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Cliff Buddle

A judge who reacted with 'fear and nausea' when he had to study hard-core pornography published on the Internet yesterday warned that heavy prison sentences would await those responsible for such crimes.

 Mr Recorder Ching Y. Wong SC said he had been duty-bound to look at the 'disgusting and repulsive' pictures published by a Japanese computer technician who was appealing against his 21-month jail term.

 'Fear and nausea were my immediate reactions. The experience sends shivers up my spine even now. I cannot think of anything more depraved,' the judge said.

 He upheld the prison term in a landmark case, the first in which the level of sentencing for Web-site obscenity had been considered at the Court of First Instance.

 'Something must be done to truly reflect the horror, shock and total disgust such pictures bring,' the judge said.

 'Those who transgress will be dealt with severely and without mercy.'  Hiroyuki Takeda, 24, who admitted possessing and publishing the pornography, had argued that the sentence should be slashed because he was a first-time offender. Takeda, who came to Hong Kong to work, published 43 pictures on his home page 'for fun' showing children as young as eight taking part in intercourse and other sex acts.

 Some of his pictures showed dead bodies, dismembered limbs and a severed head.

 'The words depravity and repulsiveness are not strong enough to describe the articles which the appellant published,' the judge said.

 Placing them on the Internet was an aggravating factor because this had ensured they reached a worldwide audience which might include children or mentally unstable people, he added.

 Wong Hay-yiu, for Takeda, argued that the penalty he received was close to the three-year maximum and that it was wrong to pass a deterrent sentence on someone who had not been in trouble before.

 But Director of Public Prosecutions Grenville Cross SC said Hong Kong's reputation was at stake when 'vile' pictures were posted on the Net. The crimes were difficult to detect and children must be protected, he told the judge.

 Takeda, who was arrested after Interpol received a complaint in Vienna, had been jailed by magistrate Garry Tallentire in March.



Net porn pictures give judge nausea