Pedo dad jailed for sexually abusing, "selling" 13-month-old son (South Canterbury, New Zealand)

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http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8758506/Father-jailed-for-selling-son

Father jailed for abusing, 'selling' infant son

Last updated 15:47 05/06/2013

A paedophile has been jailed for sexual offending against his infant son.

The 27-year-old South Canterbury man was sentenced in the Oamaru District Court this afternoon to eight years and 10 months' jail by Judge Joanna Maze for offending that will have a profound effect on his child.

The man sat motionless in the dock as he was sentenced on a raft of pornography charges, including two of sexual violation and indecent assault, and selling the use of his then 13-month-old son for sexual gratification for $500.

A minimum non-parole period of five years was imposed.

He was granted permanent name suppression to protect the identity of his victim.

The charges also included eight of doing an indecent act, 15 of making, possessing and distributing objectionable material, and breaching a restraining order.

The child is in the care of his mother.

Judge Maze said the offender had offered pictures and videos of him exploiting his child in trade for photos of sexual offending against young girls.

Police found 815 objectionable images on his computer and 84 videos.

The man admitted his offending to police when questioned last July and later went back to the police and thanked them for saving his life.

The offender tried to take his own life before the charges were laid.

He said he could not identify any triggers that had led to the offending against his child.

"You were the one person that he was entitled to think would protect him,'' Judge Maze said. ''How does a 13-month-old child protect himself? He can't. He can't even make a complaint.

"The harm to the victim is difficult to quantify. The big difficulty will be keeping your part in his life from him as he grows up. There will be distress when he discovers the truth.''

He had traded his son like a commodity, she said.

"It is degrading and cruel. You created a trading commodity so you could get pornographic film back,'' she said.

Crown prosecutor Andrew McRae said the offending included recording by video and photographing his sexual offending against his son and using the internet to distribute the material.

The offender was given a three-strike warning.

He was caught in a bust of a North Island paedophile sting involving Aaron John Ellmers at the start of the year after New Zealand police infiltrated an international "spider web" of child abusers.

Ellmers offered $500 for sexual gratification with the man's son and had flown across the country to abuse the boy, but was arrested before he had the chance.

Police said the case showed parents needed to be aware of the dangers their children faced online.

Detective Sergeant Dan Keno said working on the Ellmers case had been challenging but also rewarding.

"It has been personally rewarding for me to work on a case where a key outcome is that a young child now has a positive future in a safe environment,'' he said.

''I chose to investigate these crimes because I find it personally rewarding to put paedophiles in jail.

"It is a difficult job and it does take a personal toll.

''The role demands that you get close to people so they can trust you. ''You've really got to care about the victims to do your job well."