Jamie Sean Smith, 50 – owner of the Black Sheep Restaurant and Bar - was sentenced to four months’ community detention and ordered to pay the teen $5000 when he appeared before the Dunedin District Court last month.
Judge David Robinson declined an application for a discharge without conviction as well as a bid for permanent name suppression.
However, he continued the order until this afternoon to give Smith the opportunity to appeal.
It was confirmed to the Otago Daily Times today, though, that no legal challenge would be lodged with the High Court.
Smith pleaded guilty to attempting to enter a commercial sexual arrangement with an under-18 and the court heard the victim was particularly vulnerable at the time.
In a statement, she told the court she was homeless and broke when the defendant made his offers.
“I was in survival mode just trying to make it through each day,” she said.
Smith began contacting the victim on social media last year and helped her out financially to the tune of $900.
But between July and August that year he decided he wanted something in return.
Smith messaged the victim on Snapchat and offered her $700 for sex.
The judge said the conduct involved an element of “grooming” and persistence.
The defendant continually reminded the teen the offer remained open and suggested she may even enjoy the experience.
The proposal was repeatedly put to her, to the point where she removed Smith as a friend on social media.
When approached by police, the defendant admitted the crime but said he knew the victim was struggling financially and wanted to help her out.
Smith said he had been drinking heavily and his offending came at a low point during the breakdown of a relationship.
Counsel Meg Scally said her client was under “immense life pressure” at the time, which she accepted was unfairly taken out on the victim.
The teenager said the trauma she endured from the incidents touched every part of her life and meant she now struggled to relate to other people.
“I continue to live with the emotional scars, flashbacks and shame which were never mine to carry,” she said.
Judge Robinson said it was important Smith was identified.
“There is, in my view, a public interest… that persons charged with this particular offence be named. It carries a very significant deterrent value,” the judge said.
