Copyright independent
A former top police official has pleaded guilty to viewing child sex abuse material at work, along with other illegal content. Jevon McSkimming, 52, was New Zealand’s deputy police commissioner from 2023 until May this year, when he quit after an investigation uncovered the illegal images. He did not speak during the hearing at Wellington District Court and did not comment afterwards, local media outlets reported. His lawyer entered guilty pleas on counts of possessing the illegal material, which McSkimming accessed on his work phone and laptop. Court documents said that since July 2020, McSkimming had accessed hundreds of child sexual abuse photographs and images through Google searches, including real, artificially generated and cartoon pictures. He also sought illegal sexual content involving animals. About a third of his total internet searches during work hours in the four-and-a-half year period that was investigated were of a pornographic nature, investigators found. The case has prompted scrutiny for law enforcement and an independent review of the security measures on police technology. A report has urged police to bolster monitoring of staff internet use, filtering mechanisms for harmful content and oversight of agency devices. New Zealand’s police chief, Commissioner Richard Chambers, described McSkimming's conduct as disgraceful and shameful, saying it went “against the core values" of police. “I will not allow this to tarnish my staff, who are as appalled by this as I am,” Chambers said. The investigation into McSkimming’s internet use began as investigators probed a separate complaint against him by a member of the public. The outcome of that inquiry has not been made public. McSkimming, a police officer since 1996, was suspended on full pay in December 2024. According to court documents, he became aware of the investigation into his internet use in March and admitted to two colleagues that he had found ways to circumvent police computer system blocks to access sexual content. He is due to be sentenced in December. The charges carry up to 10 years in prison.
