Rotorua and Hawke’s Bay serial groper Jason Trembath jailed for doing indecent act

Jason Trembath appears in the Rotorua District Court on Thursday. Photo / Kelly Makiha

Repeat sexual offender Jason Trembath, who was jailed for previous serial groping offences, has been jailed for another 12 months after following a woman in a central Rotorua carpark and doing an indecent act.

Trembath, a former representative cricket player, appeared in the Rotorua District Court today for sentencing, after previously admitting doing an indecent act in a public place, while on parole.

In sentencing him to 12 months’ prison, to be served after his current prison sentence, which finishes at the end of this year, Judge John McDonald noted Trembath had a high risk of reoffending because of his “sexual deviancy” and “self-entitled” attitude.

Trembath committed the latest offence while on parole for previous offending in Rotorua, Hawke’s Bay and Havelock North between 2017 to 2019.

He would run up to women, targeting those in activewear, in what was described in court at the time as a “bizarre grabbing spree” before running away.

Some of his victims were schoolgirls and others had their young children with them.

He was jailed in June 2019 for five years and four months for 11 charges of indecent assault. It was revealed in court at the time the disgraced former senior Bay of Plenty representative and Hawke’s Bay club cricketer had methamphetamine, pornography and gambling addictions.

His latest offending on February 17 this year was the second time he had breached his parole after being recalled to prison in May 2021 - only nine days after being released - for buying a phone and contacting women on dating app Tinder.

This was despite parole conditions that he not possess or access any electronic device capable of accessing the internet.

He was released again in August 2021 on a “last chance” basis.

Judge McDonald said Trembath went to The Warehouse carpark area about 7.30pm and asked an international tourist for directions to McDonald’s, which the judge said was a ruse, considering Trembath had lived most of his life in Rotorua and would have known where it was.

McDonald said the woman noticed Trembath was doing an indecent act. “Disgusted and upset”, she tried to walk away. But Trembath followed her, driving alongside her and calling out to her, while pointing to a part on his body.

He eventually gave up and drove away.

The maximum sentence for the offence was two years’ jail but Trembath’s lawyer, Steven Mutch, suggested a starting point of six months, uplifted to nine months, taking into account two months’ jail for breaching parole and one month for his previous convictions.

Mutch said that on the day of the offence, Trembath had just completed a day of playing tennis and was “wound up”.

He suggested the six-month starting point, saying Trembath remained in his vehicle, no children were present and it was over a short period.

Judge McDonald disagreed.

He noted a pre-sentence report said Trembath still had the support of his family and some friends but he was assessed as a high risk of reoffending.

“Your sexual deviancy and apparent sense of entitlement and anti-social behaviours and belief make you a high risk of reoffending.”

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.