‘Unlawful’ pics sent to paedophile
Former school principal Bruce Darroch admitted to possession of child pornography, a court has heard – and that the parents of children whose photos he sent to a paedophile in the United States would be right to think he had exploited them.
At the third day of the trial of the former Te Waotu School principal, who has pleaded not guilty to six charges related to objectionable images of children and failing to assist police, a DVD of an interview between Darroch and Detective Sergeant Trevor Brown was shown to the court.
Referring to an online conversation between Darroch and a man in the United States he knew as ‘Administrator B’, Brown asked Darroch what he meant when discussing encryption attempts and saying, ‘‘I did have a bit of CP on there [a hard drive].’’
Asked whether CP stood for child porn, Darroch answered yes.
Further questioning by Detective Senior Sergeant John Michael, head of the Online Child Exploitation Across New Zealand police unit, about images found on a hard drive in the boot of his car prompted a further admission.
‘‘Would you acknowledge those images are unlawful,’’ said Michael.
‘‘Yes. . . I have to accept those have been found,’’ Darroch said.
Brown also questioned Darroch about other photos, not classified as objectionable, and stories that he shared with Administrator B.
‘‘Do you think the parents of these boys would think you’ve exploited them. ‘‘Yes, I do,’’ he said. As the DVD was shown the mother of one of the children could be heard crying in the gallery.
When asked about comments he had made online about a spy camera, telling Administrator B ‘‘spy camera, oh yeah, that’s happening,’’ he said that was simply fantasy conversation.
‘‘When you’re in these chat cycles, you go off on all sorts of tangents,’’ he said.
‘‘In the cold, hard light, when you see that, you think how did I say that?’’
Brown also told Darroch that police would be interviewing the boys identified in the photos he had sent online, asking whether he had had any physical contact with them, something he denied.
‘‘I know you probably hear that a lot,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m the first one on the phone [to Child Youth & Family] with any suspicions of abuse and neglect. . . I can look you in the eye and tell you I have never abused a child.’’
Michael referred to Darroch’s encrypted electronic devices, telling him that ‘‘the door was open’’ for him to provide police with the passwords, something he has declined to do.
Failure to provide passwords to a number of electronic devices prompted two charges of failing to assist police – charges that have a maximum penalty of three months imprisonment.
The trial concluded on Wednesday with Judge Tony Snell saying he would deliver his verdict on Tuesday, March 15. Darroch was released on bail to an address in Napier ahead of the verdict.