A man found guilty earlier this year on sexual charges against a 13-year-old girl has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
Luca Fairgray, who was 20 at the time of the offending in 2023, was convicted in in the Auckland District Court in February on three charges of sexual conduct with a young person.
His lawyer Susan Gray asked for a term of imprisonment of 30 months and said her client had already been assaulted in prison and his parents subjected to extortion attempts.
But Judge Evangelos Thomas said Fairgray knew the teenager’s age when he met her in June and had sex with her a day after they met online.
“She was attracted to you and you took advantage – you continued to take advantage.”
Luca Fairgray, now 22, also has previous convictions for offending against six teenage girls, including rape. (Source: 1News)
Judge Thomas said the offending was calculated, deliberate and he saw no remorse at trial. He described how Fairgray gave her cannabis the first night he met her – a charge he’d previously pleaded guilty to.
He has been automatically registered on the child sex offender register.
He was also sentenced to three months for supplying the teen with cannabis.
Tried to argue reasonable belief
Fairgray, who is from Auckland and is now 22, had accepted he had sex with a 13-year-old but had tried to argue his innocence on the grounds that he had a reasonable belief at the time that the complainant was 16.
He had name suppression at the time of the trial and fought to keep his name secret after being found guilty. But the Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that he could be named. His previous convictions for offending against six teenage girls, including rape, could then be made public.
The complainant in the latest case, who is now 15, told the jury she had informed Fairgray of her age from their very first meeting. They met on OmeTV – an app that randomly puts participants together for video chats.
Fairgray is diagnosed as autistic, and his condition was a focus of the trial.
Defence expert forensic psychiatrist Dr James Cavney said Fairgray was at the high-functioning end of the spectrum, but his autism would still have made spotting a lie difficult.
“I do believe that if the complainant said she was 16, I think it would have been difficult for him to recognise deceit and/or pick up on other non-verbal cues that may prompt him to question what she was saying,” he said at the trial.
However, Crown counsel Pip McNabb said Fairgray knew all along that the complainant was 13. “But the strength of the connection between them for him was at the forefront and he thought he could get away with it and he did for several months until the police became involved,” McNabb said.
Abortion organised by Fairgray
Police visited Fairgray’s Mt Albert home in September 2023 after the complainant ran away from home.
She had had an abortion in August of that year – organised by Fairgray – who had lied about his age to the clinic, claiming to be 15.
During his trial, Judge Thomas accommodated Fairgray’s and the complainant’s autism, both giving evidence via CCTV and helped by a communications assistant.
In the defendant’s case it also meant not having to sit in the dock during proceedings.
The previous offences against the six teenage girls, including rape, took place when Fairgray was a teenager and led to a sentence of home detention.
He was originally given name suppression after that first trial and this was extended to ensure a fair trial when he faced the new charges of having sex with the 13-year-old.
Following his latest conviction in February, the name suppression order was extended. But the Supreme Court ruled on March 3 there was no reason for it to continue and said Fairgray could be named for the earlier offending.
The victims in the first case supported naming him, saying that keeping his name secret prevented him being held fully accountable for his actions.
