Today, the man pleaded guilty to one amended representative charge and the court heard the other 10 would be withdrawn by the Crown at sentencing.
The man’s lawyer, Todd Simmonds, KC, asked the judge to continue his client’s interim name suppression and indicated that he would be making an application for it to be permanent.
No conviction was entered as Simmonds said a bid for a discharge without conviction was also “likely to be advanced”.
Because the man’s identity remains secret, Judge Richard McIlraith said the media could not have a copy of the agreed summary of facts until sentencing.
He remanded the man on bail until a sentencing date in November.
In June, police announced that they were charging three “constabulary staff” for possessing objectionable publications following a “rapid” internal review of staff internet use.
One of the three, who has name suppression, first appeared in Wellington later that month, followed by stood-down Senior Sergeant Matthew Rogers who appeared in Manukau District Court.
Rogers did not seek name suppression at his first appearance and pleaded guilty to one representative charge of possessing an objectionable publication earlier this month.
The review follows the scandal, where former deputy police commissioner McSkimming was sentenced in December after admitting three charges of possessing objectionable publications, namely child sexual exploitation and bestiality material.
In a press release announcing the charges in June, Deputy Commissioner Tim Anderson said the police National Integrity Unit ran the investigations and screened a “significant volume” of web activity.
By then, police had investigated 22 cases, he said, and 12 were resolved internally. Four people had resigned in the process.
“Prosecution of our own staff is a serious but important step to take as it recognises the significance of the alleged offending that has been identified,” he said at the time.
Ella Scott-Fleming has been a journalist for three years and previously worked at the Otago Daily Times, Gore Ensign and Metro Magazine. She has an interest in court and general reporting. She’s currently based in Auckland covering justice related stories.
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