One of New Zealand’s most senior police leaders has avoided prison after admitting to possessing thousands of images of child sexual exploitation.
Former deputy police commissioner Jevon McSkimming was sentenced to nine months’ home detention in the Wellington District Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to three representative charges of possessing objectionable publications, including child sexual abuse and bestiality material.
At the time of the offending, McSkimming was the second-highest-ranking officer in New Zealand Police, responsible for national leadership and oversight.
Judge Tim Black declined to order McSkimming be placed on the child sex offender register, saying his risk to the community was assessed as low.
The court heard McSkimming possessed 2945 images and carried out about 1900 searches for sexual material between July 2020 and December 2024. Of those searches, 432 were intended or highly likely to return objectionable content.
About a third of the material involved child sexual abuse imagery, most of it cartoon or AI-generated. A small number of images depicted real children. The remaining material involved depictions of bestiality.
The offending was carried out using McSkimming’s work-issued phone, sometimes during work hours.
Judge Black began with a starting point of three years’ imprisonment but applied a 50 percent reduction for factors including McSkimming’s early guilty plea, rehabilitation efforts, steps taken to prevent reoffending, previous good character and remorse.
“You’ve done a lot of good in the community, as well as the bad reflected in this offending,” Judge Black said.
The nine-month home detention sentences were ordered to be served concurrently. Judge Black said McSkimming’s senior policing role would make him a target for serious violence if imprisoned.
Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes told the court the offending was not victimless, even where images did not depict real people.
He said the material contributed to the sexualisation of children and normalised abuse, and described the offending as a profound breach of trust.
Hawes noted the crimes occurred while other police officers were investigating similar offending, undermining public confidence in policing.
Defence lawyer Letizea Ord said McSkimming was deeply ashamed and remorseful and had suffered a significant fall from grace, losing his career and financial security.
McSkimming did not address the court.