'Let sleeping dogs lie': Should convicted child rapist be allowed to remain in camping club?

Warning: This story includes references to child sex offending and may be upsetting to some readers

A child sex offender who once raped a young girl in a tent was allowed to remain a member of a nationwide camping club after he was expelled from a larger, similar club.

The club was tipped off from a concerned member of the public who was worried that former Taupō bus driver David Triggs wasn’t a safe person to be around children.

A committee member who tried to address the concerns has since quit in frustration over the handling of the matter, saying she had advocated strongly to attract younger people and young families to the club, and could not live with an approach of ignoring the presence of Triggs in it.

Triggs offended against a primary-school-aged girl in Palmerston North between July 1997 and August 2000.

Most of the offending occurred in Triggs’ house but he also admitted raping the girl in a tent while camping.

He was sentenced to nine years’ prison in late 2010 on representative charges of rape, indecent assault and unlawful sexual connection involving a girl under 12.

During an unsuccessful appeal of his sentence length in 2012, three justices noted it was a “bad case”.

“There were repeated rapes and other serious indecencies over a period of about three years in circumstances where the applicant took advantage of the complainant’s vulnerability and the trust she reposed in him,” the justices said.

Triggs was released on parole in late 2013, three years into his nine-year sentence.

The NZ Parole Board said Triggs, by then aged 66, had strong family and community support and developing, strengthening religious ties.

It said while there was some concern over the extent to which Triggs acknowledged his offending, he assured them he realised its seriousness.

While he was considered at low risk of re-offending, his release came with a lengthy set of conditions, including a non-association order with anyone under the age of 16, unless supervised by an approved adult for two years.

NZ Motor Caravan Association and All Points Camping Club

Triggs had joined the NZ Motor Caravan Association in December 2000, roughly four months after he finished offending against the girl, and remained a member until August 2020.

CEO Bruce Lochore told NZME the association knew nothing of his offending until some years after his conviction. It cancelled his membership immediately.

He said the club did not know if Triggs had actively engaged in club activities while on parole.

Child sex offender David Triggs, who once raped a young girl in a tent, was allowed to remain a member of a nationwide camping club after he was expelled from a larger, similar club. Photo / 123rf

After his membership was cancelled, Triggs then joined another nationwide camping club, Feilding-based All Points Camping Club NZ, said to be the second largest such club in the country with about 1500 members.

The club’s website says it provides advice and support for members. It also provides all types of camping, plus family-friendly camping events and savings and discounts for members.

It’s not clear when he joined because the club won’t say, citing privacy reasons.

The club’s recently elected president Angela Bryan told NZME she was unable to comment on memberships or talk about internal decision-making processes.

She said All Points Camping Club took the safety and wellbeing of its members seriously and was the key consideration in all decisions made by the committee.

Stunned and angry

All Points was alerted in May this year via an email sent by the member of the public that Triggs was a convicted child sex offender but, unlike the NZ Motor Caravan Association, decided to let him remain a member.

A flurry of correspondence seen by NZME showed that the decision was based on the belief he deserved a second chance.

It’s a decision that has stunned the member of the public who raised the red flag and led to the resignation of committee member and Masterton lawyer Christine Batt.

The email from the member of the public was forwarded to Batt, who sought more details and confirmed Triggs’ offending background.

Based on correspondence seen by NZME the motive for alerting All Points raised suspicions and Bryan initially took a cautious approach.

It’s also why Batt did more background checking before suggesting a way forward.

Bryan indicated in an email exchange with Batt that the club was hampered by the tip-off not being an actual complaint, but a warning from “someone with a vendetta trying to make trouble”.

She said he had served his sentence and people deserved a second chance at life.

Batt established the allegations were broadly true and suggested the email could just have credibly been sent by a victim, as someone who had a vendetta against Triggs.

Batt suggested approaching Triggs directly.

The litigation lawyer, who was experienced in disputes and complaints procedures, drafted a letter she felt ought to be sent to Triggs, and which she felt might have led to him resigning on his own volition.

If not, she felt the club should have revoked his membership.

Convicted sex offender David Triggs was described by the parole board as being at low risk of re-offending.

According to the correspondence, Bryan felt that until he fronted at an event where there were children or “commits some other offence at a club event”, what he had or had not done in the past was “none of our business” and that in the meantime, “I think we let sleeping dogs lie”, she said in the email chain.

Bryan added that a core group within the committee were by then aware of Triggs’ name and would soon pick it up if he registered at an event at which time the necessary action would be taken.

Bryan then started what appeared in correspondence to be an informal inquiry she relayed to the committee.

It agreed to close the matter with no further action and also that it be kept “in committee”, meaning club members would not be notified of the matter.

Batt said the decision, presented to her as final, was unacceptable and she resigned from the committee and the club.

Uneasy feeling

Batt told NZME she was uneasy at the thought Triggs had been moving among club members, possibly for years, and felt members needed to know.

She said the constitution allowed the club to lay a complaint involving an allegation against a member.

She believed that because of the nature of the allegations against Triggs, that he was unsafe to be around children because of his conviction, the club had an obligation to make a complaint against him and follow the process that was set out in the constitution.

Batt said by “letting sleeping dogs lie” was not giving the issue due consideration, and claimed it was only after she resigned that any sort of investigation was undertaken.

Bryan told NZME the club had established governance processes for considering matters that came before the committee, and any decisions were made in accordance with its constitution, policies and legal obligations.

While there is no suggestion Triggs has reoffended since being released on parole, the person who contacted the NZ Motor Caravan Association and All Points Camping Club told NZME they were not convinced he was safe around young people.

When contacted Triggs claimed he was no longer a club member before hanging up when NZME wouldn’t reveal sources.

However, the informant said Triggs was still a member of the club but believed he now had restricted access to some of its activities.

Balancing offenders’ rights to rehabilitation against the rights of the community

Risks posed by someone who sexually offended was a challenging topic and one that required a rational approach, says clinical psychologist Gwenda Willis.

The associate professor at the University of Auckland who has expertise in forensic/correctional psychology research and practice, told NZME people often did not know what to do when told about someone who had sexually offended.

“We know the gravity of sexual offending against children. I’m a parent myself; we’re all wanting to keep our kids safe so 100% I can understand that this has generated a lot of concern when people have found out that someone that has this type of history is amongst them.”

Willis said the unfortunate reality was that child sexual offenders existed in society when only a minority were actually prosecuted.

Risks posed by someone who had sexually offended was a challenging topic and one which required a rational approach, says clinical psychologist Gwenda Willis. Photo / University of Auckland

She said often the focus was on those who had been apprehended while overlooking where the risk was, which was often among people closer to their family.

Psychologists working with people who had offended were able to predict relative risk reasonably well.

Willis said there would be understandable concern about someone considered high-risk being in public spaces where there were a lot of children.

She said supporting safe re-integration in the community meant providing opportunities for offenders to live in a pro-social way.

SEXUAL HARM

Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.