Paedophile ruse used to extort $10,000

Jeremy Ching
Jeremy Ching
A duo orchestrated a ruse to portray their boarder as a paedophile and swindle him out of $10,000, a court has heard.

Jeremy Mark Ching (41) was living with the victim in early 2018 when the man agreed to lend Sheena Margaret Macintosh Daisley (44) $1000.

Realising the boarder was flush with funds, the pair cooked up a plan to bleed him dry.

On February 17 and 19 last year, Ching and Daisley tried to lure the victim into admitting he had a sexual interest in underage girls.

As they tried to direct conversations to the subject of young females, Ching recorded the discussions on his cellphone.

When they had what they believed were incriminating disclosures, Ching threatened to ''out him as a paedo'' unless he stumped up $10,000.

The Dunedin District Court heard yesterday that when the victim refused to pay up, Ching got physical.

He attacked the man with a wooden baseball bat, striking him on the arm and leg.

Daisley was not present during the assault, Judge John Macdonald said.

It was days before the victim sought medical attention, which confirmed he had sustained a fracture to his arm.

Before then, they reached an agreement that $5000 would keep Ching and Daisley quiet.

The trio went to a bank in central Dunedin, where the boarder transferred $9500 between accounts and withdrew $2000, which he handed to the female defendant.

They were unable to get their hands on the rest of the cash because the victim had met his daily limit.

But the defendants were not to be deterred.

Later, Ching drove the man to Hunting & Fishing, where he ''insisted'' on the purchase of six items worth more than $3000.

Then it was back to the bank, where the victim managed to withdraw another $4500, which he gave to Daisley.

On the way home, Ching made a show of throwing an old dictaphone into the harbour.

He claimed that the offensive comments the victim had made were on it.

However, police later found the recordings on another device.

The defendants each pleaded guilty to blackmail and Ching to an extra charge of injuring with intent to injure.

Vocal in the dock, Ching claimed he was remorseful but that was disputed by Judge Macdonald.

He noted in interviews before sentencing the man had raised various reasons to minimise his role, including that it was Daisley who had driven the offending.

Nevertheless, he received credit for offering a lump sum repayment of $3000 from his share - $4474.

Daisley vehemently denied she received any of the victim's cash but the judge ordered she repay the same amount.

She was sentence to five months' home detention.

Ching was jailed for two years but will be released immediately because of the time he has spent behind bars.

 

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