WARNING: This story details sexual offending against a child.

​A man who repeatedly sexually assaulted a 6-year-old as he read her stories was later busted with a stash of child sex abuse images when police came to his house to arrest him.

It was William John Seddon’s habitual viewing of his collection of 19,561 images and 44 videos that ultimately led to him sexually assaulting the girl, a court has heard.

However, despite the large amount of imagery, only 71 were deemed objectionable, with six being in the most serious category.

The remaining images and videos were not deemed to meet the criminal threshold.

The Waikato man, now 68, was busted with his collection by police in 2023 while they investigated him for the earlier sexual assaults on the girl.

They occurred on several occasions while he read her stories.

At Seddon’s recent sentencing in the Hamilton District Court before Judge Noel Cocurullo, the girl’s father gave a victim impact statement.

“It sickens me to think what she endured over that time,” he said.

“To me, this is heartbreaking.”

‘Sadly, this offending is not uncommon’

Seddon initially faced three representative charges of unlawful sexual connection, but two were withdrawn by the Crown.

Crown solicitor Kasey Dillon pushed for a starting point of five years plus a further 12 months for the objectionable images.

He urged the judge to limit any guilty plea discount to 15%, given it came not long before the case was due to go to trial.

Defence counsel Rob Weir accepted the plea discount as fair and that there were several aggravating factors in the case.

But Weir added that “sadly, this court is well aware of offending that is far worse [than this]”.

He said it was clear from a medical specialist’s report that Seddon’s offending had come about because of “pornography” he had collected and viewed over the years.

“The offending which this man has committed as an older gentleman, without any previous offending, has arisen from the pornography that he viewed.

“There’s a vast amount of images and videos, and sadly, this offending is not uncommon.”

Seddon had engaged in rehabilitative work but understood he would still receive a prison sentence.

“Mr Seddon understands that ... and frankly, the offending does require the court to mark and denounce it.”

However, Weir did push for a discount for the rehabilitative work, as well as credit for remorse, which Seddon had outlined in a letter to the judge.

He also had $5000 ready to pay to the victim’s family for the emotional harm he had caused.

“Mr Seddon offered that to me with the full knowledge that he was going to receive [a jail term].”

He hoped to get back to his rehabilitative work once he was released from prison, Weir said.

Judge Cocurullo said Seddon had taken a “responsible approach” and that the Safe network, through which he had done his rehabilitation work, would be able to detect whether he was disingenuous or not.

But the judge wasn’t interested in offering a discount for remorse, given his late plea.

Weir argued the late plea was because of Seddon “coming to terms with what he had done” and had still saved the victim “the torment of a trial”.

Judge Cocurullo said Seddon’s offending was serious and took an overall starting point of six years’ imprisonment.

He then applied 50% worth of discounts, 20% of which encompassed Seddon’s “fairly extensive” work with Safe.

Seddon was ordered to pay the $5000 emotional harm reparation and was jailed for three years.

SEXUAL HARM

Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email [email protected]
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 10 years and has been a journalist for 21.