A Dunedin entertainment industry figure who paid a 15 year-old for sex is appealing against his prison sentence.
By Tess Brunton of RNZ
Michael McLeod, who is the former owner of Dunedin pub The Captain Cook Hotel, was jailed for two years and three months for contracting the minor for sex on July 15.
He previously admitted supplying methamphetamine and cannabis.
In sentencing, Dunedin District Court judge David Robinson described McLeod's behaviour as sickening and unconscionable.
The High Court confirmed an appeal has been lodged.
The Captain Cook Hotel was renamed Dive in 2020 before it closed in 2023 after being served eviction notices.
McLeod, who was 40 at the time of the offending, replied to an ad claiming to be an 18-year-old offering sexual services.
He was instead in contact with a different man who had effectively coerced the 15-year-old girl into sex work, plying her with drugs and encouraging her to sell them.
McLeod picked her up for their first liaison in April 2023.
The second time, they had sex on a couch in the backroom of his bar after he gave her a vape and vodka.
He also gave her $500.
McLeod added the girl on Instagram so they could directly message after discovering there was a third person involved.
The third time they met up, they did not have sex.
McLeod instead offered her methamphetamine, holding the pipe and lighting it for her to smoke before giving her money.
Robinson said McLeod continued to meet the girl after he came to believe she was 16 and made no effort to check her age.
Their liaisons continued for about five months, when he sometimes gave her cannabis and methamphetamine as well as paying her for sex.
A police search of McLeod's Dunedin home in August 2024 uncovered methamphetamine and a pipe as well as videos of sex acts with the girl, including some she had sent, on his computer.
Prosecutor Zoe Kellam said there was an element of grooming as McLeod gave the girl drugs and alcohol and formed a pattern of exploitation that reduced her inhibitions.
McLeod's lawyer Sarah Saunderson-Warner said her client was very remorseful because he initially thought the girl was an adult and that she was already involved in sex work.
He had begun using methamphetamine and sex workers as he struggled to cope with personal demons but had undergone significant rehabilitation since then, she said.
Saunderson-Warner argued that McLeod should be sentenced to home detention but Robinson said he needed to be held accountable and others deterred.
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