• Police used a fictitious girl’s profile online to catch repeat sex offender Joseph Benjamin Turner.
• Turner was arrested after being lured to the Hastings Library.
• Judge Bridget Mackintosh placed Turner, who has an intellectual disability, under the supervision of a care facility.

Police invented the persona of a fictitious 13-year-old girl online to catch a repeat sex offender, who then sent indecent photos to her profile and went to a library thinking he would meet her.

When Joseph Benjamin Turner, 43, arrived at the Hastings Library to connect with the fictitious girl, he was met by police officers and arrested.

He had earlier told police operating the girl’s profile on social media that he was interested in sex, even after he learned she was supposedly 13.

Today, Turner appeared in the Napier District Court on three charges of exposing a young person to indecent material and one of travelling to meet a young person for sexual grooming.

Turner, who has been diagnosed with a “mild” intellectual ability, was placed under the supervision of a care facility for two-and-a-half years.

Judge Bridget Mackintosh said his IQ was within the range specified in the Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003.

That act generally makes provision for people whose IQ is assessed by clinical tests as 70 or less.

The court was told that Turner has a previous conviction for sexual offending against a 14-year-old girl.

Judge Mackintosh said that Turner had been assessed as having a “well-above-average risk” of reoffending.

“You need to undergo therapy for harmful sexual behaviour,” she told him.

She said Turner had sent sexually explicit messages while interacting with the girl’s profile online, as well as photographs of his penis.

“You indicated a clear desire to have sex with her even though you were reminded she was only 13.”

Turner would have been placed on the Child Sex Offender Register automatically, had he been sent to jail for his offending.

Judge Mackintosh questioned whether he had the intellectual capability to comply with its requirements, which usually include keeping police informed of a person’s living arrangements and internet provider.

She made an order to put him on the register for eight years, saying the people supervising him at the care facility would be able to explain the requirements.

A person stays on the register for either eight years, 15 years or for life, depending on the severity of the offence they committed and the sentence they receive.

Turner was taken directly from the Napier court to the care facility in another North Island town.

SEXUAL HARM

Where 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 [email protected]
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.