The man admitted attempting to make an intimate visual recording. Photo / Bloomberg
An Auckland sex worker whose client tried to illegally film her using Meta glasses claims he used his smart watch to wipe his devices before police searched his belongings.
The engineer pleaded guilty to attempting to make an intimate visual recording at the Auckland CBD brothel last year, and is now fighting in court to keep his name secret.
A new law preventing judges from granting permanent suppression to anyone convicted of a sex offence without victim-consent does not apply because he was granted a discharge without conviction, a judge said.
According to the summary of facts, his offending was discovered when the worker noticed him touching the upper right side of his glasses and saw a light flick on.
After this, she took his glasses and went to the reception to call police.
She told the Herald she also took his pants and his phone, and left him in the room.
While he was in there, she believes he used his Apple Watch to wipe his devices.
She says by the time police got to his home and searched his devices, they told her they had been wiped clear and no illegal footage was found.
“I shudder to think what images he had, because if I was so desperate to clear every device that I owned in two f***ing minutes, what am I trying to hide?”
Police were unable to comment before deadline for this story.
Through his lawyer, the engineer declined to comment.
The discharge without conviction has left the woman angry, and she does not believe those who commit sex crimes should be eligible for a discharge.
“Men like this, in today’s modern age of technology, are particularly dangerous.”
She believes the outcome of her case sends the message that other men can “get away with this too, because look, this guy did it”.
“It tells [sex workers] that the law doesn’t care about us, it tells them that our safety doesn’t matter,” she told the Herald.
“It means that we have to be so much more vigilant with our own safety, and we have to treat everyone like a potential predator, which is not fair.”
In court this week, the man’s lawyer argued he would lose his job as a software engineer if he were named.
This, the worker said, was exactly why he needed to be identified.
“This is why I called the police. This is why I requested he didn’t get name suppression, because I’m concerned for the women in his life.”
She said that after his offending, she left her workplace because she no longer felt safe there.
“It’s been hugely tough on me financially, it’s been incredibly stressful.”
She said the $1000 reparation he paid her would not even cover her therapy bill.
“We don’t do this work because we enjoy it. We do this work because we need to. We do this work because we are in a situation in life where we desperately need to be able to get ahead and that’s the only way that we can do it.”
While she did not usually trust police, she reported the crime because she “recognised a predator”.
“I just knew that this was a dangerous man, and I recognised the severity of what he was doing.
“The public deserves to know if there is a sex offender living alongside them. I think women especially deserve to know if their colleagues, friends, family members have committed sex crimes.”
Potential immigration consequences were raised at the man’s sentencing as one of the reasons he sought a discharge without conviction.
While his victim is pro-immigration generally, she believes men who have committed sexual crimes should be immediately deported.
The defendant’s lawyer Sam Teppett told the North Shore District Court this week that the man would lose his job if he were named.
He also referenced social media commentary about the case, and said while traditional media were bound by reporting rules, the same did not apply on social media and sites like Reddit.
Teppett urged Judge Anna Fitzgibbon to consider his application cumulatively, including the impacts that would flow on to those close to the man.
The Herald is unable to report other aspects of the application for legal reasons.
At the man’s sentencing, Teppett argued his client should be granted a discharge without conviction as the consequences of a conviction would outweigh the gravity of the offending.
If convicted, the man was likely to lose his job in the software industry and would not be able to get another, Teppett argued.
A conviction of this nature in the man’s industry “simply wouldn’t fly” with current or future employers.
Teppett said there would also be immigration consequences for the man and his family that could potentially “tear apart his family unit”.
The man had no prior convictions, had shown extraordinary remorse and had donated money to a charity associated with sex workers, Teppett said.
Police strongly opposed the application for discharge without conviction and said no affidavit from the employer had been provided.
“The employer should know about this offence,” prosecutor Bronson Burgess said.
Immigration New Zealand should be made aware of the full nature of a person’s history, Burgess said.
The agency’s understanding of the defendant would be limited if he was not convicted for the offending.
Not imposing a conviction would also send the wrong message about safety to sex workers.
Burgess said the man claimed he had stopped watching pornography and seeing escorts. But if he returned to visiting sex workers, “they should be entitled to know who they’re offering services to for their own safety”.
In his view, there was a “level of premeditation” to the offending, as the man had taken a shower and put the glasses back on afterwards.
During last year’s sentencing hearing, Judge Fitzgibbon said the defendant claimed that pressing the record button was a “spontaneous decision” as he was struggling to maintain an erection.
The man’s early guilty plea, remorse, willingness to attend restorative justice, donation to the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective and ability to maintain employment were mitigating factors.
The judge found the consequences of a conviction would be disproportionate to the offending.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers issues such as sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
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