The Department of Internal Affairs is asking the Solicitor-General to consider appealing against the community sentencing of a Northland man for possession of child pornography.
Last week in the Dargaville District Court, Stephen Tamatea King, 57, of Waipoua, pleaded guilty to 34 charges of possessing objectionable material and received four months' community detention and 200 hours' community work.
Internal Affairs deputy secretary Keith Manch says the sentencing came as a surprise to the department as an increasing number of similar offences were now receiving prison sentences.
On Thursday, Whangarei mechanic Stephen William Shaw, 38, was jailed for two years and two months for possessing and distributing images of children being sexually abused.
He was sentenced in Whangarei District Court after pleading guilty to 19 charges of possessing and two of distributing objectionable publications.
Mr Manch says both cases are examples of how the department monitors certain activity on the Internet.
