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Offender Databases Michael Rickard- Sims

Michael Rickard- Sims

Alias

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Offences

Possession of child pornography, some 200 images and videos including some of adults having sex with children and babies

Victims

.

Offender Affiliations

.

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1969

Current Location

At large - Palmerston North

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to to 8 months home detention and 150 hours community work in July 2008

Background
Manawatu Standard, Saturday, 19th July 2008
A Palmerston North man avoided prison "by a narrow margin" yesterday after pleading guilty to possessing hundreds of child porn images, supplied to him by a legless cerebral palsy sufferer. Police found about 2000 pornographic images and movies on discs and hard drives at the home of Michael Rickard- Sims, 39, on March 22, last year.

Many of the images were of adults having sex with children and babies. The Palmerston North District Court heard that when police executed a search warrant at the wheelchair-bound man's house three days earlier, he was at his computer looking at child pornography.

The man told police he had supplied Rickard-Sims with child pornography, which prompted the search of his house. Despite the disabled man admitting possessing and supplying objectionable images, Rickard- Sims's lawyer, Fergus Steedman, told the court he had not been charged. And given how much time had passed since the images were found, it seemed unlikely charges would be laid, Mr Steedman said.

He said Rickard-Sims became addicted to viewing child pornography and "increasingly desensitised" to the images. Mr Steedman said Rickard-Sims wanted to apologise to the court "for being so blase about the images I saw", and was now "horrified" by his actions. Judge Nevin Dawson told Rickard- Sims the community, especially children, needed protection from "the prurient and depraved interests of people such as yourself".

"A message needs to be sent that this offending can never be acceptable in our community," Judge Dawson said. People who view child pornography create a demand for images that leads to an increase the number of children who are sexually abused in order to create them, he said.

Judge Dawson said the nature of the images, the length of time Rickard-Sims had possessed them and the element of premeditation were all aggravating features of the offending. In mitigation, the judge noted his early guilty plea and remorse.

Judge Dawson said he had decided against sending Rickard- Sims to prison "by a narrow margin", sentencing him to eight months' home detention and 150 hours of community work. He is not to have access to the Internet while serving his sentence, Judge Dawson said.

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Corrections and Additional Information
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