Joseph Lavell Parker (right) and Beraiah Hales were the ringleaders of the Roast Busters group. They are pictured at the time of the scandal in 2013. Photo / Supplied
Joseph Lavell Parker (right) and Beraiah Hales were the ringleaders of the Roast Busters group. They are pictured at the time of the scandal in 2013. Photo / Supplied
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To mark the Herald on Sunday's 15th anniversary, we have gone back to some of our biggest newsmakers to find out where they are now.
Roast Busters was a case that disgusted, shocked and angered New Zealand.
A "gang" of teenage boys who boasted on social media about their sexualactivity with underage and drunk girls.
Claims of rape by the group at West Auckland parties.
No one was ever charged in relation to the allegations - despite the police investigation and an exhaustive review - due to a lack of evidence.
The young woman who was 13 when she was allegedly assaulted did not want to speak about her life five years on from the Roast Busters saga.
She said it had been a "long and hard process" going through the police investigation which turned out to be "an absolute waste of time".
"At the end of all of it there was no positive outcome for the victims at all and by the end of it whatever dignity I had left in the situation was gone."
She said what happened to her still caused significant issues in her life - mainly in her relationships.
Beraiah Hales photographed at his birthday in March 2019. Photograph / Facebook
She did not want to talk about Parker and Hales, believing it would give them "more satisfaction and fame for something they should be in jail for".
In January 2014 Hales was the first Roast Buster to speak in an interview with the Herald, saying he was "one of the most hated people in New Zealand".
He denied any wrongdoing.
"As long as I know the truth I'll be fine," he said.
"Nothing on the videos or anything on Facebook is/was illegal. Why would I be worried?"
Hales has spent time living out of Auckland in the wake of the Roast Busters furore.
He declined to speak about his life after the investigation, sending a thumbs down emoji in response to a request for an interview.
Parker spoke out earlier this year, mainly to promote a crowdfunding campaign to help launch his new music career.
Now reportedly based in Los Angeles, Parker claimed he was a born-again Christian and no longer used drugs or alcohol.
Joseph Parker, son of actor Anthony Ray Parker, in a more recent photograph. Photo / Facebook
In December, Parker uploaded a song on YouTube called Trophies which addresses Roast Busters and how he sought fame through it.
"I just did it for LOLs, just for a story to say, I never knew it would turn into what it did but the next day everyone was talking about it," Parker says in the song.
"He took me in when I was a train wreck like literally I was a mess - addicted to porn heavily, couldn't stop myself from perusing meaningless sex which never solved anything.
"Couldn't stop smoking weed, it was literally just a coping mechanism for me I used as a crutch to make each day bearable, spending all the money I didn't have on it.
"Couldn't even connect with people properly because I felt so guilty and shameful about who I was and the choices I had made. I was completely lost.
"God took me in, gave me a new song in my heart, one of peace love & mercy even though i didn't deserve it."
The Herald confirmed during the investigation that Tristan Burrow, the son of police Constable Craig Burrow, was associated with the Roast Busters group in 2011.
He was interviewed by police and co-operated with the investigation, but has had no involvement since.
