A Taranaki man has been sentenced to preventive detention for historic sex charges, in the High Court at New Plymouth today.

Nigel Nelson was found guilty of 35 different sex charges, including rape and blackmail against 13 different victims between 1994 and 2015.

The 37-year-old began his sexual offending against a 12-year-old girl, when he himself was a teenager.

Once that offending stopped he began abusing young men when they were either drunk or asleep.

However, from 2007 Nelson developed a ruse, taking pictures of victims for his non-existent pornography and prostitution businesses, before blackmailing them with that material.

Crown Prosecutor Cherie Clarke told the court the offending has impacted his victims in different ways.

She said many have developed drug addictions, mental health issues and made attempts at their own life.