Jason Trembath: Jailed serial groper and former Rotorua and Hawke’s Bay cricketer admits doing an indecent act

Jason Trembath at a previous court appearance. Photo / NZME

Former representative cricketer and jailed serial groper Jason Trembath has appeared in court and admitted doing an indecent act in a public Rotorua carpark this year.

The 34-year-old appeared in the Rotorua District Court this morning and pleaded guilty to a charge of wilfully doing an indecent act in a public place, The Warehouse Rotorua carpark, on February 17 this year.

Judge Bill Lawson remanded Trembath in custody to reappear for sentencing on August 3 at 2.15pm.

Trembath was sentenced to five years and four months’ jail in June 2019 after admitting 11 charges of indecent assault relating to random indecent groping of women.

His victims included schoolgirls and women - some with their children nearby - who were assaulted as they ran or walked the streets of Hawke’s Bay and Rotorua.

It was revealed in court at the time the disgraced former senior Bay of Plenty representative and Hawke’s Bay club cricketer had methamphetamine, pornography and gambling addictions.

The court was told he would sometimes follow the women in his ute before parking, running towards them, groping them and then running away again.

He was finally arrested in November 2018 after police in Hawke’s Bay released security camera images of a man running away from a scene where a woman had been indecently assaulted.

These photos appeared on the front page of Hawke's Bay Today in 2018.

Trembath’s prison sentence for those offences was set to end on December 31 this year but he was released on parole in May 2021 to a Rotorua property.

However, nine days after his release, he bought a phone - despite his parole conditions not allowing him to access the internet - and used it to contact women on Tinder.

The Rotorua Daily Post reported his breach of parole conditions and recall to prison at the time.

Parole Board documents given to the Rotorua Daily Post said an affidavit given to the Parole Board said there were concerns Trembath had used deception techniques to groom possible victims and actively seek intimate relationships while on parole.

A decision released in August 2021 said the board gave Trembath one “last chance” and released him on parole.

In court today, Judge Lawson ordered a pre-sentence report be done on Trembath before his sentencing in August.

He also referred Trembath for restorative justice, should this option be considered by any victims of his latest offending.

The Parole Board would not provide further information on his case while it was before the court.