A serial teen sex offender is fighting to keep his name secret, on the basis publication will “mark him forever.”
The 19-year-old was sentenced in April to a year’s home detention and a year of post-detention counselling after pleading guilty to a raft of sexual offences against six young women, several of whom he went to high school with in Auckland.
Three of his survivors - Mia Edmonds, Rosie Veldkamp, and Ellie Oram spoke out about their experiences in a Sunday special report last month. They said the attacks they suffered as teenagers had changed their lives forever, and used the case to call for compulsory consent education in schools.
The offender lost name suppression when he was sentenced in the Auckland District Court in April, but his lawyer appealed it, meaning the media can’t name him.
In the High Court in Auckland on Tuesday, the appellant’s lawyer Emma Priest said he would suffer extreme hardship if his name were to be made public. Priest pointed to media coverage of the case and ensuing commentary on social media, including “suggestions that [he] ought to be castrated or raped in prison”.
Priest outlined the risk of “vigilante justice” and said there had been several incidents where people had attacked the appellants home, including the throwing of condoms filled with faeces.
She the appellant was having suicidal thoughts, and had earlier been diagnosed with autism, as well as having substance abuse issues.
“The very real risk of suicide exists here.”
“To be labelled a serial teen rapist would be too much for [him] to bear.”
Lawyers for Stuff, TVNZ and NZME argued the grounds for extreme hardship had not been met.
Lawyer for NZME Kristin Wilson argued “victims were screaming in pain and saying ‘no’…[the appellant] is not the victim here.”
Wilson also argued to have the school’s permanent name suppression lifted, saying “everyone in the community already knows the school”.
Regarding the appellant’s mental health lawyer for Stuff and TVNZ, Daniel Nilsson said that since receiving a diagnosis of autism, the appellant was in a better space and had “significant support in place”.
“We need to be careful the fear of social media backlash doesn’t stifle responsible reporting,” he said.
Representing the school, lawyer Katie Hogan said it would become the focus “of a national debate” if its name was made public.
She rejected claims that all in the community know the school’s name, saying “‘there’s no evidence to support that”.
The teenage offender was present at Tuesday’s hearing, and was helped by a communication assistant. His parents were also present.
In sentencing earlier this year by Judge Claire Ryan, she told the offender he’d had a “lucky break”.
She discounted his seven-and-a-half-year sentence by 73% due to his age, mental health issues and guilty plea.
“You know and I know that what you did to these young women was appalling,” Judge Ryan said.
“You have the rest of your life to make good, to make up for what you have done.”
Justice Simon Moore reserved his decision on permanent name suppression for the teenager and the school, to be released in the coming weeks. Suppression will continue until then.
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