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A Bay of Plenty man was jailed today after having used his 15-year-old girlfriend to earn money for the pair working as a prostitute.
The 19-year-old pleaded guilty in Tauranga District Court to a raft of charges including receiving earnings from a person aged under 18 years, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.
He also admitted to charges of using a telephone to offend, by sending threatening texts to the girl after they broke up.
Other charges included driving while disqualified, wilful damage, shoplifting, common assault (on his sister), resisting arrest, a breach of community work and three breaches of district court bail.
A summary of facts said the girl worked four or five nights a week for about eight months from June 2006 as a prostitute assisted by the man.
He went out on the streets with her as she worked and got the money from her clients.
Their relationship ended in June 2007.
The man's lawyer Simon Whitehead described the case as involving a couple of young kids of no fixed abode who were supporting themselves and their drug habits through "morally reprehensible behaviour".
He accepted prison was the only option open for his client .
Judge Thomas Ingram said the prisoner's offending had been a substantial abuse of trust, premeditated and aggravated by his threatening his victim after the relationship ended.
He said it deserved a sentence starting at three years imprisonment, but allowed him 11 months credit for his guilty pleas and "youthful stupidity".
- NZPA
