Luca Fairgray trial: Auckland District Court hears testimony from defendant charged with sexual conduct with minor

A man facing charges over a sexual relationship he had with a minor has told a jury the girl had the “body of a 16-year-old”.

Luca Fairgray, 22, is on trial at Auckland District Court facing three charges of sexual conduct with a young person, two of which are representative.

It is not disputed the pair had sex or that she had been 13, but the defence argues the complainant had said she was 16, and Fairgray believed her.

Fairgray told the court he found her to be “quite eloquent” conversationally.

“She looked and sounded like a 16-year-old. She had the body of a 16-year-old.”

He said the pair discussed drugs, used cannabis, and given her history of drug use he thought she wouldn’t be any younger than 16.

Fairgray told the court she was as tall as he was.

The girl also met his mother, who asked her round for dinner, he said.

He told the court he, too, asked her over for dinner but nothing eventuated.

His lawyer, Susan Gray, asked how the girl often being left home alone at night impacted his perception of her age.

“Well, I believed she was 16 because that’s something only a 16-year-old would be able to do.”

Gray asked whether the girl told him she was 16 and he agreed.

Fairgray claimed when they found out she was pregnant she told him she wasn’t actually 16.

“She confessed to me that she had lied about her age and that she was in fact 13,” he alleged.

After learning this, he said he was a “wreck, emotionally”.

“I was crying, I was shocked.”

The pair, Fairgray said, had loved each other.

He alleges after he found out about her age he broke up with her and they did not have any more sexual contact.

Fairgray is due to be cross-examined tomorrow.

The defendant and the girl met on a video chat website in June 2023 before moving to Snapchat, where the Crown alleges the complainant told him she was 13.

The pair dated for months and had sex on multiple occasions, both parties accepted.

The complainant became pregnant and an abortion clinic recorded a person called “Luke” made the girl an appointment and gave Fairgray’s number.

Fairgray gave the centre her correct date of birth and lied about his own age, saying he was 15.

Luca Fairgray is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl. Photo / Dean Purcell

Gray said he did so because by that point he knew she was only 13.

After the abortion, it’s alleged by the Crown that further sexual activity occurred on at least one occasion.

The next month the girl went missing temporarily and police became aware of the relationship between the pair.

Usually, the burden to prove charges lies with the prosecution, however, in this case the defence does not contest that she was 13 when the sexual conduct occurred.

Judge Evangelos Thomas said the jury needed to consider whether, on the balance of probabilities, the accused had a reasonable belief that the girl was 16 and that he took reasonable steps to find out whether she was 16.

“He has to prove both of those things.”

Earlier today, forensic psychiatrist Dr James Cavney told the jury Fairgray was high-functioning and “doesn’t have an intellectual disability”.

“He’s clearly an intelligent young man.”

The defence expert witness said Fairgray’s biggest deficit was forming connections with people and he didn’t have many friends.

This was a cause of sadness for him, the court was told.

In Cavney’s opinion, Fairgray had a social disability but he would not suggest Fairgray would need to bring a support person with him to university.

When asked where on the autism spectrum Fairgray would be, Cavney said “moderate”.

If the jury were to find the complainant had told Fairgray she was 16, Cavney testified that it would have been difficult for him to recognise deceit.

Under cross-examination, prosecutor Pip McNabb asked whether a person with autism would accept an outright lie.

Speaking about Fairgray specifically, Cavney said he was rigid in his thinking and had difficulty picking up emotional cues.

“I think he would have been inclined to accept her word at face value.”

Gray opened her case yesterday and told the jury because it was a criminal offence to have sex with a minor, which Fairgray agreed had occurred, there was only one way to find him not guilty.

That is, she said, the jury must be satisfied he reasonably believed she was 16 and took reasonable steps to verify her age.

“When considering these issues you need to bear in mind Luca Fairgray’s diagnosis of autism,” she told the court during her opening argument today.

Although she said autism in itself was not a defence to the charges, and Fairgray was not mounting a disability defence, “The reality is, his brain is different to yours and mine.”

She told the court this was a biological fact he could not control and it impacted his assessment of real-life situations.

Gray argued that not applying his autism diagnosis when considering the evidence would effectively be discriminating based on his disability.

Both Fairgray and the complainant have autism and ADHD.

Also yesterday, the court heard evidence from two police officers who attended Fairgray’s home after the girl went missing.

When constables Scott Loper and Danielle You arrived at the house they spoke to the man’s father, who then went to look for his son.

He returned without Fairgray, telling the officers his son had jumped out the window.

The police left, but shortly afterwards the father called and said his son had been hiding under the house.

Both constables said when they arrived back Fairgray was covered in cobwebs.

Loper and You said Fairgray expressed concern about the age difference between himself and the complainant.

Fairgray pleaded guilty to one charge of supplying cannabis at the start of his trial last week.

Sexual connection with a young person under 16 carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Supplying a Class C drug carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison.

Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.

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