Sex abuser paid boy with cash, cigarettes

A Taranaki man paid a boy he had befriended cash and cigarettes for sexual favours.

Now aged 81, Royden Alfred Rye is beginning a home detention sentence for historical offending that occurred when his victim was aged between 12 and 16.

Between 2009 and 2012 the victim had regularly visited Rye at his unit in Eltham, where Rye would cook the victim lunch and give him small amounts of cash and cigarettes, a police summary of facts said.

On one visit when the victim was aged between 12 and 13, Rye offered him cigarettes if he could ‘play’ with him, the summary said.

He got the victim to take off his pants and sit on a chair.

Rye then proceeded to rub the victim’s genitals.

This became a regular activity until September 2012. After each time the defendant would give the victim small amounts of cash or cigarettes, the summary said.

When interviewed on DVD at the Ha¯wera police station about the historical offending, the defendant acknowledged he had known the victim since he was 12. He accepted the boy had come to his unit on numerous occasions.

He also admitted to having sex with the victim, but said it was after the victim turned 16, the police summary said.

Rye, who had previously admitted doing an indecent act with a boy aged 12 to 16, was sentenced to eight months’ home detention when he appeared in the Ha¯ wera District Court yesterday.

His counsel, Nathan Bourke, asked the judge to speak loudly because of Rye’s deafness. He advocated for a sentence of home detention for his client.

Judge Chris Sygrove said he was satisfied the electronic monitoring and Rye’s registration on the Child Sex Offender Register was sufficient to permit him to serve home detention at the address sought in Stratford.

He sentenced Rye to eight months’ home detention with six months’ post detention conditions.