Jason Trembath appears in Rotorua District Court. Photo / Kelly Makiha
Repeat sexual offender Jason Trembath breached his parole conditions and was the subject of complaints to the police in the weeks before he was arrested for doing an indecent act in front of an international tourist in Rotorua.
The Department of Corrections says it was still investigating the potential breaches when Trembath was arrested and charged with doing an indecent act in a public place.
Trembath, 34, was last week jailed for 12 months after pleading guilty to the charge from the February 17 incident. The tourist was left shaken after Trembath asked her for directions in a carpark then followed her in his car, yelling out, after she saw what he was doing and walked away “disgusted”.
At the time, he was on parole after being sentenced in 2019 to five years and four months in jail for serial groping offences and a charge of making an intimate visual recording. He was released on parole in 2021 and breached it shortly after release by going on Tinder. He was back on parole when he was arrested in February and recalled to prison.
His original prison term will end on December 31, when his new 12-month sentence will begin.
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Sentencing Trembath last week, Judge John McDonald said the defendant’s “sexual deviancy and apparent sense of entitlement and anti-social behaviours” meant there was a risk he would re-offend.
Trembath, a former representative cricket player, made headlines in 2019 following what was described as a “bizarre grabbing spree” where he would target women out walking by running up to them, grabbing their private parts and running off again. His victims included schoolgirls and women walking with their young children.
The offences happened in Rotorua, Hawke’s Bay and Havelock North between 2017 and 2019. Before his arrest for the gropings, police in Hawke’s Bay issued a plea for the public’s help to identify him, along with CCTV images.
Trembath’s alleged parole breaches and complaints to police about his behaviour in the weeks before his offending this year were revealed in a New Zealand Parole Board decision from a March 20 hearing released to the Rotorua Daily Post.
The decision said a senior probation officer signed an affidavit to say a complaint was made to police by a woman in January that Trembath was sending her inappropriate messages and calling her. Phone records confirmed the calls came from his phone.
The decision said Trembath was on Bumble and Tinder and formed a relationship with at least one woman without disclosing this to his probation officer.
A Corrections officer doing a “check-in” on January 31 searched his phone but found Trembath had deleted all his texts and call history. However, a phone company was able to retrieve data that confirmed contact with the January police complainant. The content of his chats also suggested he was drinking alcohol.
A further complaint was made to police in February by a woman who didn’t want her details disclosed, the decision said.
Corrections was represented at the Parole Board hearing by Crown Solicitor Anna Pollett. The decision said Pollett submitted Trembath had breached his parole condition around notifying probation of an intimate relationship. She said he had also likely been consuming alcohol, had misused his phone and engaged in high-risk behaviour in his interactions online.
She said Corrections was also concerned he had deleted his call and message history.
The decision said Trembath admitted he failed to disclose his relationship but denied drinking alcohol and did not accept he had engaged in inappropriate or high-risk behaviour towards women online.
“He presented himself as a victim of negative publicity and suggested that the women had complained to the police only because of what he has done in the past, as distinct from any inappropriate behaviour toward them,” the decision said.
The Parole Board hearing was nearly two months before Trembath pleaded guilty to the indecent act charge. He denied that offending at the board hearing, however, giving what the board described as an “utterly implausible” explanation.
It said Trembath claimed a cyst on his leg had burst while he was playing tennis that day and caused him discomfort while driving afterwards. He said he pulled over to attend to the cyst and rolled his shorts up to examine it. He claimed he did this near where the international tourist was walking because it was private and he thought the woman would continue walking forward.
He told the board he apologised if she had seen anything but claimed he had been wearing underwear under his shorts and that he was “pretty sure” his private parts were not exposed.
The decision said the board had no hesitation the grounds for recall had been met, that Trembath had breached the conditions of his parole and that he posed an undue risk. It made the final order recalling him to prison.
“We reject Mr Trembath’s explanations of the Rotorua incident as utterly implausible and it is clear to us that notwithstanding his detailed safety plan, he has chosen to put himself into high-risk situations and to deceive probation. It is very troubling that Mr Trembath has no insight into his own behaviours which appears to be compulsive and brazen.”
At the sentencing last week, Trembath’s lawyer, Steven Mutch, said Trembath accepted what he had done and said on the day of the indecent act the defendant was “wound up” after playing tennis.
The Rotorua Daily Post asked Corrections why Trembath had not been recalled to prison earlier.
In a written response, regional commissioner Terry Buffery said it had to supply clear evidence the grounds for recall were met, noting a previous final recall application for Trembath had been declined by the board.
Buffery said staff were still gathering evidence on the potential parole breaches to support another recall application when Trembath was arrested for the indecent act.
“This included jointly investigating with police, seeking advice from Corrections’ High-Risk Response Team, engaging with people known to him to seek information and referring him for re-engagement with a psychologist.”
A final recall application after his arrest included Corrections’ information suggesting the relationship and alcohol use. The application was granted.
Police confirmed to the Rotorua Daily Post complaints about Trembath were made to police in Hamilton and Cambridge in January and February. No charges had been laid.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.
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