Maori Party staffer prosecuted over sex tape

A Maori Party staffer who used a secret recording of himself having sex with a woman to clear himself of rape suspicions was then prosecuted for making the film.

Haimona Kenneth Gardiner, 25, was charged with intentionally making an intimate visual recording of another person on May 21, the Dominion Post reported.

He was granted diversion and the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of three years' jail, was withdrawn in Wellington District Court last month.

Police launched an investigation after the woman, aged in her 40s, was found wandering along The Terrace in central Wellington on a morning in May and was traced back to Gardiner's nearby home.

Gardiner, a private secretary in Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia's ministerial office, is understood to have told police he had met the woman at a central Wellington bar and the sex had been consensual.

He handed over the tape as evidence and police decided against laying more serious charges after viewing the recording.

Mrs Turia said she had spoken to Gardiner, who was genuinely apologetic, but would not comment on his actions or any potential consequences.

Gardiner is the only non-MP in a five-strong delegation of young parliamentarians currently on an all-expenses-paid 15-day trip to the United States, including a White House visit.

Gardiner and police did not wish to comment.

- NZPA