Former Southland Stag pleads guilty and is sentenced on indecent act charges
STAFF REPORTERS
Last updated 18:17, October 13 2016
Former Southland Stags rugby player Dylan Halaholo has been sentenced in the Invercargill District Court to intensive supervision after admitting three charges of doing an indecent act in a public place.
A Southland Stags rugby player has had his contract torn up after he admitted three charges of masturbating in a public place, twice in front of young girls.
Dylan Halaholo, 23, was convicted in the Invercargill District Court on Thursday and sentenced to 18 months' intensive supervision.
He was set to play a big part in the Stags 2016 campaign but was not included in the squad as a result of the off-field problems.
A police summary of facts says the first offending was on May 5 in the Countdown car park in Invercargill, when Halaholo parked his car beside another vehicle, containing 9- and 6-year-old girls, and began masturbating.
The second offence was on June 3 when he drove to the same supermarket car park and parked beside a vehicle containing two 10-year-old girls before masturbating.
He had partially lowered the window and was glancing over at them while he masturbated, the summary says.
On June 10 he offended for a third time at the same location, this time after parking beside a car with a 23-year-old woman inside.
Halaholo's lawyer, Richard Smith, had applied for a discharge without conviction and final name suppression for Halaholo, while also arguing against a Fairfax Media application to take photos of Halaholo in court.
"It will serve no purpose but to further humiliate the defendant," Smith said.
However, Judge Christina Cook ruled Halaholo could be photographed in court. She also ruled against name suppression and, given the seriousness of the offences, convicted him instead of discharging him without conviction.
Smith had argued Halaholo's ability to travel overseas and ply his trade as a professional rugby player would be "extremely difficult" if he was convicted of the offences.
He had played at Super rugby level, Smith said.
Halaholo, who is moving back "home" to Auckland, had received counselling immediately after being charged, Smith said.
"He has come a long way ... in terms of dealing with these things because they are extremely embarrassing and confusing for him and he has had to deal with that."
Given the treatment proposed, there was a good chance he would not reoffend, Smith said.
Publication of his name would be extremely embarrassing and follow him for years, given it would be on the internet, he said.
Crown prosecutor Riki Donnelly successfully argued against both name suppression and a discharge without conviction.
The three indecent acts were done in a public place and observed by five victims - four of them aged 10 or under, Donnelly said.
"It's repetitive and involves young victims."
Judge Cook, who suppressed all details of Halaholo's domestic situation, said all the victims had been affected by Halaholo's actions.
The adult victim said his actions had made her feel powerless, traumatised, weak, victimised, dirty and vulnerable, the judge said.
"She described the moment of seeing you as being horrific."
The parents of the children victims said Halaholo's actions had taken away their innocence.
One of the children was now reserved and quiet and confused about why she had to see it, two months after the offending.
"Her parents are angry and disappointed their innocent girl had to go through this."
Halaholo had no previous convictions, the judge said.
When sentencing him to intensive supervision she said he must undertake appropriate assessments, treatment and counselling as directed by the probation officer.
She also imposed a requirement of judicial monitoring and ordered a report be provided to her within three months outlining the progression of the sentence conditions.
Halaholo played 17 games for the Stags in 2014 and 2015.
He is a former national age-group rugby representative who moved from Auckland to Southland for rugby opportunities.
After some strong performances for the Stags last year he was called into the Highlanders on a short-term basis as injury cover and travelled to South Africa with them.
Halaholo is the younger brother of Hurricanes and Waikato midfielder Willis Halaholo.
In a statement after the court hearing Rugby Southland general manager Andrew Moreton said Halaholo was initially suspended in July to undertake counselling, and undergo a clinical assessment.
In August Halaholo admitted to the charges he was facing and as a result parted ways with Rugby Southland.
Rugby Southland said no further comment will be made.
The sentencing comes one day after it was revealed a member of the Mid Canterbury rugby team was arrested in Gisborne and charged with assault with intent to commit rape.
It follows a horror few weeks for rugby.
All Blacks' halfback Aaron Smith hit the headlines last week when it was made public he entered a disabled toilet at Christchurch airport with a woman.
Smith asked to leave the All Blacks and come home from South Africa, when the scandal broke publicly. He is to face an employment-related disciplinary process.
That followed an investigation into the Chiefs end-of-season stripper scandal, in which an internal NZ Rugby investigation was criticised for its lack of transparency.
Then the Losi Filipo assault case embroiled Wellington rugby, when the junior player was discharged without conviction after a 3am assault injured two men and two women.
The police challenge to Filipo being discharged without conviction on four violence charges is set to be heard on October 26 in the High Court at Wellington.
A court document said the police appeal was based on the way sentencing Judge Bruce Davidson balanced the seriousness of the violence against what Filipo stood to lose if convicted.
NZ Rugby copped a public backlash – and criticism from within the game – for its handling of those cases.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/8531839...nt-act-charges
