Teens organising Napier protest against home detention sentence for rapist

A pair of Hawke's Bay teens decided to protest as soon as they heard about the home detention sentence handed this week to a teen who raped four young girls.

Open Justice revealed Jayden Meyer, 18, was sentenced to nine months' home detention after being convicted of raping four girls under 16 and sexually violating a fifth girl in the Bay of Plenty during 2020 and 2021.

Hundreds already attended protests on Thursday in Mt Maunganui, Whanganui, Gisborne and Taupō in response to the sentencing, all calling for a harsher sentence.

Havelock North 17-year-old Lucy Macken and her friend Chiara Stride heard about the verdict this week and quickly decided to travel to Gisborne to join the protests on Thursday.

Now they have organised a protest in Napier to continue spreading their message to the legal system.

"We realised there was none in Napier happening or in Hawke's Bay, but a lot of people heard about it and care a lot about it, so we felt it would be a really good thing if we were to create one in Napier," Macken said.

They plan to host the peaceful protest outside the Sound Shell in Napier at 2.30pm on Saturday.

"We are really hoping to send the message that the judicial system is not doing enough for victims," Macken said.

"If this was done better by the judicial system, then perhaps other victims would be encouraged to come forward."

She said she wanted everyone to see that the sentencing and what Meyer did was not okay, and people would not be silent about it.