Man sent back to prison for public indecent act

A man with more than 20 indecency convictions has been sent back to prison to protect the public from his actions.

Steven Karu was sentenced in the Palmerston North District Court on Tuesday to 11 months’ jail, having pleaded guilty to committing an indecent act.

Karu was spotted masturbating in a glass telephone box in Palmerston North at 9pm on March 31.

He told police he may have been reaching for his wallet.

He had only been released from prison, where he was serving a sentence for using indecent language with intent to offend, the day before.

Defence lawyer Mark Alderdice said Karu had used his steps to freedom grant, given to people upon release from jail, to buy $250 worth of alcohol.

That, combined with the strong prescription drugs he was on and cannabis he smoked, meant Karu did not remember anything after 5pm, Alderdice said.

‘‘He remembers waking up naked in the police cells, unsure about what happened.’’

Karu has been in and out of court for the past 15 years for indecency issues.

He has racked up 24 convictions for various offences, including masturbating on a bus, in an ambulance and outside the windows of a Palmerston North business.

Alderdice said Karu did not engage with people trying to get information from him before sentencing, but he appeared open to working with a psychologist.

‘‘He has to find it in himself to trust those people who are there to assist him,’’ Alderdice said.

‘‘It’s about getting him off the hamster wheel of offending.

‘‘If he doesn’t, then there will be a continuation [of the offending].’’

Judge Lance Rowe said prison was the only available sentence.

‘‘We are at a stage where the protection of the public has to come first,’’ Rowe said.

‘‘It is a pretty sad state of affairs when that is all we have to use.’’

As Karu has already spent two months in custody, he will be released with conditions after 31⁄2-half months in jail, the judge said.

‘‘If you can make progress while in custody, before your release, then we will all be very pleased,’’ he said.

‘‘In the end, Mr Karu, the only person who can protect the community is yourself.’’