Woman convicted of blackmailing man

A MAN who went to an Oamaru park after agreeing to pay a 14yearold for sex was beaten up, robbed and then blackmailed for $10,000.

An Oamaru mother was this week convicted of blackmail over the case.

The woman, who has name suppression, appeared in the Oamaru District Court, where she was sentenced to almost seven months’ home detention by Judge Dominic Dravitzki.

She was ordered to pay back $5000 to the man, who had been sending pictures of his genitalia to young teenage girls.

On May 11, the 22yearold man messaged a 14yearold friend of the defendant’s daughter and asked the girl to have sex with him for $1000.

She agreed and arrangements were made to meet face to face.

At 7.15pm on May 12, the man drove from South Canterbury to King George Park in Oamaru, expecting to meet the teenager.

Instead, he was met by two men, one of whom was armed with a baseball bat.

Court documents said the pair ‘‘bashed and robbed him’’.

The man, ‘‘who was injured, in shock and extremely traumatised’’, handed over $5000 and drove home to South Canterbury, the court heard.

As he drove, he received five messages on social media, directing him to transfer more money to various bank accounts.

The mother accessed her daughter’s Snapchat account and sent the man a threatening message, demanding a further $5000. The man obeyed.

Counsel Michael de Buyzer said the woman’s actions were a ‘‘kneejerk and spontaneous reaction’’ but Judge Dravitzki said what the woman did next would prove her demands were persistent.

On May 18, the woman accessed her daughter’s Snapchat account again and sent an ‘‘expletivefilled message’’ accusing the man of being a paedophile.

She demanded a further $5000 within the hour or she would report him to police.

Once again, the man complied. ‘‘This is a deeply distressing allegation to be levelled against him, but in this case it is not without some basis,’’ Judge Dravitzki said.

‘‘The conduct of any victim can be taken into account as a mitigating factor . . . but the court cannot be seen in any way to be condoning your actions.’’

‘‘The behaviour of the victim was in many ways extremely triggering for you,’’ the judge said.

Mr de Buyzer said the case was ‘‘in a category of its own’’ due to the ‘‘unique and unusual’’ factors at play.

The mother denied any knowledge of the man’s beating and the judge accepted she had no part in it.

The woman was convicted of blackmail and accessing a computer system for dishonest purposes.

She told police she needed the $10,000 to buy a car, but subsequently spent it on clearing debt, household goods and online gambling.

The victim in this matter is facing charges for the alleged predatory behaviour.