The young girl had a friendly relationship with the defendant that turned sexual. Photo / 123rf
WARNING: This article discusses sexual abuse and may be upsetting to some readers.
Welcomed as a friend and treated like family, a teenage boy was given open access to a home where people trusted him.
Behind that trust, he was quietly exploiting the youngest member of the household while maintaining the illusion of innocence.
“He walked into our family like a Trojan horse and brought us all down to ruins and left,” the victim’s brother told the court.
The teenager has appeared in the Whangārei District Court for sentencing on two representative charges of sexual connection with a young person and making an intimate visual recording.
The court heard the teen and his family had been friends with the victim’s family for several years and he was trusted and welcome in their home.
But over the course of several months, the 18-year-old snuck into the young girl’s room and sexually offended against her.
On other occasions, he picked her up and took her out for walks where the sexual interactions continued.
He also filmed the girl during two sexual acts, but at the request of the victim, deleted the footage.
The offending came to light when someone found out and threatened to expose him.
The boy went home, told his parents who then took him into an Auckland police station where he was arrested and charged.
He pleaded guilty earlier this year and at his sentencing the family read statements about the destruction he left behind.
“We entirely trusted the offender and you fooled us,” the girl’s mother said.
“Now we’re left picking up the pieces all because we opened our heart and our home to someone we thought we knew. The doors that were open and welcoming are now well and truly shut.”
The victim’s brother said his former friend knew exactly when to strike and had orchestrated a cleverly laid out plan, referring to the Trojan horse.
Crown lawyer Ben Bosomworth said the impact of the offending on the victims was obvious.
“The victim was so young and as a by-product, significantly vulnerable,” he said.
Bosomworth pointed out the defendant had made comments to pre-sentence report writers that he felt “led on” by the victim.
“I would highlight this as it indicates a significant degree of minimisation and severity of offending and potentially lack of insight to the impact of harm,” Bosomworth said.
“The only appropriate end sentence is one of imprisonment.”
Defence lawyer Guyon Foley said his client had not pursued the victim and that he was genuinely remorseful for his offending.
An independent medical report had been provided to the court which cited neurodiversity as an explanation for his offending.
“This young man seeks a merciful sentence of home detention. Neurodiversity is an explanation - not an excuse.”
The medical report noted the teen did not appear to have a sexual interest in children and therefore did not meet the threshold to be on the children’s sexual offender registry.
Judge Keith de Ridder acknowledged the report and said those with autism and ADHD often present with social misinterpretation, emotional dys-regulation and vulnerability in complex situations.
Judge de Ridder referred to a Court of Appeal decision which acknowledged young people have a greater capacity to be rehabilitated and terms of imprisonment can be particularly crushing.
“In my opinion, both your age and your neurodiversity meld into each other.”
Judge de Ridder said his offending had been catastrophic but that he was remorseful and he did not place any blame on the victim.
The teenager was sentenced to 11 months’ home detention and ordered to pay an emotional harm reparation of $25,000.
Judge de Ridder said he did not meet the requirements to be on the child sex offender registrar.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.