Police are relieved they have brought to an end an alarming trail of child sex offending with the jailing today of a Hawke's Bay paedophile.
Aaron Ellmers, 41, of Hastings, was sentenced to preventive detention with a minimum term of imprisonment of 20 years when he appeared in the Napier High Court today for sentencing on a raft of child sex offences. Ellmers admitted the charges in February. He was part of an international paedophile ring that was smashed by police last year.
Officer in charge of the case, Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Greig of the Eastern Child Protection Team, said Ellmers' offending was some of the worst police had encountered and there was huge relief he could no longer inflict harm on more children.
"Ellmers was a very cunning and manipulative paedophile who had no regard for his victims or their families. Often police are the only voice for child sex abuse victims and in this case, we can express great satisfaction on behalf of the families that this man will be behind bars for a very long," Mr Greig said.
A joint police approach to uncovering sex offenders had contributed to today's successful conviction and sentencing. A joint investigation by the Eastern District Child Protection Team and the specialist police unit OCEANZ (Online Child Exploitation Across New Zealand) had proved highly successful.
"Our response to child sex offending is very comprehensive and is focussed on prevention. We're continuously reviewing and adapting our investigative techniques to address any advances in technology that might provide sex offenders with more opportunities to offend. With a joint approach between districts and OCEANZ, we have an increasing range of resources that can be effectively used to investigate the sexual abuse of children," Mr Greig said.
"Child sex offenders should be put on notice that our approach to this type of crime is proactive. We are actively seeking out those individuals who would offend against our most vulnerable members of society. We intend to hold offenders to account and most importantly, deny them further opportunities to harm more victims."
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*Any media inquiries to Eastern District Communications Manager Kris McGehan on 06 8310786 or 027 2223638.