A man has been found guilty of organising a prostitution deal for an underage girl when he dropped her off at a motel to meet the client before later taking $100 of her earnings when the job was done.

Mathew Walter Stephens, 44, has been on trial in the Christchurch District Court since Monday.

He was charged under the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 and had repeatedly denied any involvement in the alleged offending, claiming the woman was “vindictive and jealous” and made up the allegations to get back at him for sleeping with her friend.

On Wednesday, the jury of five men and seven women deliberated for almost three hours before returning a not-guilty verdict on two charges and guilty on the remaining two charges.

Mathew Stephens appeared at the Christchurch District Court facing charges under the Prostitution Reform Act 2003. Photo / George Heard

Stephens faced two charges of assisting persons under 18 in providing commercial sexual services and two of receiving earnings from commercial sexual services provided by persons under 18.

He was found not guilty on one of the assisting and one of the receiving charges which were representative, meaning they happened more than once.

However, he was found guilty on the remaining two charges of assisting and receiving in relation to Stephens driving the teenager to a motel to have sex with a client before picking her up afterwards and taking $100 of her earnings. This happened between October 2016 and June 2018.

Judge Gerard Lynch acknowledged this “wasn’t an easy task” for the jury and thanked them for reaching their verdict.

Earlier today before the jury retired to deliberate Judge Lynch reminded them that this was “not a court of morals” and although they may not like Stephens, they had to be sure beyond reasonable doubt that he knowingly organised the prostitution and took some of the earnings to return a guilty verdict.

On Monday Crown prosecutor Patrick Brand told the jury the alleged offending took place between October 2016 and June 2018.

The womann, who has name suppression, said she met Stephens when she was 15 and was very “mentally fragile”. She was also addicted to drugs, using methamphetamine, cannabis, speed and MDMA and was already involved in sex work.

The Crown alleged Stephens introduced himself to the woman, who is now 20, and told her that he sorts out deals for girls wanting to make money through sex work. He told her he was there to protect her and make her feel safe.

The Crown also alleged Stephens organised clients for the woman and drove her to their place or a hotel room, instructing her to have sex with them before taking $100 from her earnings.

The woman said Stephens told her to lie about her age and tell clients she was 18.

On Tuesday in summing up the Crown case Courtney Martyn said it was a “he-said, she-said” case but the jury could rely on the woman’s evidence as she was “credible and upfront”.

She said the woman gave detailed accounts of what happened without exaggeration and was adamant Stephens drove her to prostitution jobs he had organised for her and took money from her.

Stephens’ lawyer Joshua Grainger told the jury the woman’s memory was “flawed” and she “misidentified” Stephens, although she may genuinely believe it was him involved in the offending.

Grainger said there was “no evidence at all” that Stephens was involved in the organisation of the prostitution, except for a witness that had “memory fog”.

After the jury delivered their verdicts Grainger applied for bail for his client which was granted.

Stephens will be sentenced on October 4.

DRUG ADDICTION

Where to get help:
• 0800 METH HELP (0800 6384 4357)
• Alcohol Drug Helpline (Phone 0800 787 797 or text 8681)
• They also have a Māori line on 0800 787 798 and a Pasifika line on 0800 787 799

Emily Moorhouse is a Christchurch-based Open Justice journalist at NZME. She joined NZME in 2022. Before that, she was at the Christchurch Star.