Senior detective under investigation over alleged objectionable material
An award-winning detective in the wider Auckland region is under investigation after bestiality and child sex exploitation material was allegedly found on his work devices.
The senior officer has been in the police for more than 40 years and worked on some of the most complex investigations in the region during that time.
The alleged objectionable material was discovered after police audited internet usage by staff in the wake of the Jevon McSkimming scandal.
The former deputy commissioner resigned in disgrace after police discovered he had searched for bestiality and child sex exploitation material on his work devices.
The 52-year-old has since pleaded guilty to possession of objectionable material and will be sentenced in the Wellington District Court next month.
The audit has led to 20 cases of potential misuse and inappropriate content being discovered.
A total of six staff have been suspended, according to acting Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers.
“Those six are being investigated for serious matters, ranging from potentially accessing objectionable material, or accessing inappropriate material while also subject to separate misconduct matters,” Rogers said.
“Some of the staff being investigated may have had legitimate purposes for accessing material, which we will verify through our enquiries.”
Three staff are under criminal investigation.
One of those is the senior detective in Auckland, although police would not comment on the specific case.
The alleged discovery of objectionable material on the devices of the experienced detective has rocked the morale of colleagues.
“I am shocked by this. Shocked, confused and angry,” one told the Herald.
The discovery comes soon after public confidence has been dented by the fallout of a scathing investigation into how police mishandled sexual allegations against McSkimming.
A young woman, who cannot be identified, sent hundreds of anonymous emails that accused McSkimming, then the second-most-powerful police officer in the country, of being a sexual predator.
She was in her early 20s when they met, McSkimming in his early 40s.
He later helped get the young woman a job in the police.
Instead of investigating the serious allegations against McSkimming, the emails were used by police as evidence to prosecute her under the Harmful Digital Communications Act last year.
She was arrested and charged, placed under restrictive bail conditions, and silenced by wide-ranging suppression orders.
The gagging orders were put in place ostensibly to protect the reputation of McSkimming, who was one of the top candidates to replace outgoing Police Commissioner Andrew Coster last year.
He missed out on the top job after the sex claims were inadvertently discovered during the vetting process, and the police belatedly investigated the woman’s allegations at the end of last year.
McSkimming maintained his innocence and said the allegations were motivated by revenge to destroy his career.
However, during the course of the investigation, detectives discovered McSkimming had used his work devices to search for pornography, including bestiality and child sex exploitation material, for at least five years.
The failure by the highest-ranking police officers in New Zealand to investigate the woman’s original sex allegations was criticised in a bombshell investigation by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) released last week.
In response to the report, new Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said the ambitions of McSkimming - who competed with Chambers for the top job last year - were put above the interests of a vulnerable woman.
“She was ignored and badly let down,” Chambers said. “That was unacceptable.”
The government has accepted all the recommendations made by the IPCA including the establishment of an Inspector-General position to provide greater scrutiny of police conduct.
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland, Gangster’s Paradise and Underworld.