Man’s Facebook friendship with girl led to unlawful sex

A Waimate man’s sentencing on charges of having sex with a 13-year-old girl is on hold while he finds a suitable address.

Hamish John Robinson, 24, appeared before Judge Joanna Maze in the Timaru District Court yesterday, having pleaded guilty at an earlier court date to sexual connection with a young person aged 12 to 16.

In a summary of facts, Crown prosecutor Anne-Marie McRae said Robinson befriended the victim on Facebook a few months prior to offending.

Living a short distance away from each other in Waimate, they arranged to meet in February, with Robinson inviting the victim to his house and taking her into a shed at the back of his property.

The victim told Robinson she was 13 during their conversation while lying on a double mattress, McRae said.

They had sex on that occasion and two other times, she said.

The victim’s mother discovered she had snuck over to Robinson’s house on the final occasion, on July 28, and when confronted she confessed to what she had been doing.

Judge Maze said she was unable to consider a sentence of home detention for the defendant until he secured a place to live outside Waimate.

‘‘She [the victim] needs time to build her emotional strength and that is not going to happen with him being two or three minutes away.’’

Defence lawyer Jay Lovely said the addresses offered were in the ‘‘small’’ town because Robinson had lived there his entire life, his friends and family also based there.

Judge Maze remanded the defendant on bail until February 14, 2019.