Blackmailing accusation after sexual encounter

A man blackmailed a public figure he had sex with by threatening to go public with a fake sexual assault allegation.

This is the Crown’s case in the trial of the man who met the public figure on the dating app Grindr and the pair arranged to meet up for sex.

The defence says there were non-consensual aspects of the encounter that upset the accused, and that he was simply trying to convey this to the public figure.

The Canterbury-based public figure, who cannot be named, initially paid the man, who at times worked as an escort, $300 after the encounter at the public figure’s home.

The public figure made a complaint to police after he said the man attempted to extort more from him by threatening to go public with a false sexual assault claim.

The accused, who also cannot be named, faces a single charge of blackmail. His trial began at the Christchurch District Court yesterday in front of a jury and is expected to last three days.

The sexual encounter between the pair happened at the public figure’s home between the night of November 17 and early morning of November 18, 2022.

The public figure told the jury he’d had too much to drink that night and “made an unwise decision” to strike up a conversation with the accused to arrange a “hook up”.

After arranging to meet, the accused messaged the public figure “do you reward by any chance?”. The public figure took this to mean monetary payment and replied no, but then said maybe in a follow up message.

He then agreed to pay in person after the pair had sex, he said.

After he’d left, the accused sent a message informing the figure that his hourly rate was $250. The public figure replied; “I was thinking $50 but you put a lot of effort in so I’m happy to send you $100. I wouldn’t have been keen beyond that.”

The public figure went to bed and then to work the next morning. When he returned home, a cardboard sign had been left outside his home reading “pay me my money or police will be called, as non payment amounts to rape.”

The public figure promptly paid the $250 to the accused, adding another $50 as an apology for late payment. Crown prosecutor Sean Mallett said if the matter had been left there, it would have been “messy” but not made its way to trial.

It was then the accused continued sending messages with an “ominous” tone, Mallett told the jury. He referred to the encounter as a “vile, traumatic and disgusting job” and said he felt raped.

He suggested he had two options: writing to the public figure’s chief executive and going to the media, “or I could book a trip away (unfortunately I can’t afford this).”

The accused then sent two messages to the public figure, who he claims were meant for his mother. They mentioned the public figure “obviously doesn’t care about his job much” and another situation he once got into with a businessman where he was paid $20,000 as an apology.

Mallett said the messages were not sent to the complainant accidentally.

“It was deliberately sent to the complainant with the means of blackmailing him. It has reference to going to the police, the media, another person paying him $20,000 for matters to go away, and a supposed deadline, 5pm the next day.”

The trial continues.