A former police officer who admitted sending explicit texts to a 13-year-old girl has lost a legal fight to be admitted as a lawyer to the High Court.
Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
Ethan James Brown, who is 27, was twice acquitted of sexual offending in relation to events when he was 19.
He resigned from the police following an employment investigation.
The Law Society opposed his admission as a barrister and solicitor because he did not come clean over details of the allegations.
He applied to the High Court for admission as a barrister after the New Zealand Law Society would not accept him.
In a decision released today, Justice Wylie said the society had justifiable concerns.
If Mr Brown had been more open in his disclosures to his employer, the police and the Law Society, he would have been prepared to accept he had reformed - but he had been less than honest, Justice Wylie said.
He declined the application.
In the High Court in Auckland last week, the society's lawyer Paul Collins said their concern was around his honesty about the details of allegations and whether he took them seriously.
"His lack of probity shows a lack of insight into the seriousness of the events and shows him to still be an unreliable person in this area," he told the court last week.
In earlier correspondence the society told Mr Brown they needed to know of any findings from the police's disciplinary action against him. He denied there were any.
He told the court then that he had not mislead the society as he was only subject to an employment investigation and had resigned before any disciplinary hearing or action was taken.
"I wasn't intending to be dishonest," he said.
Paul Collins said Mr Brown had also failed to tell them the truth about his communications with a 13-year-old girl.
He said in initial correspondence with the society Mr Brown admitted he exchanged texts with her but maintained he did not know her age as she had told him in person she was 16.
Mr Collins spent much of the cross-examination pressing Mr Brown's recollection of her age, asking whether he accepted there was no independent evidence to support his position.
Text messages read out by Mr Collins showed the girl had told him she was 13 early on in their correspondence.
Mr Brown said he must have been aware of her age at the time but he'd been unable to remember the details of the texts until they were shown to him again seven years later.
"I didn't lie. I hadn't seen those text messages. I told what I honestly believed."
However, he admitted after reading them he must have known her age at the time.
"My memory failed me," Mr Brown said.
Mr Brown repeatedly said he was "disgusted" at his 19-year-old self.
Mr Collins said the society was concerned he didn't accept the seriousness of events like that.
"I know how serious things are and know how serious things were" Mr Brown said.
"I'm not a predator."
