WARNING: This story deals with child sexual exploitation material and may be upsetting.
A man who created fake social media accounts so he could contact young mothers went on to make disturbing comments about their children and posted images of himself dressed as a baby in soiled nappies.
Two of Zeb Laing’s victims were early childcare teachers whom he made contact with through a Facebook messenger account, calling himself Holly Jamieson. A third victim was an expectant mother, whom he reached out to via a Trade Me advertisement.
The 41-year-old was already on the radar of the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children after uploading child exploitation material when he created the false accounts in 2024.
During the conversations, he confided in the first two victims that he was identifying as a female and that he liked to dress up as a baby girl, on one occasion stating he liked to wear diapers and defecate in them.
Laing often changed his profile name to female names and posted on pre-school parent pages posing as a parent in the short few months before he was caught and charged.
His comments were along a similar theme, with Laing wanting to buy children’s and babies’ underwear from parents.
He then sent a Facebook friend request to one of the victims using the profile name Emma Jones. When the victim viewed the profile, she found they had several mutual friends and assumed Laing was a mother of one of the children who attended childcare.
The victim later blocked Laing’s account after he commented on a mutual friend’s photo of an infant boy.
Once he was blocked from her account, he sent a message using the name Emma McGregor to the victim’s childcare centre Facebook messenger group, made up of parents and staff, purporting to be a prospective parent looking to enrol her children with the centre.
Victim, parents and childcare staff distressed
Laing stated in one of the messages that he had concerns about the childcare centre as he had heard that “one of the teachers is a well-known paedophile and makes posts about his offending online”.
The comments caused distress to the victim, parents and other childcare staff.
Less than a week later he contacted the second victim on Facebook messenger using the name Emma McGregor, inquiring about sending her children to the childcare centre.
The victim immediately became suspicious as the first victim had told her she had previously received messages from Laing using the profile name Emma Jones.
The victim wanted to confirm her suspicions that McGregor was in fact Laing and encouraged him to identify himself and link himself to the profile page Emma Jones.
‘Look at my nappy, hehe’
He later called the victim using the messenger application and after a short conversation, the victim asked if she should call him Emma or Zeb.
He said Zeb and ended the call, shortly after messaging her with a photo of himself with a message “in case u forgot wot I look like”, as well as his personal cell phone number.
Laing then posted an image of an adult lying in a bed wearing nappies with a caption, “look at my nappy, hehe”, and a photo of a naked older male who he referred to as his stepdad.
He then posted an image of himself wearing nappies and various images of children’s underwear, commenting that he was aroused while writing the post and looking at the photos.
On the same day he posted a photo of the first victim’s infant daughter, making disturbing comments.
Expectant mother left shocked and disgusted
A third victim, an expectant mother, was contacted by Laing when she advertised a single room available at her address in Auckland on Trade Me.
The listing said the house would be shared with herself and her partner, adding she was pregnant with a baby on the way. Her cell phone was listed as a point of contact and Laing called her and asked a series of disturbing questions.
She told Laing he needed help and hung up.
She was left shocked and disgusted by his comments, and scared he would find out where she lived.
Addiction and mental health
Laing was eventually caught in May 2024 after police stopped his van during a routine traffic stop in Westport.
This week he appeared for sentencing in the Christchurch District Court on charges of possessing child exploitation material, knowingly distributing an objectionable publication, causing harm by posting digital communication, harmful digital communications, possession of methamphetamine utensils and offensive/disturbing use of a telephone.
Police prosecutor Kim Ke said the offending was not one-off but continual and that Laing posed a risk to children and the community. She said a psychological report said he was at high risk of reoffending.
Laing, in explanation had told police he did “stupid s..t when I am on drugs”.
His comments were alarming and there was no real acknowledgement of his offending, Ke said.
Judge David Ruth said he had read the victim impact statements which spoke of disgust at Laing’s actions.
He had previous convictions for disturbing use of a telephone in 2023 and causing harm by posting digital communication in 2022.
A pre-sentence report said Laing, a qualified helicopter pilot and marine engineer who had worked overseas, had little memory of the offending because of his methamphetamine use.
There were a number of aggravating features, including the vulnerability of the victims, the acts described, and the type of publication, the judge said.
“The possession of such publications provides a marker for further abuse.”
With a starting point of three years’ imprisonment, Judge Ruth applied a 20% discount for guilty pleas and 15% discount for mental health and addiction issues.
He added an uplift of one month for previous offending taking the sentence to 24 months.
The judge said he was satisfied home detention could be granted and sentenced Laing to 12 months to be served at an address in Christchurch.
Laing was not to use or possess devices for accessing the internet, not to associate with anyone aged under 16, or the victims, attend any counselling as recommended or directed, and not possess or consume drugs or alcohol.
Judge Ruth also placed Laing on the sex offender register, dismissing his defence lawyer Ruby Adams’ submissions that registration was not warranted, as his offending was out of character and caused by addiction and mental health issues.
SEXUAL HARM
Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone, contact Safe to Talk confidentially, any time 24/7:
• Call 0800 044 334
• Text 4334
• Email support@safetotalk.nz
• For more info or to web chat visit safetotalk.nz
Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been sexually assaulted, remember it's not your fault. Safe to talk - He pai ki te kōreroSafe to talk - He pai ki te kōrero Sexual Harm. Do you want to talk? (2 MB) https://safetotalk.nz/ New Zealand PoliceNew Zealand Police Find Police stations by map New Zealand Police
