18-year-old Jayden Desmond Meyer has been sentenced to nine months' home detention at Tauranga District Court. Photo / George Novak
18-year-old Jayden Desmond Meyer has been sentenced to nine months' home detention at Tauranga District Court. Photo / George Novak
WARNING: This story details sexual violence.
A teenager convicted of raping four girls under the age of 16 has been sentenced to nine months' home detention - despite a judge acknowledging the consequence would ordinarily be a prison sentence of "many years".
Jayden Desmond Meyer, now 18, was charged after multiple police complaints by young women in the Bay of Plenty who alleged sexual violence across 2020 and 2021.
An investigation followed, resulting in 10 charges including four of rape, four of sexual violation, and two of doing an indecent act. There were five young female victims, four of whom were raped and one who was sexually violated.
According to district court documents obtained by Open Justice, all five victims were aged 15 at the time of the attacks. Meyer was 16.
In one instance the sex was initially consensual but Meyer raped the girl when she refused to be with him for a second time that night. On another occasion, he filmed the rape of another unconsenting girl. A third rape happened while his victim was asleep in bed.
One of the rapes occurred in bushes at a Mt Maunganui park, near a party Meyer and the victim had attended. Photo / Mead Norton
In the most graphic of the attacks, Meyer raped an intoxicated teen in a bush after they had been at a party. The Judge's sentencing decision details how that victim, who was a virgin, "protested to no avail".
Meyer, who has no criminal history, pleaded not guilty to all charges but was later found guilty.
A psychologist, who saw Meyer 30 times during the prosecution, found he had a medium risk of reoffending, and continues to minimise the effect of his crimes.
Victims' parents speak of pain
At his sentencing in the Tauranga District Court in July, one of the girls said she no longer had the confidence to go to school, had lost her sense of self-worth, and began self-harming.
The mother of one of the girls described the previous 16 months as the most difficult she had ever faced and how she was now living in a "shattered world".
Another victim's mother spoke of the financial hardship her family endured as they sought professional help for her scarred daughter.
"We struggled to keep a roof over our heads while trying to access professional help. It will take a substantial amount of time to get back in the black."
An expert in rape prevention education says parental discussions about consent need to begin at a young age. Photo / Greg Bowker
The father of one of the girls spoke of the "raw indescribable pain" the offending brought to his family.
"As a father, my role has since been to pick up the pieces and put my daughter back again so that she may move forward with her life and not be defined by this cowardly act."
Both Crown prosecutor Anna Pollett and Meyer's lawyer Rachael Adams submitted that a sentence of home detention would be most appropriate - despite the Crown accepting imprisonment would be the ordinary sentence for this sort of offending; "and indeed one of many years".
Judge Harding agreed, saying a sentence of imprisonment being typical of this level of offending is "undoubtedly correct".
The written sentencing decision does not detail how Judge Harding reached the conclusion home detention would be the most appropriate sentence.
"I accept the probation report and the submissions of counsel that home detention on all charges is the appropriate outcome," Harding's decision says.
Meyer, who is now living north of Auckland, was sentenced to nine months' home detention and a further 12 months of post-release conditions, including a ban on associating with anyone under 16 and attending a sexual violence prevention programme.
The prosecution comes after an Auckland teenager pleaded guilty to rape and sexual assault against five victims between 2017 and 2020.
He was sentenced in April to 12 months' home detention and a further 12 months supervision. Judge Claire Ryan handed down the sentence after hearing expert advice that sending the teen to prison would allow him to learn from more experienced sexual offenders.
The teen's name is currently suppressed while he awaits the outcome of a name suppression appeal.
More work required on consent education - expert
Speaking to Open Justice, executive director of the Rape Prevention Education Trust Debbi Tohill applauded the bravery of Meyer's five victims.
"It was very brave of these young women to put themselves forward to go through a court case. We know that that's a very gruelling and very triggering experience for young people as they have to relive the experience and conviction rates are so low."
Tohill, who works across the Auckland region delivering consent education within schools, says informing young people of the concept of consent is the biggest single step educators can take to reduce the epidemic of sexual violence.
"One of the major things I think that is likely to influence young people is that they haven't had the access to consent-based education that they usually have," she said, referring to schooling disruptions over the pandemic. Tohill also pointed to the varying levels of consent education provided across different regions.
Pornography was also fuelling a warped understanding of consent, Tohill said.
"There's evidence that shows lots of young people are accessing porn, and they're using it as an educational tool. In porn, people aren't stopping to ask for consent.
"I think it's never too early to start having these [consent] conversations with our children, even from when they're littlies."
NZ Police Victim Support 0800 842 846 Rape Crisis 0800 88 33 00 Rape Prevention Education Empowerment Trust HELP Call 24/7 (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): be 04 801 6655 - 0 Safe to talk: a 24/7 confidential helpline for survivors, support people and those with harmful sexual behaviour: 0800044334. Mosaic - Tiaki Tangata Peer support for males who have experienced trauma and sexual abuse: 0800 94 22 94 If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
