Corrections has said Dylan Harries is under a Returning Offenders Order.

Horse trainer convicted of Texas child sex offences deported to NZ

Author: Katie Harris,
Publish Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2023, 9:32am

A Kiwi horse trainer has been convicted of two child sex offences in Texas and deported back to New Zealand, where he is being monitored in the community.

The victim’s lawyer, Michelle Simpson Tuegel, said Dylan Harries preyed on her then 15-year-old client while she trained and worked at his stables in Cypress, Harris County.

She said the jury’s decision not to impose a prison sentence on the man, enabling him to remain in the community in his home country, took a toll on the victim.

“For them not to give him prison time, even though they did convict him, I think it’s confusing and hard on a victim.”

Court documents show Harries, 53, first appeared at the Harris County District Court in March 2020 on charges of child sexual assault and having indecent contact with a child.

Harries pleaded not guilty to the offences on March 21 this year, however, he was convicted by a jury three days later.

US victim rights attorney Michelle Simpson Tuegel is representing the survivor.

He was ordered to serve three years’ probation, with the threat of seven years’ imprisonment if this was revoked, the documents show.

A ruling on the Justice Department website last year shows a judge ordered his deportation; however, he remained in the US until the trial’s completion and was deported earlier this year.

When contacted by the Herald on Sunday, Harries, a horse trainer and equine chiropractor, denied the offending but said he would not be appealing the decision.

“I didn’t do it.”

While he did not want to go into detail, he alleged there was “no physical evidence” against him and believed it all started with a “government group” that was put together.

When asked for more information, he said he would be “an idiot to prattle on” and things would just become “hearsay”.

“I’d be happy to mail you the results of the polygraph test that was done in 2019.”

Kiwi man Dylan Harries was convicted of two child sex offences in Texas this year. He has now been deported to New Zealand.

Above all else he believed transcripts from the trial in which he was convicted would reveal a “different story” and show he was innocent to the average person.

He claimed: “The New Zealand Police and the probation or Corrections Department, myself, we’re working on getting the trial papers which my attorneys are working on in the States.

“As far as being monitored in New Zealand, it would definitely change things.”

Corrections did not comment on the claim.

Harries did not respond to a question about his whereabouts.

He has also been suspended from participating in activities and competitions that the United States Equestrian Federation licences, endorses or sponsors, the organisation’s website said.

New Zealand Corrections operations director Vickie Burgers said Harries is being managed by Corrections and is subject to a Returning Offenders Order, which is similar to parole in that staff manage the person’s compliance with a number of conditions.

Harries must obtain the written approval of a probation officer before starting or changing his position or place of employment, and not have contact with anyone under 16 without prior written approval from a probation officer.

“And not to join, volunteer and/or participate in any clubs, church, places of worship, recreational and/or hobby groups unless with the prior written approval of a probation officer.”

Equestrian Sport New Zealand chief executive Julian Bowden said the organisation is aware of the situation and has taken steps to ensure Harries does not become involved in the industry here.

“We are working with other equestrian bodies should an attempt be made to join any of our organisations.

“The protection and the wellbeing of our members and the wider equestrian community is of paramount importance to us, and we are doing all we can to ensure the safety of our community.”

Tuegel said it was not uncommon for athletes across disciplines to live with a coach while they are training.

“I think her mom thought they have children, you know, it’s like she’s also a minor child. You think that when you send a child to a situation like that, that they’ll be safe and protected and instead he preyed on her.”

The assaults were reported to police in 2018 but it has taken years for Harries to face a jury.

As a victim’s rights attorney, Tuegel has represented survivors across sports, including some of the gymnasts who were victims of convicted child abuser and former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.

“It is often the coach or a treatment provider who they have a lot of contact with and who, in the United States we call it grooming, where they get them comfortable with certain behaviours that they think this person is a safe person and they may not have any past sexual experience to know when someone’s crossing a boundary.

“Then when they’ve crossed it, you’re like, ‘surely that isn’t happening and that isn’t what that is because I trust this person’ and I think that was definitely the case here. And although it was a different context and a different sport, I saw that with the women I represented in gymnastics too, it didn’t just happen in a vacuum.”

She said the survivor reported the assaults to police in 2018 but it has taken years for Harries to face the jury due to extensive delays, partly related to Covid, leading up to the trial.

“It’s a lot of stress to have to get in front of 12 strangers and tell them about the worst moments of your life as a child and I saw her during the trial when I came in to testify and she did not seem well. She’d lost a lot of weight since the last time I’d seen her, she did not seem well at all.”

Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers social issues that include sexual assault, workplace misconduct, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.

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