New Zealand ex-deputy police commissioner admits to having material showing child abuse, bestiality

New Zealand's former deputy police commissioner admitted on Thursday to possessing child sexual exploitation and bestiality material, which he had stored on his work devices.

Jevon McSkimming, previously the second-highest ranking police officer in New Zealand, was arrested and charged in June with eight counts of possessing objectionable material.

The courts had prevented media from reporting his name or other details of the case but his right to anonymity lapsed in August.

McSkimming admitted to three representative charges of possessing objectionable material, his lawyer told the Wellington District Court on Thursday.

The original charges alleged the 52-year-old had possessed child exploitation and bestiality material between specific dates. One of the charges stated the offenses happened between July 2020 and December 2024.

McSkimming was suspended from his job on full pay in December 2024, when an investigation into his conduct was launched.

Details of those allegations cannot be reported.

He was on leave for six months before his resignation in May and will be sentenced in December.

New Zealand's Police Commissioner Richard Chambers described the case as "disgraceful" on Thursday. "The outcome shows all police, no matter their rank, are accountable to the laws that apply to us all," he said.