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Offender Database Mark Smith

Mark Graham Smith

Alias

.

Offences

A string of sex offences on boys aged from 13 to 15 in Wellington from March 1998 to August 1999

Victims

.

Offender Affiliations

Christopher Roche

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1964

Current Location

At large in Wellington

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to 4 years 6 months in August 2000
To be updated

Background

From Otago Daily Times August 2000

Mark Graham Smith (36), a liquor store owner, admitted 11 charges of indecently assaulting five boys and one charge of anal intercourse with a 14-year-old boy. Justice Heron said though two of the boys had consented to intercourse for money there was no excuse for his actions. "There was a determination in the way you went about seducing the boys, and using your dominance over them." The victims were aged from 13 to 15 and were abused from March 1998 to August 1999.

Defence lawyer Mike Antunovic said Smith, who was highly regarded within the community, accepted he had a problem but he believed consent had always been gained from the two boys he paid for sex. Christopher David Roche (20), a friend of Smith's, was earlier this year jailed for two years after admitting five charges of indecent acts against boys, and offering cannabis oil. Police had earlier claimed in a court hearing that Smith, Roche and two other men formed a paedophile ring but the men's lawyers disputed the claim. One of the other men was acquitted and another is to be tried in October. Mr Antunovic said Smith and his partner had continued their relationship throughout the court case but it had become difficult for them.

Smith's two Brown Paper Bag liquor stores had also struggled since his arrest, resulting in the closure of one. In a victim impact statement read to the court, one of the victims said he did not realise at the time what Smith had done to him as he was under the influence of the drug amyl nitrate. "I felt I had been taken advantage of, and abused - I will never forgive or forget what he has done." Justice Heron said the five victims had been deeply affected by the abuse. `With sensible parenting and other help they may be able to get on with their lives." - NZPA

Also from The Evening Post, 3 August 2000, Edition 3, Page 3.
A man described by a judge as a predatory paedophile has been jailed for 4 years 6 months. Mark Graham Smith, 36, manager, of Kilbirnie, appeared in the High Court at Wellington for sentence today after pleading guilty to 10 charges of indecent assault, one of anal intercourse and one of committing an indecent act. The offending occurred over about 18 months in 1998 and last year and involved five youths aged between 13 and 15. Justice Heron said this was a classic case of an older man inducing adolescent boys into sexual relationships. While some of them were "foot-loose and available", at their ages they were vulnerable. Smith must be regarded as a predatory paedophile and had to be detained long enough to get help. Defence counsel Mike Antunovic said one boy had been living on the street and prostituting himself to the _Kilbirnie paedophile ring. Another had also been involved in prostitution. Crown prosecutor Mark O'Donoghue said the prostitution had no bearing on the offending.

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Corrections and Additional Information
We endeavour to make this database as accurate as possible, but we are at the mercy of whatever information we can find in various online and offline archives. We rely on the public - that is, people like you - to fill in the gaps that we cannot. If you wish to submit additional information or a correction to this file CLICK HERE . Privacy: Trust policy is that all sources are treated as strictly confidential unless we are explicitly told otherwise. If you wish to see a file removed from this database certain conditions must be met by the offender set out HERE Note that this does NOT apply for those that are the primary offender in a murder, rape, or any sexual offending involving minors. We do not enter into correspondence regarding the guilt/innocence of offenders. Such correspondence is not responded to, especially if the offender concerned has a number of prior convictions

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