WARNING: This story deals with sexual assault and may be upsetting to some readers
A young woman lured by the promise of a modelling career overseas ended up being sexually assaulted by a man posing as a talent agent.
Delfin Cruz was instead second in charge of bottling at a Marlborough winery and spotted the Filipino woman in an Auckland shop where she worked.
He convinced her that if she was to fly to Singapore to begin a modelling career she would have to “pass a test” that involved getting drunk to see how well she could handle alcohol.
Today he appeared in the Nelson District Court dressed in a grey suit. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment, commuted to home detention on two charges of indecent assault, despite seeking a discharge without conviction.
The semi-professional poker player was concerned a conviction would harm his chances of overseas travel, or that it might inhibit his plans to move to Australia.
Judge Tania Warburton was swift to deny his application and said there was no evidence to back Cruz’s claims of either. She noted an earlier conviction on a dishonesty charge had so far not stopped his travels.
She also said he had shown little remorse for his offending against the 20-year-old, which involved deliberately deceiving her.
His claim that what happened was a “mutual understanding” rather than an indecent assault showed an attempt at minimising what occurred, Judge Warburton said.
In late September 2023 the victim was working in an Auckland shop that Cruz, 44, visited while on holiday with his family.
Cruz spoke with her and claimed to be a modelling talent agent.
“You told her you thought she had modelling talent,” Judge Warburton said.
The woman gave Cruz her phone number and the pair exchanged messages over the next few weeks about job opportunities in international modelling.
In late October, the woman, her mother and a friend then met Cruz for dinner in Auckland, when he told the woman that if she “passed a test” involving getting drunk, she would fly with him to Singapore to begin a modelling career.
Over the course of the evening the victim was provided alcohol. Her mother and friend left, believing the victim would be travelling the next day, as Cruz and the victim went back to a luxury hotel.
She was then given vodka but vomited on her clothing, which Cruz removed and began indecently touching her.
Judge Warburton said the degree of violation placed the charges at the high end.
She said the “false ploy” of him purporting to be a modelling agent and getting her friend involved to help get her drunk was “deliberate planning” that was significant.
“She thought you were her agent and that you would look after her,” Judge Warburton said.
She said the woman’s victim impact statement revealed the level of trauma she had suffered, which had affected her studies and relationships with family and friends.
The Crown opposed his application for a discharge without conviction, saying the victim was vulnerable and naive, there was a large age gap between her and Cruz, and that she had been “tricked” into going with him to the hotel where he plied her with alcohol.
“The modelling opportunities were simply all a lie,” Crown prosecutor Rebekah Thompson said.
She rejected there was any notion of consent involved, and that no reasonable person would see it as such.
From a starting point of two and a half years in prison, Cruz was given a small discount for his early guilty pleas and for his work helping Filipino expatriates integrate into the New Zealand community.
Judge Warburton arrived at a term of 24 months in prison, commuted to 12 months’ home detention to be served at his address in Blenheim on both charges.
He was also ordered to make a $750 emotional harm payment to the victim.
