A sperm donor who donated to several Kiwi women has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for sexual offending against children.
Liam 'Chappy' Nixon, 27, was one of the sperm donors exposed in a Sunday documentary about online sperm donation, which aired in September.
Sarah*, one of the women who received Nixon's sperm through a New Zealand clinic, said she had no idea about Nixon's sexual offending when they met online, as it had not yet been reported on.
Some of Nixon's offending, which happened between 2016 and 2022, occurred while he was in contact with Sarah, and she was receiving his sperm via a clinic. She fell pregnant last year, but miscarried in the first trimester. She found out months later via a Facebook post that Nixon was facing a raft of serious charges.
"It felt like I'd been kicked in the chest by a horse. I felt physically ill," Sarah told Sunday. "Once it sunk in, I felt a massive wave of relief, I felt so thankful that I never conceived a child to him."
Nixon was open about his sperm donation prior to his sexual offending becoming public, and even appeared on an overseas Youtube channel to talk about donating sperm.
Nixon said he'd donated "the maximum number of times" through the clinic. "It's five families, up to 12 kids for the whole five families," he said, adding that he would have liked the opportunity to meet any children he fathered.
Nixon was sentenced in the Greymouth District Court on Wednesday to three years and 10 months imprisonment for sexual abuse and online sexual material charges against four victims.
Charges included indecent assault on a male victim when he was 10 and sexual connection with the same victim while still under 16.
There were also serious charges related to possessing and distributing child exploitation material involving male victims in New Zealand and Australia who were all under 16.
West Coast Investigations Manager Detective Senior Sergeant Kirsten Norton said yesterday she commends the bravery shown by the victims to come forward.
"We acknowledge the significant trauma and long-lasting effects these incidents will have on the victims and their families. Despite a result in court, these traumatic events will be with them for the rest of their lives."
Norton credited the "tenacious work" by detectives in Greymouth, as well as Australian Federal police officers, and urged other victims of sexual offending to come forward.
"Our officers worked tirelessly on this case to ensure that we got justice for our victims, as well as ensuring the offender was held accountable for his actions."
Sentence a 'kick in the guts'
On Nixon's sentence, Sarah said she hopes he "rots in hell".
"His actions to his child victims and also the women he lied to impacted many lives."
Another woman, Emma, who received Nixon's sperm and had to have her final embryo destroyed after learning of his offending, said his sentence is a "kick in the guts".
"So many lives crushed by what this person has done, the victims, their families and women like me who picked his profile to be a sperm donor only to have my dream of becoming a mum destroyed."
The clinic that facilitated Nixon's sperm donations said it's recently strengthened its vetting processes for donors, and has decided that future donors will be subject to police checking.
"Unfortunately, whilst we will try to do the best for all our donors and recipients, there is no screening process that will prevent a donor or a prospective parent from committing a crime in the future," the clinic said.
Emma said she wants to see donors vetted "every year they are active" in order to ensure donors aren't offending or being investigated by police while they are donating.
Sperm donors exposed for trying to manipulate women into sex
As demand for sperm has skyrocketed to a point where fertility clinics simply cannot keep up, donations are moving out of the medical field and into the hands of DIY donors, creating an environment some say is ripe for exploitation.
September 17, 2023
28:46
She said she wants the clinic to use her experience to educate future donors and recipients about what can go wrong when using a sperm donor.
* not her real name
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