Queenstown suppressed indecency case

Queenstown

The Queenstown suppressed indecency case was a police investigation and court case in New Zealand from 2011 to 2014 in which a celebrity was accused of, pleaded guilty to and was convicted of "performing an indecent act intended to insult or offend" against a woman in Queenstown and later discharged without conviction and given permanent name suppression.[1] The case fuelled discussion and controversy in New Zealand over the use by courts of suppression orders to protect the identity of perpetrators of higher social status.

Alleged event

The female complainant (later named as Louise Hemsley) said the man was a friend of her husband, and visited their home over a three-year period.[1] She said the offence took place in her own home, in November 2011.[2] On this visit, the man grabbed her, groping and tongue kissing her, and placed his hand inside her knickers, then as she pushed him away, he placed her hand on to his penis.[1] She said her husband then arrived home, and she left as the man made a non-verbal mimicry of an oral sex act at her.[1]

Complaint and committal for trial

The complainant said she was interviewed by police a few days later and on their advice telephoned the defendant.[1] The defendant was originally going to be referred to a diversion programme.[3] The man appeared in the Alexandra court in May 2012 where he was committed for trial at the Dunedin District Court for indecent assault.[4]

Trial and guilty plea

Dunedin courthouse (right)

In August 2012, the accused appeared in the Dunedin District Court and pleaded guilty to a charge of performing an indecent act intended to insult or offend,[1] a charge under Section 126 the Crimes Act 1961.[5] The man was convicted and ordered to pay $5000 emotional harm reparation and $1500 in counselling costs.[1]

Appeal

In September 2013, appealed to the New Zealand Court of Appeal in Wellington against the conviction and for permanent name suppression.[6] The defendant's lawyer argued that his client had pleaded guilty to avoid a public trial assuming he would be offered diversion or a discharge without conviction.[1] The appeal court referred the case back to the Dunedin District Court.[1]

Discharge

The man re-appeared in Dunedin District Court in March 2014 where he was ordered to pay $6500 to the complainant and discharged without conviction[3] with a permanent suppression order preventing the publication (in New Zealand) of the man's name, occupation and former occupations, anything likely to lead to his identity, or cast speculation on any other person of a similar class or type.[7]

Name suppression controversy

The complainant felt that the verdict was "not really a win" and that the defendant was "a dirty bastard and people should know."[1]

There was public disquiet in Otago after the verdict.[8]

Following news of Operation Yewtree in Britain and the subsequent trial of Australian entertainer Rolf Harris, a member of the New Zealand Parliament, Maggie Barry, described a groping by Harris during a studio interview she conducted in her previous broadcasting career.[9] Retired parliamentarian Rodney Hide taunted her in a newspaper column, urging her to use her parliamentary privilege to breach the name suppression order.[10]

Naming of the defendant on Internet

Fuelled by the Harris case, people in New Zealand began distributing the defendant's name on Internet sites including Facebook and Wikipedia.[7] The man was also named in Australia by an Australian blogger.[7] New Zealand law professor Mark Henaghan said New Zealanders would not be breaching the suppression by reading such information, but that the situation showed the difficulty of enforcing suppression orders in the modern age and across borders.[7]

Legal threat over suppression breaches

In July 2014, the defendant said that everyone in his home town knew he was the "prominent man" described in the media and that he had been fired from a job by an employer who had heard that he was the defendant.[11] He said his lawyer was "on the warpath" for those who had published his name online.[11]

Defendant meets Leader of the Opposition

While campaigning for the 2014 New Zealand general election, New Zealand Labour Party leader David Cunliffe met the defendant. Cunliffe said he had arranged for the person to meet a Labour candidate but that he had no idea about the person's controversial background and that had he known, no such meeting would have taken place.[12]

Complainant's waiver of her own name suppression

The compainant waived her right to automatic name suppression in October 2014, enabling her to tell her story, and her name Louise Hemsley became known.[2]

Naming of the defendant by former MP

Tau Henare, a retired member of the New Zealand Parliament, appeared in Henderson District Court in December 2014 charged with knowingly breaching suppression orders under the Criminal Procedure Act.[13][14] The charge related to an alleged posting on social media in 2014 of the name of the defendant in the Queenstown suppressed indecency case, when the defendant's identity was subject to a suppression order.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 McNeilly, Hamish (5 March 2014). "'What does ... justice mean?'". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 20 July 2014. ... performing an indecent act intended to insult or offend a woman.
  2. 1 2 'Sex offence victim calls for high profile offender to be named' on TVNZ news website, dated 2014-10-21, viewed 2014-12-01
  3. 1 2 "Prominent man avoids indecency conviction". Otago Daily Times, dated 2014-03-05, viewed 2014-07-21
  4. ↑ "Wakatipu man set for trial in Dunedin". Mountain Scene, dated 2012-05-10, viewed 2014-07-21
  5. ↑ "126 Indecent act with intent to insult or offend: Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years who with intent to insult or offend any person does any indecent act in any place." Crimes Act 1961, sec 126 on New Zealand Legislation website, viewed 2014-07-21
  6. ↑ "Victim disgusted by name suppression". Otago Daily Times, dated 2013-09-25, viewed 2014-07-23
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Digital era subverts suppression". Otago Daily Times, dated 2014-07-19, viewed 2014-07-21
  8. ↑ for example, letters to the Otago Daily Times newspaper on 7, 12 and 17 July 2014
  9. ↑ "Maggie Barry: I was groped by Rolf Harris". New Zealand Herald, dated 2014-07-04, viewed 2014-07-21
  10. ↑ "Rodney Hide: Forget Rolf, Maggie. We have our own sexual predator to name and shame". New Zealand Herald, dated 2014-07-13, viewed 2014-07-21
  11. 1 2 "Indecent act man calls in lawyers". New Zealand Herald, published 2014-07-20, viewed 2014-07-21
  12. ↑ 'Labour chief meets sex offender but says he didn’t know background on The New Zealand Herald website, dated 2014-07-21, viewed 2014-12-01
  13. ↑ 'Henare in court over alleged suppression breach' on 3News website, dated 2014-12-02
  14. ↑ Criminal Procedure Act 2011 "211 Offences and penalties: (1) Every person commits an offence who knowingly or recklessly publishes any name, address, occupation, or other information in breach of a suppression order or in breach of any of sections 201, 203, and 204."
  15. ↑ 'Ex-MP reveals suppressed name' on stuff.co.nz website, dated 2014-11-17, viewed 2014-12-01; Henare not named in cited article
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