonment for possession and distribution of objectionable material, including bestiality-related abuse and content involving infants.
30-year-old River Nathanile Foster appeared for sentencing in Tokoroa District Court on Friday 10 April , after pleading to 15 representative charges for his distribution of over 8000 objectionable images and videos.
His imprisonment follows an investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs’ (DIA) Digital Child Exploitation team.
Among the material were files depicting severe child exploitation, including the sexual abuse and exploitation of young children and animals.
Investigators also found objectionable computer-generated imagery in Foster’s possession.
DIA said computer-generated content was becoming increasingly common among offenders.
“Computer-generated objectionable content is not a loophole, it is illegal and harmful. Distributing it to others, as happened here, fuels an ecosystem of exploitation and is deeply concerning,” Tim Houston, Manager Digital Child Exploitation Team, said.
The DIA said an investigation into Foster was launched after the Department received referrals from the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which indicated that he had uploaded child sex abuse files onto an online platform.
It said Foster was also detected re-offending while already under investigation by the Digital Child Exploitation team.
“This prosecution reflects the two enforcement actions taken in response to his continued offending.”
As part of Foster’s sentence, he will be registered as a child sex offender and all devices used during the offending will be destroyed.
The DIA said in 2024, the Digital Child Exploitation team conducted 69 investigations into child exploitation and helped to safeguard 14 New Zealand children from harm, while the Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System blocked over one million attempts to access websites hosting child sexual abuse material.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
