Solomon Islands father Paul Hataihanua jailed for Rockhampton underage sex

Alarming details about a juvenile sex victim have been revealed during the sentencing of a married man who had engaged with underage sex with a teen on two occasions.

teen with a phone in a bed

Alarming details about a juvenile sex victim have been revealed during the sentencing of a married man who had unprotected sex with the child on one occasion and used a condom on another occasion.

Paul Hataihanua, 30, met the 15-year-old through another male and was warned by police to not associate with the vulnerable teen.

He also faced Rockhampton District Court for child exploitation material which he manipulated and reproduced.

As Crown prosecutor Monique Bros-Wilshire told the court the facts of this case, there was an eerie link between Hataihanua’s offending and the case of another man who was convicted earlier this month for three counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 involving the same victim child – John Francis Kerrigan, 81.

John Francis Kerrigan, 81, parked his mobility scooter next to the bar table where his solicitor and barrister sat in Rockhampton District Court, with special court hearing aids in, as he listened to the court proceedings after pleading guilty to three counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 on October 9, 2024.

Both had met the girl, who has been described as being “vulnerable”, through another male and knew the child’s age before carrying out their crimes.

Both men “expressed fear of getting into trouble with police” for their behaviours and they both carried out their acts in their bedrooms and there was either photographic or video evidence involved.

Judge Jeff Clarke asked Bros-Wilshire if it was “just a coincidence” that the girl was a victim in the other matter.

Ms Bros-Wilshire replied yes, then added the girl’s name was in other files in the Department of Public Prosecutions office in Rockhampton.

It was not revealed during these sentences who the male was that introduced the girl to the offenders.

Ms Bros-Wilshire said police located the child at Hataihanua’s residence at one point.

She said the defendant and child communicated via Facebook messenger and SMS where Hataihanua expressed his fear of getting into trouble with police.

Ms Bros-Wilshire said the child visited Hataihanua and he removed her clothing

Hataihanua also took photographs of the girl while she was naked as they sat next to each other and then edited them so that his body and head were either blurred or covered by emojis. Police found eight on his phone.

Defence barrister Sheridan Shaw said her client was born and raised in the Solomon Islands and was in Australia at the time on a three-year work visa.

She said that visa had now expired and his employment at Teys Australia had been terminated after two years once his workplace had become of his charges for this offending.

Ms Shaw said the purpose of working here in Australia was to send money back to his family in the Solomons, which included his wife and a nine-year-old child.

She said he had worked in security in the Solomons and surveying work after completing a diploma in surveying.

Ms Shaw said his plans were to do a Bachelors in Surveying when he is deported back to his home country after his release from prison.

Hataihanua pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful sex with a child under 16, one of making child exploitation material and one of possessing child exploitation material.

Judge Clarke sentenced him to two years prison to be suspended after serving eight months with a four-year operational period.

Originally published as Solomon Islands father Paul Hataihanua jailed for Rockhampton underage sex