Child pornography conviction for Invercargill man

A second man in a week has been jailed for 20 months after trading child sexual abuse images on the internet.

Invercargill mechanic Leigh Jordens, aged 47, was sentenced by Judge Kevin Phillips in Invercargill District Court yesterday on 30 charges involving the distribution and possession of objectionable publications.

A Christchurch man received the same sentence last week for 10 similar charges.

Internal Affairs inspectors traced Jordens after being told of a New Zealander operating on an internet chatroom, said deputy secretary Keith Manch.

"When our inspectors visited Jordens they found evidence of hundreds of objectionable files on his computers and more than 42,000 files on discs," Mr Manch said.

"Over 15,000 of these were believed to be objectionable. They included the sexual abuse of girls aged six years or under."

He said the sentences handed down to the two men should serve as another warning that offenders risked jail "for perpetuating this trade".

Department investigators could uncover the most sophisticated attempts at concealment, he said.