Jason Trembath admitted 11 charges of indecently assaulting women, who were out walking or jogging.
Jason Trembath was a top sportsman, and a company manager.
But behind the high performing facade was a serial offender with a penchant for groping women - even when they had children with them - in public.
He has admitted 11 counts of indecent assault involving more than 10 women.
The facts have been on hold while Trembath was tried for rape, being party to unlawful sexual connection and being party to rape. Today he was found not guilty of those offences - now his serial offending can be revealed
Jason Trembath was running across a Taradale street when he was almost hit by a car.
He wasn't running for exercise.
He was running from a woman he'd just indecently assaulted.
Running from the law.
It was the start of November, 2017.
He couldn't run forever.
His offending in Taradale, Havelock North and on Napier Hill had led to widespread concern - he was a serial offender, and his offending was brazen, and getting worse.
THE BEGINNING
In September he had started grabbing. Groping.
By November, he was forcing his hands down their pants, grabbing their underwear. Two victims were assaulted when they had children with them.
Another victim was a schoolgirl, whom Trembath assaulted before hitting the town for the evening for a few beers with mates in Taradale, where he played for the local cricket club.
It was the start of November.
The same day as the schoolgirl, he grabbed a woman who had just finished work.
He took off and was nearly run over.
He struck twice again on November 5: One victim was with her children.
Trembath grabbed her top, her underwear.
The same day, he forced his hand between another woman's legs, after holding her from behind so she couldn't move.
Two days later, Trembath was all over the front page of Hawke's Bay Today - six images of him running away from a victim.
CAUGHT OUT
And on November 10, it was over - police had arrested a 29-year-old Napier man.
It led to 11 counts of indecent assault.
Yes, Trembath told police, the security camera photos did resemble him.
But not me, he said, and he entered pleas of not guilty.
It wasn't the first time Trembath had been caught on camera.
A promising cricketer, he was photographed in Hawke's Bay playing senior club cricket for Taradale, opening the batting.
Hailing from the Bay of Plenty, he was good enough to play reps for that region, and spent some time in Scotland as a contracted player before heading for the hard wickets and higher calibre club standard in Hawke's Bay.
A good sportsman and a manager for a local company , he had plenty going for him.
His job meant he could come and go without being questioned - perfect for his bizarre antics.
HIGH PERFORMER
A high performer at sport and work - those attributes didn't quite fit the description University of Canterbury criminologist Greg Newbold had suggested, when asked what sort of person committed these types of offences.
He also said typically a person who committed such acts were not intelligent, and didn't have a lot going for them.
"They're people without much to lose," he said at the time.
To be fair to Newbold, he knew nothing of Trembath when asked by Hawke's Bay Today in 2017 to venture an opinion.
And the jury in the court of public opinion is still out on the subjective question of whether Trembath has other characteristics Newbold described.
"Social misfit", "oddball" and "misogynist" were the typical characteristics of a person who assaults another, Newbold said.
"They would be people who behave oddly in other aspects of their lives.
"They'd generally be the kinds of people who don't get on that well with other people, and who are considered a bit weird. They're normally someone who's a bit odd, and often a misfit."
THE GUILTY PLEAS
Earlier this year, after more than 12 months of denying the charges, Trembath, now 30, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of indecent assault involving more than 10 women.
The guilty pleas would usually mean that the facts could be revealed - however, they were suppressed as something else had happened.
Trembath was accused of more sex offences - more serious this time.
He was accused of rape, being party to unlawful sexual connection and being party to rape. Today he was found not guilty of those offences.
Trembath had admitted a charge of making an intimate visual recording and distributing the resulting image. He had taken a photo of a mate astride an intoxicated woman who had said she had little recollection of Trembath being there, let alone having sex with him.
Those allegations had focused on an incident one night in August 2017, a few weeks before Trembath's grabbing spree commenced.
THE FACTS
With the conclusion this week of the trial, the facts of his offending can be made public.
The offending started in Rotorua but soon spread to Hawke's Bay where he was working in the position of general manager for a large corporate company.
Napier Hill, Taradale and Havelock North street were his areas of choice.
September 28, 2017
A jogger in a Rotorua street was grabbed from behind and squeezed hard. Trembath smirked at the victim as he ran off, the summary of facts says.
That same day, Trembath touched a woman's groin and hip in the Rotorua Redwoods.
September 29, 2017
A woman running on Taradale Rd was targeted with "quite a forceful grab" before Trembath ran back to his ute.
Six days later he told his partner he was going to work early, but at 9am touched the behind of a woman running along Hardinge Rd.
October 22, 2017
Trembath told his partner he was going fishing, but went to Havelock North where a woman and her young son were walking down Duart Rd. Trembath followed her into a local park where he waited for an hour before following her after she left the park.
Trembath lifted her skirt and grabbed her buttock before fleeing.
October 23, 2017
Trembath grabbed a woman running on the stairs of Shakespeare Rd in Napier and indecently assaulted her before she had time to react.
November
Trembath targeted a schoolgirl on Palmerston Rd in Havelock North, aggressively grabbing her.
That same evening he ran up behind a woman who had just finished work and grabbed her behind. He ran off, narrowly avoiding being hit by car.
November 2, 2017
He grabbed another female jogger from behind in the Taradale township.
November 5, 2017
Trembath followed a woman with two children on Burns Rd.
He pulled her top and put his hand down her exercise pants, and pulled her underwear.
That morning, Trembath had grabbed a woman from behind on Iona Rd in Havelock North forced his fingers between her legs before sprinting down Tanner St.
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