FOOL FITZROY.

NZ Truth, Issue 75, 24 November 1906, Page 5

FOOL FITZROY.

Monstrously Cruel Seduction.

The Victim a Mere Child.

Before Dr. McArthur, on Friday week, at the S.M.s Court, a young man, named John Fitzroy, a carter, was charged with having had carnal knowledge of a girl of the age of 15 years and six months.

The evidence given was brief and to the point, which was due to the intimation given by Fitzroy that he would plead guilty. This he did and he was committed for sentence to the Supreme Court, the criminal sittings of which began on Monday.

The crudest part of the affair is that this girl is pregnant, and though Fitzroy wanted to marry the girl, and thus avoid trouble, the girl's .father, a respectable tradesman, was adamant, and determined to let the law take its course, the more so as Fitzroy was quite unable to provide a well-brought up girl with a decent home and m any case the marriage of such a child to a man of 28 was too horrible to contemplate.

The girl's story is that she became acquainted with Fitzroy through his brother introducing him to her parents' house a few months back. She was on visiting terms with the accused's brother's wife, who lives m Argyle-'Street, and she was at that place early m September last. There the accused took her into & bedroom on the pretext of showing her some pictures. These turned out to be of an indecent nature. ; They talked and she eventually yielded rtq his solicitations and immoral relations followed. Similar relations took place subsequently, the last being about a month ago. Furthermore, Fitzroy, who seems a designing scoundrel, corresponded with the girl, his letters beino- couched m passionately affectionate terms and liable to turn the head of any innocent girl.

When. arrested last Wednesday week by 'Tec Connolly, Fitzroy made no reply to the charge, but to the girl's father, who was present, he said that he had hoped the matter could have been settled otherwise than by criminal proceedings. Subsequently the accused told Connolly that he thought the age of consent was only 14 ; but I Connolly assured him that m this country it was 16. Fitzroy hails from N.S.W., where the age of consent is, or was, 14, so evidently he tries to keep within the limit. Before pleading (ruiltv Fitzroy said that he was m ignorance of -having bonunitted any criminal offence.

On Wednesday morning Fitzroy came up before the Chief Justice to receive sentence. He had prepared a statement which had been delivered to the Judge beforehand. This statement Ws Honor said he had read, but he was unable to accede to the request that he (Fitzroy) should be allowed out on probation. In such cases, the Judge assured liim, probation was out- of the question. There were two elements which his Honor i considered should be noted. ■> The first was that the prisoner had pleaded gudlty and had offered to marry the girl ; but her parents did not approve of it. The second was that prisoner had come from Sydney and did not know that the law here was different ■; , that what - constituted a criminal Offence here was not an offence if committed m Sydney. The prisoner j had, however, been 18 months m the colony, and as he had had improper relations with the girl on many occasions he should have known that he was doing a moral wrong. • The fact that he did not know the law was no excuse, and if he chose to take risks he would have to stand the consequences. Still his offence was not so serious as others known to the law. There were other circumstances connected with the case that he would not mention. He could! not gra/nt probation and the sentence he passed was one of 18 months' imprisonment with hard labor m Wellin eton. gaol.

This scoundrel thus met his desserts ; but unfortunately the matter does not end with his incarceration. The girl has not only been debauched and morally ruined, but she is m the way "to become a mother. She was the fttvorite daughter of her parents and they had stinted themselves to give her a superior education ; bad had her taught music and fancy work,, at which she had proved so expert that her father had made up his mind to start the girl m a fancygoods business as soon as she was old enough. Now her character and prospects are blighted, and the father and mother, who loved and hoped so much, are broken hearted. The scoundrel's letters to this child of 15 were of great length and full of the most tender endearments and flattering phrases, being well calculated to turn the head of many a matured woman , and almost any young girl, even much older than this mere school girl. His audacity may be gauged when it is said . that he actually wrote a letter of about ten pages "to iitie grief-stricken mother, arraigning the father for opposing him m his desire to marry the girl, and threatening the mother with the law if she attempted to interfere with 4>he course of nature m her daueht«r. , The m a n's letters and the way he adopted of working on the animal instincts of this innocent child, by showing her indecent pictures m the privacy of his bedroom, go to prove that the scoundrel was an accomplished seducer who, being brought into contact with her youth and inexperience, lusted for her and deliberately set himself to work to betray her for his own vile satisfaction. Her father, m his distress, came to this office for advice and was referred to Mr Wilford, with the recommendation that, as marriage was out of the question and the seducer was not able to earn even his own livine. let alone being worth powder and shot m a civil action for damages, criminal proceedings should be instituted m the public interests. The lawyer and M.H.R. coincided and took the father' the detective office, -vith the result that a base betrayer of girlish confidence has been ali-too-lijshtly punished.