Roast Busters: Social media role 'worrying' - PM

Beraiah Hales (left) and Joseph Lavell Parker.

Prime Minister John Key says the role social media played in the Roast Busters case was worrying.

Both he and Justice Minister Amy Adams commented today on the police decision yesterday that no charges would be laid in relation to the Roast Busters investigation.

Mr Key said the release of the Operation Clover report -- which followed the investigation into allegations of sexual offending by a group of young men known as the Roast Busters -- showed the role that social media played in the offending.

More education was needed around the damages of social media on young people, he said.

He said the difficulty of the case was evident in the report.

"These are always very difficult circumstances for the police to prosecute, [and] it's difficult for the potential victims.

"There are often two sides for every story and so justice has to be fair to both parties."

Ms Adams said moving away from adversarial justice system to an inquisitorial justice system would not lead to more prosecutions for sex offenders.

She said she was open to examining the way sexual offending was reported and ways to make victims more likely to disclose to police.

"As a new minister, what I've signalled is I'm very open to continuing to look at the full range of options to us.

"There are some really real challenges in that, the Prime Minister has outlined the fact that we have to be very careful to keep the system focused on making sure that only the guilty get convicted -- but there's always ways we can make it better."

Ms Adams said the low rate of reporting of sexual offending and the reasons behind it were detailed in the Operation Clover report released yesterday.

"Even if you were to move to a inquisitorial system or a different process, that won't make it an easier or fearless process for victims," Ms Adams said.

Labour's associate police spokesman Kelvin Davis said the young women involved in the Roast Busters case, and their families, had been let down by police.

"Evidence suggests that victims of sexual abuse have little faith in police or the courts, fearing they won't be believed or would be blamed. There is a perception that the victim is re-victimised while the accused often goes unpunished.

"The Roast Busters case will do nothing to increase confidence in police. Whether or not a prosecution will be successful is no reason to shelve a case."