Step-dad jailed for sex lessons

A man has been jailed after he gave sex "lessons" to his 16-year-old step-daughter.

The man also posed as the girl's mother, and sent the girl emails saying the lessons she was receiving were okay. The emails included pictures of the man and the girl's mother engaged in sexual acts.

The Central North Island man, aged in his 30s, was sentenced in the Rotorua District Court and jailed for nine months yesterday, with leave to apply for home detention.

He had admitted attempted sexual connection with a dependent family member, four charges of sexual connection with a dependant family member and five charges of performing an indecent act on a dependent family member. The offending ended, after three months, in January this year.

It had started after the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, decided to give the girl sex lessons after she told him she was in a relationship. During the lessons the man touched his step-daughter sexually.

He also touched himself in front of the girl and convinced the girl to perform sex acts.

Police were told of the offending after the man was caught in bed with his step-daughter.

During the period he gave the girl lessons, the man had used the internet to pretend to be the girl's mother.

In the guise of the mother, the man emailed the teenager pictures of himself engaged in sex acts with her mother.

As the "mother", he told the girl the lessons were okay.

Crown prosecutor Taryn Bailey told the court the man had "groomed" the girl for his own sexual gratification.

"This was serious sexual offending with a vulnerable victim, breaching a level of trust," she said.

Defence lawyer Dafydd Malcolm said the offending was at the lower end of scale and sexual contact was mutual between the pair. A prison sentence would be harmful for both the victim, her mother and other family members, he said.

After his arrest, the man told police he had wanted the girl to be safe and he may have got "carried away" with affection the girl showed him.

Judge Chris McGuire said he took into account the early plea of guilty, the offender's remorse, his willingness to rehabilitate and his lack of prior convictions.

However, there had been a serious breach of trust.

"This was no single mistake or error of judgement. The extra steps that the prisoner took to groom the complainant is a serious feature of this case," said Judge McGuire.

The man's construction of the false persona was designed to groom her for "further and more serious sexual conduct".