Deal done in Labour youth camp case

Stuff reports:

A young man accused of indecently assaulting four people at a Young Labour summer camp has pleaded guilty to two charges of assault after the Crown withdrew indecent assault charges. 
On Monday, the 21-year-old, who has interim name suppression, denied five charges of indecent assault against four complainants.

Interesting. The Crown seemed to have a very strong case so why did they drop the major charges, when it seemed highly likely they would get a conviction?

Or maybe they were always ready to do a deal, and the defendant refused to do one, until now.

The accused’s lawyer Emma Priest, indicated she would be applying for a discharged without conviction for her client and permanent name suppression. 

In other words he gets no sanction at all.

I feel very sorry for the victims, if he gets away with zero consequences.