Man rapes aunt who raised him

A woman who woke to her nephew raping her froze in shock as the man she had raised continued his attack.

The man has name suppression to protect the identity of his aunt, who he violated as her son slept nearby during a wha¯ nau gathering in Feilding on March 18, 2017.

On Friday, he was sent to jail. ‘‘I’m so angry and disgusted,’’ his victim told the Palmerston North District Court through tears, as four whanau¯ members stood at her side.

‘‘I still can’t help but think about what he has done to me. It’s like a scab that keeps being ripped off.

‘‘I was in shock. I didn’t want to see or tell anyone. I brought him up. How could he do this to me? How could he take advantage of me?’’

Judge Stephanie Edwards said the victim was so shocked and disgusted she froze as the rape continued for ‘‘some time’’.

‘‘She doesn’t understand how you could do this to someone who had raised you since you were a child,’’ she told the man.

He was sentenced to six years and four months behind bars.

Although the woman had seen mental health professionals, she still held a lot of anger and felt sick whenever she thought of him.

‘‘I feel safe now knowing he is locked up.’’

The court was told mattresses had been laid on the ground for the aunt and her son, while the man had intended to sleep on the couch. Alcohol had been consumed throughout the night and the man instead decided to sleep on the floor.

Some hours later, the aunt woke to her nephew behind her. As he lifted her legs she attempted to slip away. But the man gripped harder and carried out his attack.

Her son slept throughout on the adjacent mattress.

The man was jailed for sexual assault in 2013 and had showed an inability to control his sexual impulses, the judge said. The effects of his most recent offending would be long-lasting and the scars would likely never heal.

‘‘The victim was 67 years old at the time. She was in no position to defend herself. She was your aunt, a mother figure. The repercussions of offending like this can be wide-reaching with wha¯nau. You are a risk to all women in the community.’’

Defence lawyer Steve Winter said the man was aggressive towards him and Corrections Department staff who visited him in prison.

‘‘I brought him up. How could he do this to me? How could he take advantage of me?’’