Family friend used PlayStation to groom 10-year-old boy

A child sex offender who groomed his 10-year-old victim using PlayStation and alcohol has been jailed for eight years and six months.

Daniel Sean Mathias, 31, appeared for sentencing on charges of indecent assault, sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, attempted sexual violation and possessing objectionable material at the Christchurch District Court on Monday in front of Judge Raoul Neave.

A friend of his victim’s family, Mathias used video games to develop a friendship with the boy, who began staying at Mathias’ home on weekends more often than at his own home, court documents said.

The boy’s sister, also aged 10, would often stay over too and witnessed her brother being inappropriately touched.

Between February 8, 2019 and October 15, 2021, the boy spent numerous weekends at Mathias’ home and spent most of the time playing PlayStation. They mostly slept in Mathias’ bed together. Mathias inappropriately touched the boy every time he stayed at his house, the documents said.

The boy performed oral sex on Mathias several times during the same time period.

On October 13, 2021, the boy stayed at Mathias’ home for two nights.

Mathias gave him a ready-to-drink can of alcohol around midday while he was playing PlayStation. More inappropriate touching occurred and Mathias tried to rape the boy later on that same day.

The next day, Mathias began touching the boy while he was asleep. The boy woke up and told Mathias he wanted to go home.

When police executed a search warrant at Mathais’ home in December 2021, they found over 56,000 child sex exploitation images and videos saved on cell phones stored between his mattress and bed base.

They showed children aged between 2 and 13 years performing various sexual acts.

Mathias pre-sentence report was unfavourable and showed a ‘‘retreat’’ from his guilty plea, Judge Neave said, indicating he still required a great deal of treatment.