Stories from New Zealand, Germany, and UK (3) on Today's Global P&P List

Asperger's - license to molest children? - New Zealand
Buddhist Monk gets 8 years for CSA of little boys - Germany
Man get 11 years of live-streaming CSA from America - Wales
Man pleads not guilty to charges of multiple CSA of <7 y/o - England
59 y/o man avoids jail time after admitting making child porn - England

'Dark web' child pornographer Vincenzo Tyrone Wiremu
avoids jail because of Asperger's

Vincenzo Tyrone Wiremu traded images on the "dark web" of toddlers and prepubescent boys and girls suffering "gross" sexual abuse.

A judge has kept a 24-year-old child abuse pornography offender out of prison after learning of his struggles with Asperger's syndrome.

Instead, Vincenzo Tyrone Wiremu will be under intensive supervision for two years, with no access to the internet – where he had traded images on the "dark web" for years.

Christchurch District Court Judge Jane Farish described the images as "gross" when she sentenced the Rolleston truck driver on Wednesday.

DAVID HALLETT/FAIRFAX NZ

Judge Farish said the sentence was not "soft" on Wiremu, nor precedent-setting, but focused on rehabilitation.

The images ranged from toddlers to prepubescent boys and girls, sometimes posing or being subjected to sexual abuse including when gagged, tied or restrained.

Wiremu admitted 41 charges brought by Internal Affairs, of making, possessing or distributing objectionable material.

His offending was identified through a United States connection. It was referred to Internal Affairs in New Zealand, which executed a search warrant in April 2016.

Wiremu admitted using a "drop box" system where people could access the files. He voluntarily provided access to emails and other accounts he used. That included setting up a Facebook page called "young love" in which to place images.

Internal Affairs prosecutor Marty Robinson said the department was concerned about the large number of people – more than 100 – who accessed the distributed material and by the extreme nature of the abuse. The department called for a starting point of six years' jail, before other factors were considered.

Defence counsel Paul Johnson said that, after taking responsibility for the offending, Wiremu still had a significant amount of support from his family and employers, who were prepared to keep him on.

Judge Farish said the sentence she imposed was not her being "soft" on Wiremu, nor precedent-setting. She did not want to set a sentence that would "lose sight of rehabilitation".

She did not see him as a risk of causing serious harm, but he was a risk in terms of accessing computer systems. He had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, but he had achieved relatively well and had a full time job where he was well regarded.

He provided a market for child abusers, torturers, and rapists to sell their evil, and you don't see him as a risk of causing serious harm. He already has!

She told Wiremu: "Every image you viewed was of a person committing a crime against a young person. It caused long term physical and mental harm. It caused ongoing anguish."

She had read victim impact statements from people who were abused as children for online pornography and found they "re-abused" as adults because people continued to watch it.

"Social media have an obligation to remove or report images that are clearly objectionable," she said.

She had a report from a clinical psychologist who said Wiremu's Asperger's restricted his social skills and blocked access to same-age partners for social and sexual development. On his own, he discovered the available pornography online.

His condition led to poor social and communications skills, an inability so far to maintain any long-term relationships, negative emotions from experiencing social rejection and restricted problem-solving skills.

Special needs should be considered for sentencing, including the "delicate, fragile social connections" for a person with Asperger's.

Judge Farish said she accepted there was a diminished culpability because of Wiremu's Asperger's.

She saw a prison term as being counter-productive for Wiremu and for society. She said home detention would undermine the rehabilitative purpose of sentencing.

In what she termed an "unusual case", she sentenced Wiremu to two years of intensive supervision.

During this time he must access specialist counselling, not possess internet-capable devices without approval and live at an approved address.

He could not have contact with children aged under 16 without an approved adult present, until the issue was considered by the psychologist.

The judge did not order his registration as a child sex offender, because she said the "negative and restrictive nature of the Act" would compromise his treatment, and end his employment.

Judge Farish warned him that any breaches of the sentence would mean sending him to jail.

This might be the right call - I sure hope so! But it sure sends a poor message to other child porn addicted perverts.

Buddhist monk sentenced to almost 8 years in prison for sexually abusing boys

© Claro Cortes / Reuters

A Buddhist priest, convicted of over 25 counts of sexual abuse, has been sentenced to seven years and nine months behind bars in Germany. His victims over 15 years were seven boys, aged four to 13.

The 62-year-old man, identified as Hans D. [AP] or Genpo D. [Suddeutsche Zeitung] for privacy reasons, was convicted in Augsburg state court, the dpa news agency reported.

The monk also took pornographic photos of his victims, and possessed other child pornography, AP reported.

The man admitted to his crimes going back to 2001, so the case will be a speedy trial and it means that his victims won’t appear in court.

The Buddhist’s crimes were revealed in July 2016, when a woman reported to the Criminal Investigation Department. She claimed she had approached the clergyman because she was seeking help: her husband had died, and the priest offered his help. An affair began, but the priest abused her two sons. In particular, he repeatedly had oral intercourse with the children, and took obscene pictures using his smartphone, that “show off the naked sex parts,” according to the prosecution, as cited by Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

According to the judge, the Zen priest always applied the same tactic with the victims: he used his charismatic personality to force the children into being submissive. The relationship of trust that developed between the monk and the victims also played a special role, Judge Lenard Hoesch added.

The prosecution added that the priest had been looking specifically for minors in difficult situations. For example, one of the victims was a refugee boy whose father was murdered. In another case, it was a teenager with drug issues who had been sent to the Buddhist temple by his parents.

Photos from the courtroom showed the priest covering his face from the photographers.

Genpo D. suffered a stroke two years ago, and described this as a punishment from God, as reported by the Suddeutsche Zeitung. Witnesses in court said that the priest’s left arm often twitched.

The eventual sentence is 21 months longer than the defendant’s counsel had asked for.

Welsh man jailed for encouraging child sex abuse in US

From BBC South East Wales 

A former youth worker has been jailed for 11 years after viewing and encouraging sex attacks on children more than 3,500 miles away in America.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Darren Williams watched abuse on his computer in Blackwood, Caerphilly county.

While witnessing the abuse of a six year old the 44-year-old posted: "Prove the video is live and smack him".

He admitted encouraging or assisting the rape of a child and encouraging the distribution of indecent images.

He was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

The court heard he watched the live streams from Pennsylvania between July and October 2015.

The American man who hosted the chats was arrested in the US and handed a "substantial" prison sentence.

Williams was caught when police tracked the IP address of his computer.

'Sadistic pleasure'

Prosecutor Charlotte Newell said: "Children were being raped and forced to perform sex acts. "During the abuse the participators contributed to a rolling group chat that was visible to all."

The judge, Recorder of Cardiff Eleri Rees QC, said: "There was a man raping children with you encouraging him for your sexual gratification."

"You all shared responsibility for the undoubted psychological and physical harm done to the children.

"You had enthusiastic participation in the streaming of videos of young children being raped for the sexual gratification of men like you."

Speaking after the sentence, specialist CPS prosecutor Laura Tams said Williams had taken "sadistic pleasure in the pain and horrendous sexual abuse being inflicted on very young children".

She added: "The prosecution built a case which showed how by watching and encouraging the abuse from behind his computer screen, Williams was guilty of encouraging the rape thousands of miles away."

Well done, Prosecutor Newell!

Man denies sex abuse of child <7 y/o

Alison Phillips

A man who is accused of sexually abusing a boy under the age of seven is to face trial by judge and jury.

Daniel Davey is said to have repeatedly molested the youngster in the 18 months to the start of September last year.

The 20-year-old, of Highfield Road, Bradford on Avon, pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexual assault of a child when he appeared at Swindon Crown Court.

The court was told that two of the charges are 'multi-incident counts' which allege the activity took place on at least five occasions.

Judge Tim Mousley QC adjourned the case to September 18 and released Davey on bail until then.

South Ockendon man who admitted three counts of making child sex abuse images avoids prison

Katie Feehan

A man who admitted being found with images of young children being sexually abused has been handed a three-year community order.

Andrew Woods, 59, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children at Basildon Magistrates last month.

The court heard how officers, acting on intelligence, executed a warrant at the home of Woods in Tamar Drive, South Ockendon, in December last year.

Officers seized various computer equipment, including laptops and computer towers.

The investigation found 81 of the most serious category A films and images, 60 category B films and images and 71 category C films and images.

Woods, who was sentenced on July 6 at Basildon Crown Court, received a three-year community order and must sign the sex offenders register for five years.

He was also ordered to complete 60 days of rehabilitation and was made the subject of a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Following the sentencing Det Sgt Ashley Howard said: “Nothing is more important than protecting our children.

“That is why Essex Police has and will continue to proactively target those viewing, downloading or making indecent images of children.

“If you are committing this crime we will knock on your door and we will put you before the courts.”

Woods is one of more than 40 offenders arrested during a crackdown aimed at targeting offenders downloading, making and distributing indecent images of children online.

Over the last six months, using an intelligence-led approach, a dedicated team of specialist officers have targeted those carrying out this type of offence.

The team have worked alongside and in support of Essex Police’s existing specialist Police Online Investigation Team (POLIT) and Child Abuse Investigation Teams (CAIT).

The Lucy Faithfull Foundation is the only UK-wide child protection charity focused solely on preventing child sexual abuse. The charity runs Stop it Now! – a child sexual abuse prevention campaign and helpline

For more information on how Stop it Now! helps people address their online behaviour, please visit the website www.stopitnow.org.uk or call the confidential Stop it Now! Helpline on 0808 1000 900.