Celeb's identity to remain a secret

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The identity of a top Kiwi entertainer who laughed after trying to force a teenager to perform a sex act will remain secret to protect his career.

The man pleaded guilty in August in Auckland District Court to performing an indecent act likely to offend and appeared yesterday for sentencing.

But Judge Eddie Paul discharged him without conviction and granted him permanent name suppression. He said the offending had been of a "medium to low-level" and he was unlikely to reoffend.

There was also evidence that if the man was convicted and named, it would have a "detrimental effect" on his record sales and his ability to travel overseas for performances, Judge Paul said.

The man's 16-year-old victim, however, had told the court in her victim impact statement: "Prior to this incident I had a lot of things go wrong in my life and I was slowly getting through the worst of it. I felt that I had turned the corner and things were looking better.

"That was until the defendant did this to me. It made me feel crap about myself and my life again."

In a letter to the court, the entertainer apologised but said he could not remember what happened because he had been "very intoxicated". "It is shocking and appalling behaviour," he wrote. "I am extremely shocked and embarrassed by what happened."

He said he had been seeing a counsellor since the incident, which happened on March 5 this year, in a Wellington alleyway at 3.30am.

The man, in his 30s, had been out with friends and, realising he was drunk, decided to walk back to his hotel along Courtenay Place. He encountered three young women, two of whom asked whether they could "kiss him on the cheek".

After letting them, the entertainer told them to "kiss my balls".

The two girls walked hand in hand with the entertainer, entering an alleyway along the busy entertainment strip. The defendant exposed his genitals and asked the pair to "kiss his balls".

The two girls were embarrassed and did not say anything.

The 16-year-old victim entered the alleyway, unaware the entertainer was exposing himself or of his requests to her friends.

She walked up behind him and he "grabbed a hold of the complainant's head and forced her head into his crotch". The girl pulled away and fled the alleyway. She could hear him laughing behind her.

Judge Paul said the consequences of naming the man would be out of all proportion to the gravity of his offending. He said several high-profile music industry leaders had written him letters to vouch for the man's character and he had no previous convictions.

The man was ordered to pay his victim $5000 for emotional harm and pay court costs of $130.

16-year-old tells her story

"I am a single 16-year-old female who lives at home with her family.

"At the time of this incident I had a boyfriend. I had never met the offender prior to this incident, though I knew of him. Prior to this incident I had a lot of things go wrong in my life and I was slowly getting through the worst of it. I felt that I had turned the corner and things were looking better.

That was until the defendant did this to me. It made me feel crap about myself and my life again. It makes me angry that the defendant would treat women like that, especially a young woman such as myself.

What he did to me was disgusting and wrong. I would have expected something a lot better from a person of his stature, he should know better. I certainly won't be buying any of his records or going to his concerts.

"As a result of this incident I was both upset and angry. It didn't help my relationship with my boyfriend either as he was so angry that he had done that to me. I would say that I am now a lot more wary of people, no matter who they are."