WELLINGTON, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S.-based social network Facebook and software giant Microsoft have helped convict a New Zealand man of 45 charges of distributing and possessing child sex abuse material, the Department of Internal Affairs said Wednesday.
Christchurch storeman Scott Andrew Johnston, 47, was sentenced to two years five months imprisonment in the Christchurch District Court Wednesday after pleading guilty the charges, said a department statement.
Microsoft and the U.S. Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) alerted Internal Affairs to Johnston's offending in 2012.
An Internal Affairs covert Internet investigator engaged Johnston online and was sent objectionable material.
Facebook also detected Johnston uploading objectionable images and again Internal Affairs was advised.
Internal Affairs community safety manager Steve O'Brien said the NCMEC received 17 online tips about Johnston from a variety of social networking and website service providers.
"As a result of Johnston's continual online interaction on social networking websites Internal Affairs and the police were able to locate him and seize computer equipment and mobile phones revealing the extent of his offending," O'Brien said in the statement.
A total of 23,873 files of child abuse pictures and movies were discovered.
"This case shows how the global community, including Internal Affairs, is combating the child sexual abuse trade. And it's only a matter of time before people indulging in this activity get caught," he said.
