Tech-savvy Finn Cottam became online predator: ‘We will always remember him as a coward and an idiot’

“At that time I didn’t know who the perpetrator was. Everywhere I went, I feared for my safety,” she said.

Discovering her photos on “disgusting” websites will stay with her forever.

“This will always haunt me,” she said in her victim impact statement.

Another victim, whose holiday photos were deleted from her social media page, manipulated and used for blackmail, said it was terrible to think that innocent Facebook photos had been turned into something so disgusting.

“I hope he understands the terrible harm he has caused. We will always remember him as a coward and an idiot,” she told the court.

“Addicted to porn” from an early age

Cottam was convicted seven years in prison on two representative counts of blackmail, one count of threatening to cause grievous bodily harm, 11 counts of causing damage by publishing a digital communication, one count of knowingly making an objectionable publication, a representative count of possessing an objectionable publication and a further count of failing to assist in the search.

The origins of the crime date back to 2013, appeared in 2015 and continued until his arrest in 2022.

The 27-year-old, described as addicted to porn from an early age and having “serious psychological problems”, downloaded photos of his victims from social networking sites. He then superimposed offensive and sometimes sexually brutal pornographic images on top of the photos, accompanied by graphic and “nasty” texts, and sent them back to the victims.

He sent some to a porn site on the dark web that others use to view and share material.

Other messages included images of group sex and forced sex, all intended to get victims to react.

The main victim stated that when she learned about the “disgusting websites” where her photos appeared, she experienced an emotional shock, most likely for life.

“I will never know why you targeted me like that. I feel like I will carry these scars for the rest of my life.”

Police described Cottam as: sufficiently proficient computer expert to avoid detection – until one day he was caught.

The police found more than 8,000 inappropriate photos and videosincluding child exploitation material, on multiple devices in his possession.

His lawyer, Steven Zindel, said Cottam’s selfish and immature actions were the result of his “attack.”

“He told me that while it was terrible to hear victim impact statements, there was a lot that stuck with him and ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t cover it.

“I feel embarrassed,” Zindel said.

Cottam’s mother, who sat at the back of the court, cried as Judge Jo Rielly admitted she and Cottam’s father had sided with him.

Judge Rielly said Cottam’s offenses could be divided into two types: online abuse of victims he knew and others he did not know, and possession of child abuse material against unidentified victims.

Eight of the 11 identified victims had direct links to him. Police said the identities of the “countless” children who were victims of sexual abuse material were unknown.

“Internet Predator”

Police found that Cottam used a large number of encrypted email addresses, which masked content delivered by the service provider.

He visited websites exclusive to the dark web to access inappropriate material and conceal his physical location.

He also used multiple VPN applications to hide his IP (Internet Protocol) address and installed a program known as Veracrypt on his computer to create encrypted and hidden caches.

Cameron said Cottam was an online predator who knew what he was doing was illegal and tried to cover his tracks.

He said he humiliated his victims, isolated them and encouraged others to do the same, seemingly spurred on by their fear.

“It was a campaign of terror that had them looking over their shoulders for years.”

Judge Rielly found that the contact with the identified victims was “grossly sexually explicit” and degrading and graphic, adding that some of the child abuse material was too shocking to be read in court.

Timeline of Cottam’s crime

The police summary of facts said he shared photos of sexual abuse or videos containing a “rape narrative.”

Over a period of six years, he sent emails to his first victim from various encrypted email accounts, initially asking her to view a link he sent to a pornographic website where a gallery had been created of multiple images of a woman with pornography references superimposed on the photo. .

He threatened that if she did not respond to his email, he would “continue the sexual abuse on the Internet” by sharing the link with her friends and family.

He also sent sexual messages and photos through several different Instagram and Facebook accounts.

When the victim did not respond, the messages escalated, forcing the woman to delete her social media accounts and create new ones using a pseudonym.

Cottam then sent her an email demanding that she send explicit photos of herself by a certain date and that he leave her alone or his messages would “deteriorate” and he shared “personal information and humiliating material.”

He also threatened to involve some of her friends and family in the case.

When the woman did not comply with his demands, he shared a screenshot of her social media profile under a false name, containing text threatening physical contact in the form of sexually violent messages.

Then, in January 2019, he posted a photo of the victim and her friend on a specific site where users shared photos and received modified images.

Later that year, Cottam’s emails deteriorated, containing threats to kidnap the victim and turn her into a “rape slave.”

He used similar tactics against his second victim, and in October 2018, he sent her a message from his Instagram account, demanding that she contact him or he would reveal sexual photos to her parents. He then sent another message with the subject line of her parents’ work email address.

Cottam then began abusing a mother and daughter he knew using the same tactics.

“No mother or daughter should ever read what you wrote and sent,” Judge Rielly said.

The crimes against other victims followed a similar pattern until police searched his Motueka home in early 2022. He initially refused to provide the passwords to his mobile phones and computers.

The police forensics unit accessed the devices in February 2022 and found more than 8,000 photos and videos of objectionable material, showing some known victims and others who could not be identified.

Judge Rielly credited the victims with the courage they showed in speaking in Cottam’s presence, while others were brave enough to write down how they felt.

She hoped the verdict would help them have some closure after it looked like they would be dragged through the process.

Cottam pleaded guilty three weeks before he was scheduled to start.

“I hope you will admit that neither of them deserved it, but they will always live with it.”

From an initial starting point of 10 and a half years in prison, Cottam received a total sentence of seven years on all charges.

Tracy Neal is NZME’s Open Justice reporter based in Nelson. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and covered general news, including courts and local government, for the Nelson Mail.