Roast Busters: Second 'ringleader' speaks out about underage sex allegations, scandal

His Roast Busters mate spoke out in 2014 - now Joseph Parker has broken his silence about the underage sex abuse allegations. Photograph Facebook

One of the ringleaders of the notorious Roast Busters - a group of teens who boasted on social media about their sexual activity with underage girls - has broken his silence.

Joseph Parker, the son of actor Anthony Ray Parker, says the group "weren't the monsters that everybody thought that we were".

Parker and Beraiah Hales were alleged to have been the ringleaders of the Roast Busters, a group of predominantly West Auckland youths who bragged on the group's Facebook page about having sex with girls as young as 13.

READ THE FIRST INTERVIEW WITH ROAST BUSTER BERIAH HALES HERE

Police investigated the group several times after a 13-year-old made a formal complaint about the youths in 2011.

At least four other girls came forward and made formal statements to police about the actions of the group.

No one was ever charged in relation to the allegations - despite the police investigation and an exhaustive review - due to a lack of evidence.

Five years ago, Hales was the first member of the group to speak in an interview with the Herald.

Roast Buster Beraiah Hales was the first of the group to speak to the Herald in January 2014.

In January 2014 he told the Herald that he was "one of the most hated people in New Zealand" following the allegations.

This week Parker has spoken to Newshub.

"We did a lot of things wrong," he said.

"But at the same time we also weren't the monsters that everybody thought that we were, and we didn't do all the things that people thought we did."

The mother of the 13-year-old girl who made the first police complaint also spoke exclusively to theHerald.

She said her daughter's encounter with the Roast Busters was her first sexual experience and it left her traumatised.

She made a complaint to the police a few days later.

"She was 13. Furious, that doesn't even begin to describe what I'm feeling," said the mother, who cannot be identified.

Beraiah Hales and Joseph Parker were members of a group called the Roast Busters who were investigated by police from 2011. Photograph supplied

The woman cried as she spoke about what her daughter had been through.

"I feel like I have failed her, like I wasn't there to protect her," she said.

"Before this she was a fun-loving, bolshie little toe rag and she was on her way to see the world. Then after it happened, she went downhill."

She was bullied as a result of making her police complaint and had to leave two schools.

Her mother was constantly worried she would harm herself.

"This will always be with her … I know that she will never get over it. It will keep coming up through her life and she will have to keep facing it."

When the allegations first emerged, Parker and other members of the Roast Busters - including the son of a police officer - and their parents repeatedly refused to speak to the Herald.

SEXUAL HARM - DO YOU NEED HELP?

If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.​

If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone call the Safe to Talk confidential crisis helpline on: ll 0800 044 334 or text 4334

Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.

If you have been abused, remember it's not your fault.