10 Nov 2011

Friday verdict in Thai sex tour trial

5:45 pm on 10 November 2011

The judge in the case of a man accused of arranging underage sex tours to Asia says he will give his verdict on Friday.

The 47-year-old defendant, who has name suppression, faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted on two charges.

The man's lawyer told the High Court in Auckland on Thursday that his client repeatedly told an undercover police officer he wouldn't help him do anything illegal.

He said that position was also unequivocally spelt out in an email between the two.

The man ran a website that could be found when users used keywords gay-sex and boy.

However, his lawyer says in Thailand the term "boy" can also mean a male over 18 years old.

He says there were no suggestive photos on the website, or links to websites promoting illegal activity.