Shocking but maybe not surprising?

Radio NZ reports:

Sir Ron Brierley’s former deputy is staggered the New Zealand business tycoon has been arrested and charged in Australia for possessing child abuse material, he says.

Sir Ron, 82, was stopped at Sydney International Airport on Tuesday morning ahead of a flight to Fiji.

Border officials found child pornography on his laptop and electronic storage devices, leading police to lay six charges of possessing child abuse material.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, they had been acting on an anonymous tip and found more than 200,000 images and 512 videos.

That’s shocking and disgusting. If correct, that level of material suggests a very strong addiction.

Like most I was staggered when I heard the news. But maybe I shouldn’t have been:

In her 1990 biography Brierley, the Man Behind the Corporate Legend, Yvonne van Dongen wrote that he frequently travelled to Asia – mostly to Thailand – where he enjoyed encounters with young women – often teenage prostitutes.

“Brierley seems completely comfortable with this aspect of his life and showed no signs of embarrassment when teased about his frequent trips to Thailand,” the book says.

Teenage can mean anything from 13 to 19, which is a big difference. But as it is Thailand, I suspect it may have been towards the younger and illegal end.