KEY POINTS:
A man charged with employing a 15-year-old schoolgirl as a prostitute is fighting to keep his name secret.
The 58-year-old New Plymouth man is facing seven charges, including contracting a girl aged under 18 for sex, receiving earnings from a girl aged under 18, operating a brothel without a licence, sexual connection with a girl aged between 12 and 16 and supplying drugs.
A suppression order on his name expired yesterday but the man's lawyer, Kylie Pascoe, is heading to the High Court in a bid to keep his identity suppressed.
Ms Pascoe had argued that the publication of her client's name would seriously affect his health and could be detrimental to his business.
Police opposed the continuation of interim name suppression, with Sergeant Lewis Sutton telling New Plymouth District Court potential customers of the man's business had the right to know what he was being accused of.
Judge Allan Roberts agreed and told Ms Pascoe and the accused that suppression should be used sparingly.
"In anyone's language, this is serious offending and the community has the right to know who is appearing in its courts," he said.
The charges relate to incidents over a six-month period in 2005.
He continues to enter no plea to the charges and was remanded for a depositions hearing on November 12.
- NZPA
