Former Maori Party candidate jailed for sex crimes

Kelvin Martin

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A former Maori Party candidate was jailed today for five years after being convicted of sexually violating a six-year-old student he groomed on the internet.

Kelvin Martin, who stood in the 2005 election at Te Atatu, was sentenced in the High Court in Auckland after being found guilty in October of sexually violating the girl and committing two indecent acts on her at his home in Massey, west Auckland.

Martin, 49, was given name suppression when he appeared in court last year, but that was lifted in Auckland District Court earlier this year.

He was found not guilty of an additional charges of filming child pornography.

During his trial, the High Court heard how Martin indecently assaulted the girl while she was in his care.

Martin has previous convictions for similar offences - last year he was found guilty of grooming a person under the age of 16 for sex and possessing objectionable material.

His initial arrest followed a sting operation where officers posed on the internet as children and talked with Martin.

Police discovered thousands of child porn images when they searched his house, car and office.

- NZPA