Ex-teacher possessed banned pornography

By Anne Clarkson at the Rangiora Court House

An ex-teacher who accessed “disgusting material” on the Internet was sentenced to eight months’ home detention and 150 hours of community work.

Neil Stephen Frayle, 67, had pleaded guilty to 15 charges of possessing objectionable images on his computer.

The images were found by a technician who was repairing the computer, and he informed the police. There were 1771 images, including bestiality, rape, and underage sex.

Defence counsel Simon Clay said Frayle had been a teacher for 30 to 40 years, and had a good reference from the headmaster of the school.

He put himself in a treatment programme, and had suffered significant consequences, Mr Clay said.

Judge David Saunders said the material was disgusting. He said people believed this was a victimless crime, but it was not, as people were subjected to gross indignities for commercial gain.

He sentenced Frayle to home detention with conditions to undertake and complete treatment and counselling for six months beyond his sentence date. 

He was not to associate with or contact anyone under 16 years of age except with the permission of his probation officer, or possess a computer without their approval.

The judge ordered the destruction of the computer and the material found on it.