Stuff
A judge said regardless of his decision he thought it inevitable the man’s sport would assess him on his actions. (File image)
A sportsman has been discharged without conviction and had his name suppressed on charges of having sexual connection with a 15-year-old girl and exposing her to indecent material for having sent her photos of his genitals.
The sportsman was five years older than the teen and had lost his place in his chosen sport, his job, and his accommodation, his lawyer said in the Wellington District Court on Thursday.
The discharge without conviction was granted on condition he pay $2000 immediately for the victim. If she did not want his money it could be paid to a charity of her choice, Judge Bruce Davidson said.
The sportsman, now 22, pleaded guilty to the charge of having sexual connection with the 15-year-old and exposing her to indecent material.
A friend of the victim read her victim impact statement, in which she called the defendant a predator and said she was shell of her former self.
She had not gone to school regularly in the past two years and had changed schools. She was too scared to use public transport and struggled with eating.
She strongly opposed him being discharged and having his name suppressed.
Crown lawyer Claire Hislop also opposed the discharge.
Defence lawyer Hugo Porter said a discharge was not in any way “getting off”. The sportsman had been having counselling and had done more than 300 hours of voluntary community work.
He had lost his job, flat, been isolated from his sport and friends. He had become, temporarily at least, a hermit and a pariah.
The victim was 99 days short of an age that would have made events legal, Porter said.
The judge had said he thought the New Zealand Olympic Committee would concentrate on the man’s conduct, regardless of the discharge, and it was hard to imagine he would be selected to represent New Zealand.
But Porter said other sportsmen had represented New Zealand after going through the criminal justice system.
Putting the man’s Olympic dreams aside, the nature of the offences would follow him through life, permanently fettering his job and other prospects, he said. He also stressed that social media had already degraded and humiliated the sportsman who suffered depression and anxiety.
The judge said the sportsman and the victim had connected on Snapchat in February 2021. The messages became increasingly sexualised, the sportsman sent her photos of his genitals and in June 2021 they met and had sex.
Maarten Holl/Stuff
District Court judge Bruce Davidson suppressed the name of the defendant. (File photo)
It was far from the classic case of a mature adult offending against a young person so although the nature of the charge was serious the circumstances were of low to medium gravity, the judge said.
The judge said he saw nothing that explained the delay until the sportsman was charged in September 2022.
He said the sportsman’s mental state had been badly affected when his aspirations on the international stage had not been realised. He noted a psychologist’s report had commented on how sportspeople were not well prepared for failing to meet their goals.
The judge found the consequences of convictions were out of all proportion to the gravity of the offences and publication of the sportsman’s name would defeat the purposes of granting the discharge.
There was a significant risk of irreparable and permanent damage to the sportsman and his family, if suppression was not granted, the judge said.
