Man posed as teen girl online

A Christchurch man set up a Facebook account as a 14-year-old girl to get teenage boys to send him naked pictures and videos.

Robert Vasquez, 24, admitted 13 charges involving five victims when he appeared in the Christchurch District Court yesterday, and was remanded on bail for sentencing on March 27.

The case was referred for possible restorative justice meetings with the victims even though Crown prosecutor Mitchell McClenaghan and defence counsel Nicola Pointer believed it was not appropriate.

Vasquez’s pre-sentence report will also consider whether he is suitable for a term of community or home detention.

He admitted seven charges of distributing an objectionable publication, four of possessing objectionable publications, and charges of indecent communication with a young person under 16, and failing to provide the password for his cellphone.

McClenaghan said on July 19, 2017, Vasquez set up a fake Facebook profile for a 14-year-old girl named Sarah and used a photograph he got off the internet as his profile picture.

He sent the first 14-year-old victim naked photos of a girl aged 10 to 13, and encouraged the boy to send back photographs of his own genitalia, which he did. He sent three other victims naked images of a girl or a boy. In September 2017, he began communicating on Facebook with a 14-year-old boy.