Electronic bail for sex-crime defendant

A 27-year-old Tauranga man charged with sex crimes against a 14-year-old girl is the first person to be granted electronic bail in Tauranga District Court since the scheme was introduced in the Bay last November.
Fijian national Munshewar Reddy, a semi-professional soccer player, was originally charged with rape after the girl told police she was attacked at his Avenues' home on January 31 after he offered her a ride home.
Reddy was refused standard bail due to the police and judge's concerns about his flight risk.
But on Monday in Tauranga District Court the rape charge was withdrawn and replaced with two charges of having sexual connections with a young person aged 12-16 years and Reddy was granted electronic bail.
Reddy's lawyer, Craig Tuck, argued before Judge Louis Bidois that despite concerns by police any flight risk fears could be allayed by the electronic monitoring on bail (EM bail) arrangement.
This involves Reddy being placed on a 24-hour home curfew at a Gate Pa address and wearing an electronic bracelet that keeps track of his movements.
Prosecutor Sergeant Sean Brennan argued that because Reddy was being sponsored by people in Fiji who helped him find an EM bail address, he could want to abscond back to his birth country.
Mr Tuck said while Reddy had strong family ties and sponsors' support both here and in Fiji, the adverse publicity in Fijian newspapers about his case had made him "persona non-grata".
Given the stigma he faced, Reddy did not want to hurry back to his homeland before the charges were dealt with, he said.
Judge Bidois said despite police concerns he was prepared to grant Reddy electronic bail. Reddy was further remanded until April 4 when he is expected to enter pleas to the amended charges.
The only other person on electronic bail in Tauranga is a man in his 20s accused of serious violence and drug-related crimes, including possessing LSD for supply.
Paul Clifford, Tauranga's electronic bail assessor, said so far 13 EM bail applications had been lodged here since November 6.
Mr Clifford said apart from the one granted on Monday, two had been withdrawn, two declined, two failed to get past the home occupants consent process and the rest were still being processed.
An application for EM bail from a man facing rape charges will be heard in court next Tuesday, he said.
"It's important that people know that a person's lawyer can put an application forward but whether it proceeds through the whole court process can depend largely on the view of the occupants at the proposed EM bail address."
He said they had to consent to having the bailee living there.