Sex offender allowed to stay at uni

Otago Daily Times

a day ago

A Dunedin man convicted of up-skirting and holding a stash of child pornography was allowed to continue studying at the University of Otago despite his crimes.
Gaurav Jeevan Rauniyar, 30, was sentenced for possessing objectionable publications in September last year, but a lengthy appeal process meant he could not be named until now.
The defendant admitted having a collection of child exploitation material a judge described as a "trophy cabinet" and downloading a secret camera app to covertly film up the skirts of women.
University of Otago student services director Claire Gallop confirmed Rauniyar was enrolled at the university when convictions were entered for both sets of offending.
The university was aware of the crimes and allowed him to continue his studies as he did not pose a "credible and unmanageable risk to others in the university community", she said.
Proctor Dave Scott attended the sentencing and provided a letter to the court for Rauniyar, who was only a couple of months away from finishing his thesis.
In the letter, Mr Scott said Rauniyar "had not come to any negative attention for any other matter" while at the university and had been "successful" in his studies.
Mr Scott's letter said the Proctor's Office had imposed "internal requirements and restrictions" to manage potential risk and a final determination on what further action might be required would be made at the conclusion of the court process.
The letter was not provided to advocate for any particular outcome, Mr Scott wrote.
Chief victims adviser Ruth Money, who provides advice to government about victim issues, said she was "very concerned" about safety issues in cases like this within the education sector.
"The community should be safe wherever they are and most certainly an education facility should prioritise safety and the prevention of criminal acts for its participants," she said.
In August 2023, Rauniyar was sentenced for videoing up three girls' skirts while they were shopping.
The court heard he admitted downloading a secret camera app for his phone and "was curious to film the girls" he had followed around local stores.
When the defendant's devices were searched, police discovered a cache of child exploitation material, but charges were not laid until further assessments of his electronics were completed.
In September last year, Rauniyar was jailed for 23 months after he admitted having 157 child exploitation images on his phone, including videos depicting bestiality and involving children as young as 4.
Judge David Robinson declined Rauniyar's application for permanent name suppression, which was advanced for "personal hardship reasons", but his identity was kept under wraps pending an appeal of that decision.
At the sentencing, counsel Sarah Baird advocated for a sentence of home detention, saying her client accepted responsibility for the crimes and had told the university proctor and his employer about the offending.
Judge Robinson acknowledged the defendant was engaging with multiple specialists and working to rehabilitate, but ultimately decided prison was the only suitable outcome.
"Your addiction to this material led you to effectively trying to top what you'd previously seen — that fuels the demand," the judge said.
He said Rauniyar had been watching the illegal videos since he was 18 and saved the videos to create something of a "trophy cabinet", the court heard.
After the jail sentence was imposed, Rauniyar was granted bail pending his appeal, which was heard on May 5 this year.
During this time the defendant continued studying at the university.
Ms Gallop said the university would only expel a student "when there is clear evidence of serious offending occurring within the university context, or where a student poses a credible and unmanageable risk to others in the university community".
"The university can always impose requirements to ensure the safety of its community and that was done in this case, with there being no suggestion of further offending after the university first became aware that there had been issues," Ms Gallop said.
She said if a student was convicted of a criminal offence while studying a process was followed to determine whether further disciplinary action was required and if they could safely remain at the university.
Ms Gallop said the safety of members of the university community was "always a priority" and in particularly serious cases students would "undoubtedly be excluded from continued enrolment".
"Where a student has been dealt with by the criminal court the university needs to consider with care whether additional action by it would be legally justifiable," Ms Gallop said.
Ms Money said there were problems with the way the education sector handled situations like this.
"Sexual violence hides in the shadows so the university must be informed, keep victims and their communities informed and ensure that they have an up-to-date safeguarding practice and training for all staff and leaders," Ms Money said.
"Everyone has the right to be safe and that should be privileged over the rights of convicted offenders, who present risk and retraumatisation to survivors and the wider community."
At the appeal, Justice Cameron Mander ruled home detention was appropriate, but not at Rauniyar's current house.
The Dunedin address, where he previously served community detention and had been living on bail, shared a boundary with a primary school.
It meant that two weeks after Rauniyar's graduation ceremony, he had to hand himself into Otago Corrections Facility while he searched for a suitable address.
Last week, the defendant was back before the District Court, where he was sentenced to 10 months' home detention to be served at a Rimutaka home. Timeline
January 2023: Rauniyar secretly films up three womens' skirts in Dunedin shops.
February 2023: When police check his devices, he is found to be in possession of child exploitation material, charges are subsequently laid.
August 2023: The defendant is sentenced to six months' community detention, nine months' supervision and 100 hours' community work for three incidents of upskirting.
September 2024: Rauniyar is sentenced to 23 months' imprisonment for possessing child exploitation material, but is later granted bail pending appeal.
May 5, 2025: He is granted leave to apply for home detention by the High Court.
May 17, 2025: Rauniyar graduates from the University of Otago with a Post Graduate Diploma in Food Science, with Credit.
May 30, 2025: The defendant is required to hand himself in to the Otago Corrections Facility.
June 27, 2025: Rauniyar's application to have his sentence converted to 10 months' home detention at a Rimutaka address is granted.
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