Former St John volunteer jailed for grooming

A former St John volunteer who groomed one of his cadets has been jailed for sexual offending against a boy and distributing child exploitation material.

Liam Chappy Nixon, 28, appeared in the Greymouth District Court and was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison for five charges of possession of an objectionable publication, two charges of distributing an objectionable publication, two charges of sexual connection with a young person and one of doing an indecent act on a child under 12.

The boy told the court he had to stop going to St John because Nixon was there and he was afraid he would hurt him.

“It’s disgusting what he did to a little boy, which was me,” he said.

In 2020, Nixon was interviewed on YouTube about making sperm donations.

“It’s five families, up to 12 kids for the whole five families,” he said.

According to the summary of facts, the 10-year-old victim would visit Nixon’s house in Wairarapa in 2018 and play video games. Nixon, then 22, indecently touched the boy, who hid in the bathroom.

During 2021, Nixon took the victim and his older brother to Christchurch and bought them sweets, cigarettes and meals. While the brother was asleep, Nixon had sex with the boy.

Between May 1, 2021 and September 9, 2022, Nixon engaged in sex acts with the victim in the Grey district on regular occasions when the victim was 13 and 14. In July 2022, Nixon distributed objectionable images on Snapchat of a naked boy aged about 8 to 10, sparking a police probe.

Officers raiding his house that September found a large amount of child exploitation material on his phone, some showing him having sex with a young boy.

The summary of facts said Nixon told police he never forced himself on the boy.

The 14-year-old victim got kicked out of school for truancy, started smoking drugs and committed crimes as a result, and was left having nightmares.

Defence lawyer Hannah Stuart said Nixon now knew the boy did not have the maturity to give informed consent.

Judge Jim Large commended the victim’s bravery.