A 25-year-old farm worker has been jailed in New Zealand on charges of sexual connection with a 14-year-old girl after grooming her on social media.
Harmanjit Singh was sentenced to two years and two months in jail by a New Zealand court on Friday on two charges of sexual connection with a minor, reported.
Singh met the victim- the daughter of a colleague, at the dairy farm where he was employed. He then contacted the girl through social media and began sending her text messages to groom her.
His lawyer conceded that Singh contacted the victim to groom her for sex. However, despite one of the victim's social media profiles showing she was 14, his lawyer said Singh was unaware of her age.
The court was told that Singh used social media to request sexual photographs from the girl and to engage in sexualised conversations and arranged for her to sneak out of her home to meet him twice in April this year.
According to the police documents, the victim told Singh that it would be her “first time” and she didn’t know what to expect.
The offender reassured her saying he would make it “the best one of her life”.
While sentencing Singh, Judge Maree McKenzie said though the victim was a willing participant, she wasn’t convinced with Singh’s defence of not being aware of her age.
The Judge McKenzie said the social media exchanges clearly showed the offender wanted to engage in a sexual relationship.
"This is not a case of teenage love. This is a case of a 14-year-old and a 25-year-old,” the Judge said.
The Judge also ordered Harmanjit Singh to be placed on the sex-offenders register.
