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The risk of paedophiles taking
unsavoury photographs of young athletes has prompted Gymnastics New Zealand
to crack down on camera use at its national championships in Christchurch
this week. Gymnastics New Zealand will
register all spectator cameras taken into its national championships and
label them because of concerns about paedophiles. The championships will start at
the Westpac Centre on Wednesday, with many younger athletes part of the 700-strong
competition. A competition spokesman, Dave
Worsley, said no specific incident prompted the push to have all cameras,
including picture-capable cellphones, registered and labelled on entry. However, it was clear there was a
risk. Gymnastics New Zealand held the right to confiscate cameras or wipe
images that were considered "unsavoury", he said. Many city councils and gyms around
New Zealand already ban the use of cameras in swimming and other facilities
because of concerns about inappropriate images being used by paedophiles. SAFE sexual offenders programme
director John McCarthy said there was a small risk paedophiles could attend
the event. He understood Gymnastic New
Zealand's thinking, but it seemed overcautious. "Sadly, people who are interested
in explicit images of children are also attracted by normal images of
children," he said. "That can happen anywhere,
any time, and to a large extent many people are looking in the wrong place
for the people who pose a threat." McCarthy said an overwhelming
majority of sexual abuse against children occurred in the family environment,
or was committed by people known to the child. "I can understand what they
(Gymnastics New Zealand) are trying to do. Images of children which may be
sexually interesting to some people can find their way onto the
internet." McCarthy said people with paedophiliac tendencies could find
child gymnastics appealing. Gymnastics New Zealand chief
executive Jack Ralston said the rules were required to protect competitors
who were as young as seven. Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse
Trust manager Ken Clearwater said he supported Gymnastics New Zealand, but
"it's damn sad it has got to that stage". "Once they put them (photos)
on the internet it is pretty bad. What about the poor children? "You usually find most
paedophiles or men that go on to sexually offend have images of children from
the internet," Clearwater said. |
