“The gravity of offending, viewed as a whole, is relatively low but [the] consequences of conviction for you are quite grave, and in my view out of all proportion to the offending itself,” he said.
The athlete was also granted permanent name suppression.
After the sentencing, the victim’s mother, a lawyer, told the Herald she was furious with the decision after having told her daughter that the justice system worked.
“It tells young women men can do whatever they like,” she said of the decision to grant a discharge.
In her opinion, she said: “I can no longer encourage young people to go to the police when terrible things happen to them. It’s kind of shaken my view of that as well. I thought the right outcome would be reached and it wasn’t.”
Watching her child go through the court process had been “terrible” and she said the teen had become anxious and barely attended school.
“My daughter said it was a waste of time girls pressing charges because [perpetrators] always get off. I had said, ‘No, it was the right thing to do’ and I had confidence in our justice system. I no longer have confidence in our justice system. It is not there for the victims. It is only for the perpetrators,” she said, in her opinion.
“She’s been suicidal at times, had eating issues, sleeping issues. It’s been full-on.”
In a statement to the court read by a friend, the victim asked for the man’s identity to be revealed in the hope he could never prey on another person again.
“It is impossible to put into words the impact of this predator’s actions ... I was 15 and he was an adult,” she said.
“His sick crimes made me conscious around boys, so I moved to a single-sex school ... I should be a carefree flourishing young lady, but instead, I am a shell of a person.”
The victim was not present in court for the sentencing, but her statement said men now scare her and her relationship with her father has been impacted.
“His assaults aggravated my anxiety and I wanted to stay in bed for days. He might be able to move on, but I can’t.”
The athlete and teen met over the social media application Snapchat in 2021. Their messages turned sexual and the athlete sent nude images of himself to the teen.
The two later met in person, with the teen travelling to the man’s flat where there was sexual contact. They would later have “brief” intercourse in his car.
Crown prosecutor Claire Hislop had advocated for the man to be convicted and his identity revealed. The Herald has asked if the Crown is considering an appeal of Judge Davidson’s decision.
Police charged the man more than a year after the meetings, and he has been unable to compete internationally and represent New Zealand in his chosen sport.
Hislop said the offending was serious and the “very high” threshold for both applications, in her assessment, wasn’t met.
However, the man’s lawyer, Hugo Porter, successfully advocated for his client to be discharged without conviction and argued the impact of a conviction far outweighed the gravity of the offending.
He said a conviction and stigma would follow the man for life. Porter said if his client, who has been cast out by social and sports training circles, was named in the press he would be made a pariah.
“It is not minimising what he’s done, but the nature of the convictions are such as he’s put the Olympic dream aside,” Porter said.
The athlete completed more than 300 hours of community service before sentencing, along with other “proactive” gestures like counselling and offering to pay the victim $2000 in emotional harm reparation.
The victim’s mother said she felt terrible because the permanent suppression order would allow the man to coach young women without them knowing.
“When they do a police check to see if he can be a coach, he comes up clean.”
She said the case has been distressing for her daughter and she has struggled at school because of it.
“The process has been horrific, she was so brave to go and give an evidential interview and do all those things. What’s the point? He got off scot-free and this was where he admitted having sex with her. He didn’t deny it. He admitted having sex with an underage girl.”
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers social issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
