Danny Jaz was the manager of the bar where he and his brother Roberto would spike the drinks of their victims, mostly young women (file picture). Photo: Unsplash / Amie Johnson
Police say it was disturbing to see how two brothers used Christchurch bar Mama Hooch to prey on victims.
Danny Jaz was the manager of the bar where he and his brother Roberto spiked the drinks of their victims, mostly young women.
They would then commit rape, indecent assault and take videos while their victims were drugged.
Both lost name suppression on Thursday after being found guilty on a slew of crimes in Christchurch District Court last month.
Detective Inspector Scott Anderson led the police investigation, Operation Sinatra.
He said it was disturbing to see how the brothers used Danny Jaz's role as bar manager to drug and sexually assault victims.
"One of their sole purposes was actually using the bar for their own gratification and servicing what they thought was quite all right for them, which it obviously wasn't," Anderson said.
"I really hope that it is an isolated case.
"It just goes to show how premeditated they were in targeting vulnerable people, in particular, young girls to do what they wanted with."
Most victims were aged between 18 and 24.
At one point, while being investigated by police, Danny Jaz blamed patrons for crimes he and his brother had committed.
When the allegations first surfaced in 2018, he told Stuff: "If we caught [those responsible], God help them. I'd break their hands and hand them over to the police".
Jaz's comments were interesting, Anderson said.
"It just goes to show where he was deflecting what was actually happening. We saw at the trial, he actually pled guilty to a number of sexual assault charges.
"So he knew all along when he made that comment that he had been sexually offending against these females," he said.
Hospitality NZ says Mama Hooch case an anomaly
The case has shocked the local hospitality sector. But Hospitality New Zealand chief executive Julie White said it was an anomaly.
In recent years, she said there had been a push to do more to provide a safe environment, especially as online dating grew in popularity.
"Ask for Angela is an initiative that if you have met someone for the first time via a dating app and you don't feel comfortable, you go up to the bar tender and you ask for Angela," White said.
"And that's code to get me out of here or get me home."
Don't Guess the Yes was another campaign the organisation had launched with police in Wellington, Queenstown and now Auckland.
White said they wanted to see it rolled out nationally because everyone needed to stand united to stamp out inappropriate behaviours.
"It is an issue and it doesn't just happen in hospitality venues.
"This can actually happen within the community... So this is a timely reminder for the rest of the police districts that maybe we should lean into this together and make it a priority.
"I certainly think this could continue to be an issue if it's left unsupervised and there are no initiatives wrapping around it."
Overwhelming relief that name suppression lifted - victims advocate
Independent victim advocate Ruth Money had been supporting some of the victims in the Mama Hooch case.
She said having name suppression lifted was a big deal, and the reaction from victims was overwhelming relief.
"People find their voice with the offender having their name unsuppressed because it moves that power [to the survivors]," Money said.
"Sexual violence is all about power and control. So for an offender to maintain anonymity means that this still sits in the shadows and the power sits with the offender."
Now that Roberto and Danny Jaz's names were out, along with more details of the case, it was likely further victims may come forward as they pieced things together, she said.
"Flashbacks and hindsight have started to bubble through."
"We'd just encourage anybody who has got suspicions that something happened to them to approach police and go through that process," Money said.
Danny and Roberto Jaz are scheduled to be sentenced on 24 and 25 August.
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