Sex offender facing long jail sentence

Prosecutor Anna Pollett told the jury Mead had committed a gross breach of trust against the children. Photo / File

A serial sex offender could be locked up indefinitely after being found guilty of sex offences against children.

Peter Mead, 63, was found guilty after a trial in the High Court at Auckland on 14 charges including rape, kidnapping, threatening to kill, and indecent assault against three girls.

The attacks took place between 1977 and 1981 against children as young as seven.

Mead was found not guilty on four counts relating to one of the complainants and a fourth person, a male.

Prosecutor Anna Pollett told the jury Mead had committed a gross breach of trust against the children.

The jury also heard evidence from a woman who Mead was convicted of raping in 1981.

After a pre-trial court hearing, the woman was allowed to give what is known as propensity evidence.

In 1981, the Herald reported that Mead, then aged 32, lured her to his address after she placed an advertisement in the newspaper seeking accommodation.

Reports are being done to establish whether Mead will be eligible for preventive detention when he is sentenced on July 5.

Suppression orders prevent publication of the relationship between Mead and his victims.