Crown must appeal
The Herald reports:
An Auckland youth worker who preyed on a 12-year-old girl, coercing her into performing sexual acts on him, gloated on social media by predicting he would escape a jail sentence.
Devonte Vincent Walter Mulitalo, 23, had pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual connection with a young person under 16, and a second charge of indecent communication with a young person.
The former youth worker, who was 22 at the time he abused a 12-year-old girl, was yesterday sentenced to home detention.
But just weeks before sentencing, the 23-year-old posted a sickening image to social media mocking his victim – and gloating that he wouldn’t be going to jail.
In his post, Mulitalo was handcuffed and dressed in a prison outfit, captioning the photo: “When y’all thought I was going in but then the game changed. #Wegood #Halloween2018” accompanied with a middle finger emoji.
Surely the Crown must appeal his home detention sentence and introduce this as evidence.
Despite his disturbing post on social media, Mulitalo wrote an apology letter to his victim which was presented to the court.
“He is genuinely remorseful,” said defence lawyer Panama Le’au’anae.
I bet you he didn’t even write the letter. Someone would have written it for him.
After meeting the 12-year-old, Mulitalo began telling the girl how much he liked her.
Initially he hugged her, but that moved on to kissing and further into other sexual acts.
Mulitalo would tell the girl to lie and say she needed to go to the toilet and meet him in a shed.
He would give the other children lollies and let them play video games to keep them away from the shed.
Mulitalo tried to get the girl to have full intercourse with him but she refused.
He also started meeting her outside of Youth Town and would drive her to places where he would continue to abuse her.
He sent her photographs of his penis and videos of him masturbating.
Mulitalo was charged after his colleagues found the lewd images on the girl’s phone and alerted police.
She was 12.