(dpa) - A New Zealand computer technician was sent to prison Thursday for five years for possessing and distributing pornographic pictures of children, including babies being raped.
Officials said the sentence for Stephen John Laing, 25, was the longest for the crime imposed in New Zealand.
When Laing pleaded guilty to 56 charges in Waitakere District Court near Auckland, it was said to be his fourth conviction for similar offences, and the judge said he was a "serious and persistent offender over a lengthy time who encouraged others to commit offences against children."
"Laing's continued offending indicated significant depravity with pictures of children as young as 6 weeks through to 12 years," said Keith Manch, deputy secretary of the Department of Internal Affairs, which monitors the internet for such crimes.
Manch said the previous heaviest sentence was three and a half years in prison, imposed in October 2005 after parliament increased penalties for child pornography.