39-year-old jailed for sexually exploiting troubled youth

Amanda Campbell supported and comforted the family of an underaged “sullen” boy while she sexually exploited him and enabled him to frequently smoke cannabis.

In return, the boy’s mother — oblivious to what was happening — thanked her for assuring her everything was okay with her son, until the truth came out.

Even after Campbell was found guilty after a judge-alone trial last month in the Whangarei District Court of having sex 10 times with the boy who was between 12 and 16, she continues to emphatically deny the sexual conduct.

The 39-year-old Whangarei mother also supplied a bong and a cellphone to him in June last year.

Campbell was on Friday sentenced to five years in jail on all charges and her name will be included in the Child Sex Offender Register. She was found guilty of one charge of sexual connection with a young person between the ages of 12 and 16, one charge of permitting a house and another of permitting a vehicle to be used to smoke cannabis.

In court during Campbell’s sentencing on Friday, the boy’s mother read her victim impact statement and described her son as a “terrible mess”.

“Amanda pretended to support and comfort me and my family in our worries and concerns about our son’s change in behaviour.”

The mother said when her family realised her interest in their boy was not right, they warned her to stay away from him.

“I even threatened her with the police and still Amanda ignored our warnings and without our knowledge, she continued to pursue our son and being the predator that she is, she took our boy’s innocence,” the mother said.

“We had to move our boy away from Whangarei to keep him safe from Amanda Campbell and to try and help him heal from this nightmare.”

Judge Duncan Harvey said that despite Campbell’s denial she had had any sexual contact with the boy, he had absolutely no doubt the victim told the truth in his evidence.

He said Campbell’s offending was planned, premeditated and the boy was vulnerable.