Social media influencer who sexually abused sleeping, unconscious teens in Auckland loses appeal

Two years and one week after a well-known social media influencer was found guilty of sexually abusing two teen boys, he has lost a battle at the Court of Appeal to keep his identity secret.

But the convicted sex offender can’t yet be identified because he has indicated an intention to elevate the appeal to the Supreme Court.

Interim name suppression will remain in place until that process is completed, the Court of Appeal decided in a 20-page decision published last week and released to the media today.

Jurors in the High Court at Auckland found the defendant guilty in June 2022 of five counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection after two victims said he preyed on them while they were unconscious or asleep. He was sentenced three months later to nine years’ imprisonment.

The man’s first accuser told police and later jurors that he first met the defendant in 2015, when he was 16 and trying to make headway in the same industry as the defendant who at the time was in his late 20s. They became close friends and social media messages showed they were flirtatious at times. But the teen also clearly told the defendant that he wasn’t gay and didn’t want anything other than friendship, Facebook Messenger exchanges showed.

During his own trip to the witness box, the defendant described the now-adult witness as a liar and a “tease” who was using him to get ahead. He said the accuser had been exploring his sexuality at the time and as a result would give mixed messages.

He denied having spiked the teen’s drinks on two occasions. He also denied blackmailing the teen by threatening to destroy his reputation or release nude photos if the teen didn’t relent to sexual acts. All sexual acts between the two of them were consensual, he said.

The second accuser said he was 18 years old when he twice woke up in the defendant’s bed after nights of heavy drinking to find the defendant performing a sex act on him. Like the other accuser, he also acknowledged some flirtatious behaviour with the defendant but said he wasn’t gay and insisted he never gave consent for any sexual acts.

The convicted sex offender was given interim name suppression to appeal. Photo / NZME

Appearing before the Court of Appeal last October, the defence lawyer Nick Chisnall KC also appealed the conviction, arguing that High Court Justice Rebecca Edwards had improperly instructed the jury. Details of the argument cannot yet be reported for legal reasons.

But today’s judgment dismissed the argument.

“In short, the Judge’s directions complied with the settled law and involved no error,” Justice Jill Mallon wrote on behalf of the three-judge panel.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.