Jevon McSkimming

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Jevon Murray McSkimming (born c. 1973) was deputy commissioner of the New Zealand Police between October 2020 and May 2025. In 2024 he was one of two candidates for the role of commissioner. Less than a year later he was convicted of possessing child sexual exploitation and bestiality material. Separately, police were found to have mishandled complaints from a former mistress of McSkimming's, including accusations of rape.

In 2016, at age 40, he began an affair which lasted two years with a 21-year-old woman (later referred to by the Independent Police Conduct Authority as Ms Z) and helped her find employment with Police. When the relationship came to an end, she made multiple allegations to police of sexual misconduct. McSkimming told his colleagues that Ms Z wanted to get back together with him – so for some years, senior management refused to investigate her allegations. In May 2024, the Police charged her with harassment under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015.[1] After five years, a senior officer finally did investigate Ms Z's claims and in November 2024, McSkimming was placed on special leave.[2]

In the process of investigating the allegations of sexual abuse, investigators found McSkimming had been using work devices to access pornography. On 12 May 2025, he resigned as deputy police commissioner following two separate investigations by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) into these allegations. On 6 November 2025, McSkimming pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing child sexual exploitation and bestiality material.[3][4][5] After these charges were laid, McSkimming refused to testify against Ms Z and the charges against her for harassing him were dropped. However, charges for allegedly harassing the detective who arrested her are still outstanding.

The IPCA report released on 12 November 2025, found that several senior Police executives including former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster had ignored the allegations of serious offending by McSkimming, preferring to believe the woman was harassing him and wanting to get back together with him.[4][5]

Early life and education

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McSkimming was born c. 1973[3][6] and grew up in Dunedin, where he attended John McGlashan College. He studied at the Dunedin Teachers' College during the 1990s. After graduating, McSkimming opted not to pursue a career in teaching and enrolled at the Royal New Zealand Police College in Trentham.[3]

Police career

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He joined the New Zealand Police in 1996.[6] As a police officer, McSkimming was first posted to Auckland. By 2000, he had married and moved to Gore in Southland. While stationed in Gore, McSkimming won a police bronze medal for subduing a man, armed with kitchen knives, who had locked himself in a house. In 2005, McSkimming moved to Murchison in the Tasman District.[3]

Over the years, McSkimming rose through the ranks of the New Zealand Police, having attained the rank of superintendent by 2016. At the age of 40, he was promoted to the rank of assistant commissioner in April 2016.[4][5] By that time, McSkimming had moved to Wellington where he was based at the Wellington Central Police Station.[4][5] By 2023, he had attained the rank of deputy commissioner.[6]

Alleged sexual misconduct

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In 2016, at the age of 40, McSkimming was promoted to assistant commissioner of Police and became involved in an extramarital relationship with a 21-year old woman, (subsequently referred to as Ms Z) whom he met at a sporting club where he was a coach. McSkimming helped the young woman secure a casual job at the Wellington Central Police Station and had an affair lasting two years.[4][5] While he has maintained that the relationship was consensual, the woman subsequently disputed this account.[4] Soon after the relationship ended, Ms Z began posting messages on Facebook and LinkedIn about McSkimming,[4] and to the church he attended.[5] Between December 2023 and April 2024, she sent more than 300 emails to his work email address,[7] alleging serious sexual misconduct, threats to use an intimate recording and the misuse of police credit card and police property. Anonymous online reports were made to the 105 call number.[1]

Once he started receiving these emails, McSkimming disclosed the affair to his supervisor. Two senior officers asked him if his affair had been with a police staff member which he denied. Over the next five years, this "affair that ended badly" was raised within police management a number of times. McSkimming consistently claimed Ms Z wanted to get back together with him. However, the IPCA report released in 2025 found there was no suggestion of that from Ms Z whatsoever. The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) also determined that the police never investigated Ms Z's complaints, and that between 2018 and late 2024, never read the emails Ms Z sent to McSkimming. Commissioner Coster became aware of the affair in 2020 and believed that McSkimming had become the victim of Ms Z’s 'fixation'. Coster was about to retire and was supportive of McSkimming's application to take over the role as Police Commissioner.[5]

In May 2024, Ms Z was charged with harassment by police under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015.[1] Shortly thereafter, the matter was referred to the IPCA. In October 2024, McSkimming was suspended with full pay pending a criminal investigation led by the IPCA regarding the allegations of sexual misconduct.[8][9][10] It was only in October 2024 after the chair of the IPCA expressed concerns about the initial investigation that police launched Operation Jefferson – a criminal investigation into Ms Z's complaints of multiple sexual offence allegations, including sexual violation by rape, sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, and indecent assault. In the end, not enough evidence was found to prosecute.[11] The IPCA report also revealed a number of other allegations, including misuse of a police credit card, inappropriate use of police property for sexual gain and threatening to release an intimate video of Ms Z if she made any complaints.[12][13][9]

The IPCA report was released on 11 November 2025. The IPCA noted: "no one conducted any enquiries, including trying to contact Ms Z, to establish the veracity of the allegations prior to her being charged."[5] The IPCA added that Officer D, subsequently identified as Detective Inspector Nicola Reeves, said the handling of the investigation prior to her involvement had been "appalling."[12] It stated that there was serious misconduct by police leadership, including from former Commissioner of Police Andrew Coster who failed to disclose to the Public Service Commission that he knew about McSkimming’s relationship with Ms Z and his alleged misconduct.[14][15] The IPCA stated that a number of senior police officers, including Coster and former Deputy Commissioner Tania Kura, had interfered with the investigation to avoid jeopardizing McSkimming's appointment as the next Commissioner of Police and instead attempted to prosecute the complainant.[14][16] Richard Chambers was appointed as Police Commissioner on 25 November 2024.[17]

Possession of objectionable material

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In the process of investigating Ms Z's complaints against McSkimming, the police examined his work computer and found pornographic images depicting child exploitation and bestiality. McSkimming resigned in May 2025,[18] and applied for a court order preventing reporting on the nature of the alleged objectionable material. His application was dismissed.[2] In a statement after McSkimming's resignation, Police Minister Mark Mitchell said, "I instructed the Public Service Commission to commence the process to remove Mr McSkimming from office after allegations of a very serious nature recently came to light, separate to the investigation that led to him being suspended".[19]

On 27 June 2025, McSkimming was arrested and charged with eight counts of possession of objectionable material, including child sexual abuse material and bestiality, a charge which can carry a maximum sentence of 10 years. Even prior to his arrest, he had been subject to a broad name suppression order that prevented any reporting on his identity or the nature of the charges against him. McSkimming's name suppression lapsed on 4 August 2025.[20] In a statement after McSkimming's court appearance, Chambers said, "The prosecution of Mr Jevon McSkimming shows no member of the Police is above the law, no matter how senior".[21] Before 18 July 2025, there was a court-ordered injunction to stop media from publishing details about the alleged material and until 19 May 2025 there was a non-publication order on the fact there was an injunction.[22]

On 6 November 2025, McSkimming pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing objectionable publications. The five other charges were withdrawn. The first charge was related to 812 images involving adult bestiality material, the second charge was related to 68 images involving child sexual exploitation material and the third charge was related to 2065 images with a 37% child sexual exploitation and 63% bestiality split average.[23] McSkimming used Google searches over 5000 times since the earliest retrievable record in July 2020, where he would often look for artificially-generated material which referenced underage girls, incest, animals with keywords such as "slave" and "abuse".[24] McSkimming would access the objectionable material during work hours, primarily using his phone, but also his work laptop. From July 2024, 7% of all searches on McSkimming's devices were intended or highly likely to return objectionable material.[25][26]

After McSkimming's resignation, concerns on how McSkimming was able to access the alleged child exploitation and bestiality material, prompted Police Commissioner Richard Chambers to order an independent "rapid review" into police information security (INFOSEC). Chambers wanted to ensure police had appropriate controls to prevent and detect misuse of police devices to stop staff from being able to "exploit vulnerabilities to access inappropriate content". The report found that police's current systems were "inconsistent", "inadequate," and "insufficient". In response, Chambers announced police would bring back six-monthly audits of data and internet usage on devices.[2][19] On 9 November, Chambers confirmed that he had initiated proceedings to strip McSkimming of his medals and clasps, which was supported by Police Minister Mitchell.[6] Under the Police Super Scheme, McSkimming still remains eligible for a pension as a senior police officer.[6]

Personal life

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McSkimming married his wife around 2000.[3] He also attended Connect Church in Paraparaumu, Kāpiti Coast District until 2024. Connect Church is part of New Life Churches, a Pentecostal Christian denomination. Following media coverage in 2024 that he was facing charges of possessing objectionable material, Connect Church condemned his behaviour and barred him from in-person attendances.[5]

During his career, he acquired a $2 million home in Te Horo, two other properties in Waikanae, and owned sports cars, including an Audi R8. He used to race motorbikes until he had a crash, after which he took up gliding.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Owen, Catrin (11 November 2025). "Four things to know from the damning IPCA report on Jevon McSkimming". Stuff. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Sam, Sherwood (18 July 2025). "Revealed: Child exploitation and bestiality material allegedly found on former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming's work devices". RNZ. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Ex-Dunedinite McSkimming pleads guilty". Otago Daily Times. 7 November 2025. Archived from the original on 17 November 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Hu, Justin (12 November 2025). "Timeline: How the Jevon McSkimming scandal unfolded over nine years". 1News. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Chapman, Madeleine (12 November 2025). "A portrait of Jevon McSkimming as a senior police colleague". The Spinoff. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e Los'e, Joseph (13 November 2025). "Jevon McSkimming to keep lucrative police pension despite disgrace and conviction". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  7. ^ Sherwood, Sam (12 November 2025). "Inside a 'cover-up': The top cops, the 'quasi investigation' and the officers who stood up". RNZ. Archived from the original on 22 November 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  8. ^ Ensor, Blair; Wells, Imogen (12 December 2024). "Police Deputy Commissioner investigated over conduct towards young woman". Stuff.
  9. ^ a b Sherwood, Sam (11 November 2025). "Police 'failed' woman who accused Jevon McSkimming of sexual offending, her lawyer says". RNZ. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  10. ^ "'Inexcusable conduct': Police Commissioner says lack of leadership over McSkimming". RNZ. 11 November 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  11. ^ Penfold, Paula (12 November 2025). "How police ignored warnings about Jevon McSkimming – and prosecuted the woman who tried to expose him". Stuff. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  12. ^ a b Owen, Catrin (12 November 2025). "Buried in the IPCA report: the cops who showed moral courage". Stuff. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  13. ^ Sherwood, Sam (11 November 2025). "Serious misconduct at highest levels: Police slammed in IPCA's McSkimming report". RNZ. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  14. ^ a b "IPCA finds 'significant failings' in police handling of McSkimming complaints". 1News. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  15. ^ "Ex-Police Commissioner Coster on leave from new job after damning report". The New Zealand Herald. 11 November 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  16. ^ Sherwood, Sam (12 November 2025). "Revealed: The key figures in the IPCA report which found serious misconduct at the highest levels". RNZ. Archived from the original on 22 November 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  17. ^ "Deputy police commissioner suspended amid investigation". 1News. 14 January 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  18. ^ "Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming has resigned". RNZ. 12 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  19. ^ a b Ham, Katie (18 July 2025). "Child sexual exploitation, bestiality material allegedly found on top cop's work device". Stuff. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  20. ^ "Jevon McSkimming facing charges of possessing objectionable material". 1News. 4 August 2025. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  21. ^ Sherwood, Sam (4 August 2025). "Former top cop Jevon McSkimming faces charges of possessing child sexual exploitation, bestiality material". RNZ. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  22. ^ "Ex-top cop's 'super injunction' lifts but media can't report details of allegations". The New Zealand Herald. 20 May 2025. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  23. ^ "'Good riddance to him': Top cop used police tech to access child exploitation and bestiality content". Stuff. 6 November 2025. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  24. ^ Nightingale, Melissa (6 November 2025). "'Just kept escalating': Ex-top cop admits child exploitation, bestiality image offending". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  25. ^ Sherwood, Sam (6 November 2025). "Former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming pleads guilty to possessing child sexual exploitation and bestiality material". RNZ. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  26. ^ "Jevon McSkimming admits to child sexual, bestiality material charges". 1News. 6 November 2025. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  27. ^ Ham, Katie; White, Mike (22 November 2025). "Jevon McSkimming: The totally charmless, conscientious copper from the sticks who defies definition". The Post. Retrieved 29 November 2025.