Snapchat predator admits further offending while on bail
Snapchat predator Raveen Saily was on bail, awaiting a rape trial, when he filmed a 13-year-old Rotorua girl performing a sexual act on him.
Now it's been revealed the 23-year-old sent that video to an 11-year-old Auckland girl he'd met through Snapchat, whom he'd asked to be his girlfriend, and was also grooming.
Yesterday in the Tauranga District Court, Saily pleaded guilty to grooming for sexual conduct with a young person, indecent communication with a young person and distributing objectionable material.
They all relate to the Auckland victim.
He will be sentenced in December, along with charges related to the sexual violation of the 13-year-old victim from Rotorua.
A police summary of facts reveals Saily met the 11-year-old through Snapchat in May 2024.
At the time, he was awaiting trial on charges of indecent assault, rape and sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, for an attack on a 16-year-old girl at the Arataki Community Centre in Mount Maunganui.
He had also met that teen on Snapchat, where he used the alias 'John', and was found guilty by a jury, on all six charges, in August last year.
While awaiting trial, Saily continued to contact girls on Snapchat.
This was despite bail conditions banning him from accessing the internet, having contact with anyone under 16, or leaving his Pyes Pā home at night.
When spoken to by police about his contact with the 11-year-old, he told them he 'probably did do these things, but he cannot remember specifics due to the volume of girls he was in communication with, and the time that has passed since his incarceration'. 'Too young to have a boyfriend' says victim
Saily never met the 11-year-old victim in person; they lived in different cities and communicated on Snapchat.
Their relationship was discovered when the girl's mother looked at her phone, saw the messaging and reported it to police.
The police summary of facts state that during a video call, Saily asked the girl to be his girlfriend. She told him she was only 11, and too young to have a boyfriend.
However, Saily continued to pressure her until she agreed, and their conversations continued over text and Snapchat, and audio and video calls.
She became 'increasingly emotionally dependent' on Saily, believing she was in a relationship with him.
Saily told the 11-year-old he loved her, while encouraging her to send him sexually explicit images.
He would ask her to 'get naked', and tell her about his sexual preferences, describing himself as 'freaky'.
He told her she would be a 'good SCAT girl', which describes sexual arousal from faecal matter.
He would direct her to places in the house away from her caregiver, while on video calls, and instruct her to perform sexual acts while he watched.
He told her he wanted to drive from Tauranga to have sex with her.
In June 2024, he filmed the 13-year-old victim from Rotorua performing a sexual act on himself, and sent it to the 11-year-old. Offending discovered at 'routine traffic stop'
The video of the 13-year-old was sent between June 27 and August 27, 2024, with the video found by police when they examined Saily's phone, after arresting him.
Last month, Saily pleaded guilty to charges related to the 13-year-old, including grooming, sexual connection with a young person, sexual violation, and possessing objectionable material.
He had added that girl on Snapchat in May 2024, claiming he was only 16. He groomed her over a month and encouraged her to send him sexually explicit photographs.
They met at night in June 2024, and he drove her to several private locations where he sexually violated her, at times as she cried in pain.
She repeatedly told him to stop, but he told her to shut up. It was her first experience of sexual intercourse.
This offending was only detected after police pulled the pair over during a routine police stop and became suspicious about their age gap.
When being dealt with by police at the traffic stop, the defendant indicated he was not aware of the girl's age and tried to stop her from speaking to the attending officers.
Because of the significant age difference between the complainant and the defendant, she was taken to her home and spoken to alongside her mother.
That traffic stop happened on Saturday, August 24, just before Saily's Tauranga trial began on August 26. Sex with 'naive' 16-year-old at knife-point
During the Tauranga trial, the court heard how the girl didn't know Saily's proper name, and he didn't use it on any of his social media profiles.
They'd met up at Mount Maunganui's Bayfair mall, and then went for a walk to the nearby Arataki Community Centre.
There, the girl said she had been forced to perform sexual acts after Saily threatened her with a knife. He then went on to rape and violate her.
Saily claimed it had been consensual, but the Crown said this was 'utterly fanciful', particularly given the 'naive' girl had no sexual experience and it was the first time she'd met up with a boy alone.
Saily is currently serving a sentence of nine years and two months' imprisonment for the Tauranga attack, and will be sentenced for the offending against the 13-year-old and 11-year-old in December.
SEXUAL HARMWhere to get help:If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:• Call 0800 044 334• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz • For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nzAlternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
4 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Auckland gun bust: Ex-con Brent Allen stole firearms licence holder's identity
'Should I come over I got a couple of drinks and some really wicked MDMA,' he typed in one message – using 'drinks' to refer to GBL, also known as fantasy or liquid ecstasy. 'You have to try this stuff it's so good.' Judge Evangelos Thomas noted that Allen appeared to be a 'pretty low-level dealer', but the extra layer of charges resulted in his sentence being increased to the point where home detention was not a consideration. Most of the judge's admonishment, however, was devoted to the weapons scheme. Auckland District Court Judge Evangelos Thomas. Photo / Sam Hurley 'You dragged into this an innocent member of the public,' he said of the legitimate firearms licence holder whose identity was stolen, adding that the defendant then got rid of the guns 'in a way that allowed them to be used ... by criminal elements'. 'It goes without saying that there is a very significant public interest in responding firmly against anyone who contributes in any way to uncontrolled firearms being in the community,' the judge continued. 'I can refer you to many families – innocent families – whose lives would be much different if we were better able to control restricted firearms in the underworld.' Guns for sale Court documents state Allen set up a fraudulent Trade Me account in March last year under the name of the man whose licence he had forged. Two days later, he purchased a $210 Stirling M20 Semi Auto 22LR rifle from a seller in Torbay, on Auckland's North Shore. Allen had superimposed his own photo over that of the legitimate licence holder and altered the date of birth to more closely match his own age. When the fraud went off seemingly without a hitch, he tried again just over a week later, this time agreeing to pay the same seller $605 for three more rifles. He paid $300 in cash but then ripped off the seller for the other half, promising to make a bank transfer that never happened. Just less than two weeks later, police found one of the three guns while executing a search warrant at a Clendon Park home. 'An associate of Mr Allen's has been charged with unlawful possession of the firearm,' court documents state. Exactly two months after the search warrant arrest, police discovered the first gun Allen had bought during a traffic stop on Auckland Central's Karangahape Rd. That also resulted in the arrest of an associate. Allen initially denied having or using a forged firearms licence, telling police he had received the guns from the licence holder whose identity he was later found to have stolen. The victim, however, did not know Allen, police pointed out. 'He claims he did this [picked up the guns] as a favour to an unknown associate,' explains the agreed summary of facts. 'He states he took the firearms to an unspecified address in Albany and doesn't know what happened after that.' Judge Thomas described the summary of facts as 'very vague'. 'What does the Crown say Mr Allen did?' he asked during the hearing. 'Who cut it down? Did he know it was going to be cut down?' Crown prosecutor Eleanor Cato acknowledged that some questions remain unanswered, including how the items ended up cut down and in the hands of other people. 'It's reasonable to conclude that he was buying them for illegal purposes,' she said. 'Our citizens need to be protected' Allen faced up to four years' imprisonment for a representative charge of unlawfully possessing a firearm and up to 10 years for using forged documents. Offering to supply MDMA and GBL both carry 14-year maximum sentences. He had initially been charged with supplying a Class A drug, which would have carried a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment, but that charge was later withdrawn. Allen also pleaded guilty to two charges of obtaining by deception two electric bicycles that were ordered online. He was sentenced to a short prison term in 2022 for similar offending. Defence lawyer Alex Slipper presented to the court several certificates his client had earned at a drug rehab centre over the past two months. But the defendant had put a lot of thought into the matter and decided a short prison term followed by post-release conditions would be better for his continued recovery than being ordered to stay at the rehab centre under home detention conditions, Slipper said. His client had formed a drug habit at a young age due to a difficult childhood and his addiction, accompanied by dishonesty offending, had defined his life for most of the past decade, the lawyer explained. 'To be blunt ... I think Mr Allen's remand in custody has actually been somewhat beneficial to him,' Slipper added. 'He knows that he's capable of more. 'He realised the associates he has been interacting with had enabled him to not address his addictions.' That being said, Slipper argued that the sentence shouldn't be too long after taking into account his client's remorse, rehab, guilty pleas and background. The judge ordered a starting point of three years for the gun-related charges then uplifted it by nine months for the drugs and dishonesty offending and 2.5% for his criminal history. He then allowed 35% in reductions for mitigating factors. 'It's getting worse,' the judge said of illegal guns in the community. 'The fear of it is getting worse. The court's response to it is getting heavier. '... There are offences from which our citizens need to be firmly protected.' The resulting sentence was two years and three months' imprisonment, just shy of the two-year mark where a judge can consider non-custodial alternatives. The judge then added three months of imprisonment in exchange for cancelling $15,000 in fines from previous cases. Another $12,000 in restitution to his previous victims remains outstanding. Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Life coach sentenced over 'king-hit' assault
Albert James appeared in the New Plymouth District Court on Friday for sentencing. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly A judge has suggested a Taranaki life coach should have employed his conflict-resolution skills rather than punching a golf buddy in the head in what has been described as a "king-hit" type assault. Albert James appeared in the New Plymouth District Court for sentencing after being convicted of injuring with intent to injure. In December 2024, James and a group of friends were drinking in a New Plymouth bar at about 10pm after having enjoyed a round of golf earlier in the day. James got into an argument with his victim about whose round it was but when his mate offered his hand in a gesture to end the wrangle James spat in it. His golf buddy then punched him once in the head before bouncers - who had witnessed the fracas - separated them and removed James from the bar. Rather than go home, the self-described "holistic relationship and life coach" re-entered the bar about three minutes later and walked purposefully towards his victim - whose view was obscured - and hit him forcefully on the left side of the face and rained punches at him as he fell to the ground. The victim required hospital treatment and needed seven stitches to cuts around his eye. Later he had surgery to have bone fragments removed and surgical mesh inserted around the injured eye. According to his website James offers courses in conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, emotional awareness and self-regulation. His defence counsel Paul Keegan said his client was remorseful and his offending out of character. "At the outset I want to accept the danger that is implicit in this type of behaviour. When men engage in violence and in particularly drunken violence late at night like this nothing can happen or everything can happen or something in between." He said in this case the consequences had been something "in between". "His actions on the night were violent and they were dangerous. I accept that. And his actions in going up to the victim and effectively king-hitting him were unjustified and disproportionate." Keegan said there was an element of provocation, but it was only proximate. "Clearly Mr James should've thought better about what he was doing and continued on home." Keegan said his client had taken part in a restorative justice process, was remorseful and had apologised to his golf buddy and his wife, who was present during the assault. James had also completed 100 hours of community work off his own bat and sought counselling about his use of alcohol and quick temper. Police prosecutor Laura Blencowe acknowledged James' remorse and the work he had done since the assault, but said there was a level of premeditation to the attack. She sought a sentencing start point of 22 months jail, below the threshold of an electronically monitored sentence. Judge Gregory Hikaka acknowledged James' remorse and the rehabilitative efforts he had made since the offending, but also spoke of the emotional harm done to his victim. "It's a small town and it spread like wildfire and you know it was a massive mistake. "You say during the altercation that you felt disrespected ... and you made a bad decision going back in and that you saw red and wanted to hit him." Judge Hikaka also noted what James did for a living. "All that taken into account, including what you do for a living and your acknowledgement that you should've used you own tools for dealing with emotional turmoil, the overall tenor is that alcohol is certainly not your friend when it comes to managing your emotions." He sentenced James to 150 hours community service, nine months supervision and ordered him to pay $5000 in reparations to his victim. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
1News
8 hours ago
- 1News
Christchurch man jailed for poaching nearly 1500 sea cucumbers
A Christchurch man has been sentenced to 18 months jail for poaching 1432 sea cucumbers. Jason Murray Nix, 55, learned his fate in the Christchurch District Court yesterday for two charges under the Fisheries Act. He was also banned from all fishing for three years. Nix received a total sentence of 30 months' imprisonment as he was also sentenced on separate police charges. His equipment, including two boats and a car, was forfeited to the Crown. In November 2023, Nix and another man were stopped by police on other issues, and his vehicle was impounded due to other legal matters. During a search of the car, 1022 sea cucumbers were found and Fishery Officers were contacted. Nix was caught again in December 2024 with another 410. The daily limit per person for taking sea cucumbers is 50. ADVERTISEMENT A Fishery Officer. (File image). (Source: 1News) Fisheries New Zealand district manager in Marlborough/Canterbury, Stuart Moore, said Nix had more than 20 times the daily limit for sea cucumbers in his vehicle, likely bound for selling on the black market. "Our investigation found strong electronic evidence of illegal seafood sales," he said. "To buy sea cucumbers commercially can cost up to $80/kg. Black market sales of sea cucumbers can be as little as $25/kg, seriously undermining the legitimate market." Brown sea cucumber Stichopus mollis on the bottom of Browns Bay in Auckland. (Source: Moore urged members of the public who were aware of, or have been offered, cheap sea cucumbers to report suspected illegal activity through the ministry's 0800 4 POACHER number (0800 476 224). The other man stopped with Nix was yet to appear before the court. ADVERTISEMENT Only one species of sea cucumber was common around the New Zealand coast, stichopus mollis, or rori, according to Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
