There's no question that someone who lies about having had a vasectomy to get unprotected sex is a complete A hole! But what really made Dean Brosnahan an Arsehole Award winner this week was that he repeatedly harassed one of his victims, who later fell pregnant to him, with further sexual assaults and death threats to her and her baby.
Brosnahan, who had been charged with raping a tenant of a property he managed, then went on to work for the Ministry of Social Development for four months, also matching tenants to potential rental properties. This raises serious concerns about a sexual predator who may have also been forcing other vulnerable females, namely WINZ clients, into having unwanted sex with him to get a house to live in.
Yesterday, Stuff reported:
Police didn't tell Ministry of Social Development its job applicant was being investigated for rape
Stuff this week reported that in 2020 the ministry (MSD) hired Dean Francis Brosnahan, who was under police investigation for inducing a woman into sex by lying to her about having had a vasectomy. He had pursued her through a listing made through the company he worked for, Oxygen Property Management. She fell pregnant.
Brosnahan left his role with Oxygen – Stuff understands other tenants also made complaints about Brosnahan to the company – and was quickly hired by MSD as a housing broker. Oxygen and MSD were both unaware that Brosnahan had also resigned from a previous role at Corrections, facing allegations from three women relating to sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour.
In late May, MSD learned Brosnahan had been charged with rape – through Brosnahan and his lawyer rather than through a second vetting – and Brosnahan resigned three weeks later. Wellington regional manager Jamie Robinson said that after learning of the charges, MSD took immediate action to meet with Brosnahan and raise concerns. Over three weeks, two attempts to meet with him were delayed by Brosnahan, Robinson said.
You’ve got to wonder why he was allowed to resign and wasn’t immediately sacked instead?
Victims adviser Ruth Money said police were negligent to not reveal the information, particularly given Brosnahan had pursued the victim through his role as a property manager. It is understood part of Brosnahan’s role at Work and Income was matching tenants to potential properties. MSD said that when it became aware of the charges, Brosnahan had no further face-to-face contact with clients.
Of course an incomplete Police report the Ministry of Development initially received and the Police direction that the Ministry should reapply for another background check at a later date certainly should have made them think twice about employing Brosnahan. I mean why would the MSD ignore such glaringly obvious red flags like that for four months?
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said MSD had “acted on the information it had, as soon as it had it ... MSD has HR policies it must follow when someone employed by them is accused of a crime, especially if they maintain their innocence. MSD correctly followed these processes.”
However the real kicker here is that in 2015 Brosnahan was allowed to resign as a Corrections Officer after an internal investigation found that he had sexually harassed numerous women there as well. For some reason though the file containing his misdeeds simply disappeared. How often are these types of things covered up I wonder?
Unfortunately we will likely never know who exactly has been paving the way for this sicko for all these years? But what we do know is that Corrections, the Police and the Ministry for Social Development has failed miserably here to protect numerous vulnerable women from a known sexual predator.
Robinson previously said that neither of Brosnahan’s two references gave MSD cause for concern.
Honestly! Like a sexual predator is going to put ‘accused of rape’ on their references.
The complainant told the court that she felt Brosnahan was in a significant position of power, given he could help put a roof over her head, or not.
After she fell pregnant Brosnahan had repeatedly urged her to “kill the baby” while lying on top of her, or pushing her towards traffic.
Disgusting! And to think that the Ministry of Social Development is more concerned about their reputation than this guys victims. Instead of launching a proper in-depth investigation into what Brosnahan got up to while in their employment, they have instead launched a PR campaign to try and absolve themselves from any wrongdoing. No wonder most people think that the culture within many Governmental departments is rotten!
