New Zealander jailed over Thailand underage sex tour

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An Auckland, New Zealand motel owner and land baron is in jail for the solicitation of a Thailand children’s sex tour.

In what is the first such case in New Zealand history, the 48-year-old man whose name is being withheld was prosecuted in November, resulting in a three-year sentence from the High Court at Auckland.

After having earlier been returned a not-guilty verdict on charges of publishing child sex tour promotional materials, the man was once again charged when he made travel arrangements for an undercover policeman posing as a potential client of under age boy prostitutes in Thailand.

The arrest occurred after flight arrangements for officer “Michael Gray” and the man were completed. An itinerary was provided, including places the man had gone himself to have sex with young men and boys, and a Thai translation card with standard questions and phrases about soliciting sex for money.

The maximum penalty for acquiring travel arrangements with the intent to solicit child prostitution is seven years, but presiding Justice Edwin Wylie deemed the case “relatively typical of its type.” Wylie noted, however, the defendant’s lack of concern for the fate of the boy prostitutes, and called the man’s actions “despicable.”