Jevon McSkimming appeared before the Wellington District Court on Thursday. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
The police union says officers are disgusted by the behaviour of the disgraced former deputy commissioner Jevon McSkimming, who admitted possessing child sexual exploitation and bestiality material.
The 52-year-old pleaded guilty to three representative charges of possessing objectionable publications, namely child sexual exploitation and bestiality material, in the Wellington District Court on Thursday.
McSkimming resigned as the country's second most powerful cop in May amid a police investigation which found the objectionable material on his work phone.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said McSkimming's conduct was "disgraceful and it is right he has been held to account for it".
"The outcome shows all police, no matter their rank, are accountable to the laws that apply to us all," he said.
"Mr McSkimming's behaviour was not only criminal, but goes against the core values of police. I will not allow this to tarnish my staff, who are as appalled by this as I am."
Police Association president Steve Watt said it was deeply disappointing for such behaviour to come from a then deputy commissioner.
"Much like myself, our officers are pretty disgusted in the behaviour," he said.
"We hold our executive to an extremely high standard and this sort of behaviour is unexpected and very disturbing."
Watt said McSkimming's conduct was not reflective of the wider police force.
"What we need the public to focus on is what our members do on a daily basis in order to keep them safe out there in the community, and we don't want this result to tarnish the good work that our members are doing out there," he said.
"The [Police] Commissioner has already put in place a rapid response programme in regards to checking our computer systems and making sure this type of behaviour isn't happening, and I think the public can take reassurance in that and our members that moving forward these types of people will be found out pretty quickly within the police and dealt with appropriately."
Court documents reveal the extent of McSkimming's viewing of objectionable material on his work devices, clicking on about 160 images.
He also told a colleague that over the years he had needed different types of pornography to "make him feel anything, and it just kept escalating".
The summary of facts, released to RNZ, says as well as being deputy commissioner of police he was appointed chief security officer for police in March 2021, which meant he was responsible for and accountable for "protective security policies and implementation is aligned with police objectives, risk, and requirements".
The earliest recorded search took place on 1 July, 2020, and the last recorded search was on 18 December, 2024.
There were a total of 5354 Google searches, of which 1922 were adult/pornographic. Of these, 64 were intended to return objectionable images, while 368 of the searches were "highly likely" to return objectionable images.
The searches included AI material, including references to nude toddlers and nude nazi girl. Other words typed included 'slave', 'abuse' and 'extreme'.
Police determined that of all his searches on his work devices, 1 percent were intended to return objectionable images while 7 percent would "highly likely return objectionable images".
Chambers said from the moment he was advised about the circumstances he had taken it "seriously and acted on it".
"As soon as I was made aware of the nature of the material found, I raised it with the Minister of Police as a conduct matter to allow him to consider Mr McSkimming's position at the time as a statutory deputy commissioner. Mr McSkimming subsequently resigned from police," he said.
Chambers said he ordered a rapid review of the controls and security of police devices.
"I moved quickly to remedy the gaps it identified and ordered auditing and monitoring of staff use of Police devices. We will investigate any cases of staff found to have accessed inappropriate or objectionable material and will take action where conduct falls short of standard and expectations," he said.
Chambers ended his statement acknowledging the "the outstanding work of more than 15,000 Police staff across the country who work day and night to help keep our country safe".
McSkimming will be sentenced in December.
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