Police sergeant seeks discharge for underage image searches, argues case far less severe than McSkimming

Senior Sergeant Matthew Rogers, who joined the police in 1986, faced a representative charge in Manukau District Court for accessing nine objectionable images of underage girls on his duty-issued phone between August 2023 and October 2025. His lawyer, Todd Simmonds, KC, emphasized that Rogers only clicked on the images without downloading them and contrasted the incident with former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming’s case, which involved roughly 3,000 bestiality and child-exploitation images and resulted in nine months’ home detention.

The judge, Clare Bennett, sought details on Rogers’ prospective employment to assess the impact of a conviction and adjourned the hearing. Crown counsel Kristy Li indicated she would address the employment issue later. The case follows a rapid internal police review that earlier charged three officers for similar internet misuse.