{"id":536307,"date":"2026-07-21T04:47:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T04:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/536307\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T04:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T04:47:13","slug":"ex-owner-of-dunedin-pub-who-paid-minor-for-sex-appeals-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/536307\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-owner of Dunedin pub who paid minor for sex appeals sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Dunedin entertainment industry figure who paid a 15 year-old for sex is appealing against his prison sentence.<\/p>\n

By Tess Brunton of RNZ<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael McLeod, who is the former owner of Dunedin pub The Captain Cook Hotel, was jailed for two years and three months<\/a> for contracting the minor for sex on July 15. <\/p>\n

He previously admitted supplying methamphetamine and cannabis.<\/p>\n

In sentencing, Dunedin District Court judge David Robinson described McLeod’s behaviour as sickening and unconscionable.<\/p>\n

The High Court confirmed an appeal has been lodged.<\/p>\n

\"Dunedin<\/p>\n

Dunedin District Court. (Source: rnz.co.nz)<\/p>\n

The Captain Cook Hotel was renamed Dive in 2020 before it closed in 2023 after being served eviction notices.<\/p>\n

McLeod, who was 40 at the time of the offending, replied to an ad claiming to be an 18-year-old offering sexual services.<\/p>\n

He was instead in contact with a different man who had effectively coerced the 15-year-old girl into sex work, plying her with drugs and encouraging her to sell them.<\/p>\n

McLeod picked her up for their first liaison in April 2023.<\/p>\n

The second time, they had sex on a couch in the backroom of his bar after he gave her a vape and vodka.<\/p>\n

He also gave her $500.<\/p>\n

McLeod added the girl on Instagram so they could directly message after discovering there was a third person involved.<\/p>\n

The third time they met up, they did not have sex.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Dunedin High and District Court (file image). (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

McLeod instead offered her methamphetamine, holding the pipe and lighting it for her to smoke before giving her money.<\/p>\n

Robinson said McLeod continued to meet the girl after he came to believe she was 16 and made no effort to check her age.<\/p>\n

Their liaisons continued for about five months, when he sometimes gave her cannabis and methamphetamine as well as paying her for sex.<\/p>\n

A police search of McLeod’s Dunedin home in August 2024 uncovered methamphetamine and a pipe as well as videos of sex acts with the girl, including some she had sent, on his computer.<\/p>\n

Prosecutor Zoe Kellam said there was an element of grooming as McLeod gave the girl drugs and alcohol and formed a pattern of exploitation that reduced her inhibitions.<\/p>\n

McLeod’s lawyer Sarah Saunderson-Warner said her client was very remorseful because he initially thought the girl was an adult and that she was already involved in sex work.<\/p>\n

He had begun using methamphetamine and sex workers as he struggled to cope with personal demons but had undergone significant rehabilitation since then, she said.<\/p>\n

Saunderson-Warner argued that McLeod should be sentenced to home detention but Robinson said he needed to be held accountable and others deterred.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Dunedin entertainment industry figure who paid a 15 year-old for sex is appealing against his prison sentence.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[67,1080,111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-536307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-dunedin-otago","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}