A top New Zealand ex-police official pleads guilty to viewing child sexual abuse material at work

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – Nearly six months after he quit his job, a disgraced former senior New Zealand police official pleaded guilty on Thursday to viewing child sexual abuse material and other illegal content while at work.

The case against the country’s second-highest ranking officer has prompted scrutiny for law enforcement and an independent review of the security measures on police technology. A report has urged police to bolster monitoring of staff internet use, filtering mechanisms for harmful content and oversight of agency devices.

Jevon McSkimming, 52, did not speak during the hearing at the Wellington District Court or comment on his case afterwards, New Zealand news outlets reported. His lawyer entered the plea to counts of possessing the illegal material, which he accessed on his work phone and laptop.

Until May, McSkimming had been the country’s Deputy Police Commissioner since 2023. He quit after an investigation into his internet use uncovered the illegal images.

Court documents said that since July 2020, he had accessed hundreds of child sexual abuse photographs and images through Google searches, including real, artificially generated and cartoon pictures. He also sought illegal sexual content involving animals.

About a third of his total internet searches during work hours in the four and a half year period that was investigated were of a pornographic nature, investigators found.

New Zealand’s police chief, Commissioner Richard Chambers, described McSkimming’s conduct as disgraceful and shameful, saying it went “against the core values” of police.

“I will not allow this to tarnish my staff, who are as appalled by this as I am,” Chambers said.

The investigation into McSkimming’s internet use began as investigators probed a separate complaint against him by a member of the public. The outcome of that inquiry has not been made public.

McSkimming, a police officer since 1996, was suspended on full pay in December 2024. According to court documents, he became aware of the investigation into his internet use in March and admitted to two colleagues that he had found ways to circumvent police computer system blocks to access sexual content.

He is due to be sentenced in December. The charges carry up to 10 years in prison.