Michael Curtis made an admission in 2025 about the murder of toddler Nia Glassie (inset). Photo / NZME
The Rotorua Daily Post covered more than 100 court cases in the Rotorua District Court, High Court and through the New Zealand Parole Board in 2025.
They include New Zealand’s biggest objectionable material importer, a bombshell admission in the Nia Glassie case 17 years after the toddler’s death, the revelation of a key entertainment figure on sex crime charges and details around a 3-year-old’s kidnapping from a local childcare centre.
Senior journalist Kelly Makiha takes a look at some of Rotorua’s high-profile criminal cases in 2025.
Some readers may find details of these cases distressing.
More than 17 years after the murder of Rotorua 3-year-old Nia Glassie, one of the men jailed for her death admitted for the first time that he inflicted the fatal blow.
Michael Curtis told a New Zealand Parole Board hearing in January 2025 he was responsible for the final kick to the head that caused Nia’s death.
Her murder followed months of abuse, torture and neglect at the hands of those supposed to care for her.
During a trial, Michael Curtis blamed his brother, Wiremu Curtis.
The two brothers were found guilty of murder and jailed for life with 17 years’ non-parole.
Their first appearances before the Parole Board were at the start of 2025.
At Michael Curtis’ Parole Board hearing, he dropped the bombshell that it was he who inflicted the fatal injury.
When asked why he did it, his explanation was: “Just going through heaps of stuff, and yeah, I was just an idiot.”
Parole Board member Dr Jeremy Skipworth said Michael Curtis’ response was not good enough.
“With respect, Mr Curtis, going through heaps of stuff and being an idiot is an incredibly inadequate explanation for some of the most extreme violence on a child, on a very young child, that I have ever seen.”
Upon hearing his brother had admitted Nia’s murder, Wiremu Curtis told the Parole Board at his February hearing: “I told yous from the start I was innocent.”
Wiremu Curtis reiterated to the Parole Board that it wasn’t him who delivered the fatal kick.
Wiremu Curtis said his brother stabbed him afterwards because he refused to confess.
Neither brother got parole and they will reappear before the Parole Board at the start of 2026.
Wiremu Curtis’ lawyer, David Allan, hinted at the Parole Board hearing that they would appeal his murder conviction, but no appeal was lodged.
Nia suffered three months of torture leading up to her death at her Frank St house.
Among the abuse she suffered was being put over a burning fire, thrown at walls and dropped from heights.
She was put in a dryer and it was turned on, and she was hung on a clothes line and spun until she fell.
It was while the Curtis brothers were using Nia to practise wrestling moves that she was fatally kicked in the head.
But her death wasn’t quick.
Her mother Lisa Kuka came home to find her daughter semi-conscious in a soiled bed. She bathed her and put her back to bed before celebrating Michael Curtis’ 21st birthday at the house while her daughter lay dying.
Nia was left for 33 hours before medical help was sought.
She died 13 days later on August 3, 2007.
Kuka was jailed for nine years on two counts of manslaughter.
Jae Christopher McLennan, from Rotorua, fought for nearly two years to keep his identity secret.
But in November 2025, he lost his appeal and the Rotorua Daily Post published that he was convicted of what was described as New Zealand’s “most serious” case of imported objectionable material.
McLennan was jailed in August 2024 for seven years and three months after being found with more than 50,000 secretly downloaded photos and videos showing the graphic sexual abuse of infants, children and women.
Despite losing his name suppression fight, McLennan was successful on appeal to the High Court in having his sentence slashed by two years – meaning he is now serving five years and three months’ jail.
McLennan pleaded guilty to three representative charges, including importing objectionable publications and two counts of possessing objectionable publications.
It was revealed at his sentencing that McLennan’s material showed mainly Asian victims, many of whom were children and likely the subject of trafficking.
The material included depictions of child sexual exploitation, necrophilia, rape, torture, defecation, bestiality and homicide.
A police summary provided to the Rotorua Daily Post said child sexual exploitation material was the result of real exploitation or sexual abuse.
The summary said the man’s offending was picked up by a New Zealand Customs investigator who traced the offending to a house in Rotorua.
Crown Solicitor Amanda Gordon, appearing for Customs, said at the sentencing she could not find another case in New Zealand involving such a large number of photos and videos.
Rotorua District Court judge Greg Hollister-Jones said he came close to imposing the maximum term of 10 years.
“This is so, so serious … We cannot have a civil society if we have this,” Judge Hollister-Jones said.
He agreed with the Crown’s submission that it was the “most serious” possession case in New Zealand.
After three years of secrecy, Tauranga-based music promoter and former festival owner Pato Alvarez was revealed as the leading entertainment figure found guilty of sex crimes.
Alvarez, whose full name is Patricio Andres Alvarez-Riveros, first appeared in court in 2022.
The Rotorua Daily Post covered his three-month trial in 2023 and his name suppression lapsed when he was sentenced to 12 months’ home detention later that year.
But he appealed the end of his name suppression to the Court of Appeal. When that failed, he applied for leave for the Supreme Court to hear the case.
A Supreme Court judgment, released in September 2025, said it was not persuaded Alvarez would face undue hardship if his name were published.
Alvarez is the Bay Dreams and One Love founder and former owner, was involved in the failed Juicy Fest and Timeless Summer Tour last year and was the promoter for a Snoop Dogg concert in Auckland this year that fell over shortly after his name was revealed.
A jury found Alvarez guilty in August 2023 of two of the 25 charges he faced. A majority of the charges alleged sexual assault and drug-related offending.
He was found guilty of the indecent assault and attempted sexual violation of a woman hired as a babysitter.
Every parent’s worst nightmare was played out when John Tekuru jumped an early childhood centre’s fence and kidnapped a 3-year-old.
He intended to sexually abuse her, but the little girl cried so much he didn’t go through with his plans.
The 19-year-old Rotorua man took the girl unnoticed on March 10, 2025 – sparking questions from an early childhood advocate about how it could happen.
Tekuru will be sentenced on January 23 after pleading guilty to taking the toddler with the intent to have an unlawful sexual connection with her.
Police obtained security footage that showed Tekuru loitering outside the centre’s grounds for more than an hour on the morning he snatched her.
He peeped over and perched on the 2m-high boundary fence and jumped into a play area twice.
The first time, he threw a ball over the fence, then left.
The second time, he picked up the girl near the sandpit and dropped her over the fence.
Tekuru carried her towards his home but let her go when she cried hysterically.
She ran back to the centre gate, where staff found her about two minutes after she was taken.
Police arrested Tekuru later that day. He told them he intended to rape the girl at home.
The name of the early childhood centre is permanently suppressed to protect the victim’s identity.
The Rotorua Daily Post asked the centre four times how it happened and if it had formally apologised to the family involved and offered compensation. No specific details were released.
An explanation the centre eventually offered in a statement was “this situation happened because someone, unknown to the centre, had been loitering outside and chose to enter the centre, with intent”.
The centre said it was not deliberately trying to omit information and said it was distressing for all involved.
But early childhood advocate Dr Sarah Alexander alleged a cover-up by education officials, claiming the Ministry of Education was not being transparent enough – she believed information must be shared to stop it happening again.
While the ministry backtracked on an initial claim that the centre did not breach regulations, it also said there was no cover-up and it legally could not reveal some incident details.
If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you’ve ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
Alternatively, contact your local police station – click here for a list.
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.