MOSCOW, August 13 (RAPSI) – The Supreme Court of New Zealand has rejected an appeal from a local resident who was convicted on child molestation charges for a crime committed in Russia, The New Zealand Herald writes.

While in Russia in 2007, the suspect allegedly took an obscene photo of his stepdaughter, who was seven years old at the time, with a Russian citizen.

Under the New Zealand Crimes Act, any citizen of New Zealand can be prosecuted for illegal acts committed abroad, provided that the acts can be legally classified as a sexual crime against children under New Zealand law.

The plaintiff appealed on the grounds that accomplices are not specified by the Crimes Act.

It was stated in the trial that the plaintiff was a party to the crime. The defendant then confessed to the lesser charge of accessory.

Nevertheless, in a majority ruling, the Supreme Court justices said that the plaintiff was guilty of instigating the crime. The photo was taken at his Russian apartment where he was living with his stepdaughter and other family members. The man in the photo was a friend, the newspaper reports.

The Supreme Court noted that the defendant had taken a staged photo and thus had planned the act. Moreover, the court ruled that the plaintiff would have been convicted as the perpetrator under similar circumstances in New Zealand.