Mother calls out child abuser in court

‘‘How dare you do that to my daughter,’’ the mother shouts.

But Kyle McGregor shows no emotion.

The woman is standing in court reading her own victim impact statement when she stops to challenge McGregor, the teenager who abused her 4-year-old girl, and filmed it.

She says her heart broke when her daughter told her what the 19-year-old had done just a few hours earlier, while they were playing hide and seek.

‘‘I hope you get a long sentence because I don’t believe you’ll ever change.’’

The woman spoke of the pain, watching her daughter be forensically examined at Nelson Hospital after the assault in October last year.

The girl’s favourite skirt and fancy boots had to be given to police as evidence.

‘‘I would rather die a thousand deaths than have to go through that again,’’ the woman said.

McGregor was charged with two counts of sexual violation, two counts of indecent assault and creating an objectionable publication.

He was also charged with possessing objectionable publications as police found more than 1000 objectionable images on a USB when they searched his house.

McGregor told police he watched them to control his urges.

He admitted the charges in May, but sentencing was put off so preventive detention could be considered. He appeared at the High Court, in Blenheim, on Wednesday.

McGregor’s lawyer, Rob Harrison, said McGregor was young, willing to do counselling and could yet be rehabilitated.

He had a dysfunctional, violent upbringing. He left school early and while he did some short-term jobs, spent most of his time playing computer games at home.

He said he was ‘‘horrified at himself’’ for what he did, but blamed his actions on others and said people were over-reacting.

Several reports said McGregor had a medium to high risk of reoffending.

Psychologists said his remorse was ‘‘limited’’ and recommended he do specialist courses for sex offenders in prison.

Justice David Collins agreed that he could be rehabilitated, and did not impose preventive detention.

He sentenced McGregor to 6 years and 4 months in prison, with a minimum non-parole period of 3 years and 9 months.

McGregor’s name suppression was lifted at his sentencing.

Moderate quake

A moderate earthquake struck 10km northeast of Culverden in the South Island yesterday. The magnitude 4.3 quake struck at 12.51pm, according to GeoNet, at a depth of 34km.

Diver’s body found

The body of a recreational diver has been recovered off Sandy Bay, Cape Reinga. The 49-year-old Kaitaia man was reported missing by his dive companion on Thursday evening after he failed to resurface. Search and rescue teams were unable to conduct a water search due to the darkness and resumed at first light on Friday, with the body found by surf lifesaving crews.

Snow warnings

Heavy snow ahead of the weekend could disrupt travel, damage powerlines, and cause distress for livestock. The MetService has issued a 24-hour heavy snow warning in Fiordland, with a prolonged period of snowfall through to Saturday morning. Up to 35cm of snow was expected to accumulate above 400 metres. The fragile alternative highway between Picton and Christchurch was under pressure yesterday. State Highway 7, Lewis Pass, reopened shortly before 9am after heavy snow forced its closure on Thursday. A truck crash happened about 90 minutes later north of Hanmer Springs, closing the road again. The road reopened shortly after midday, then went down to one lane about an hour later. SH73, Arthurs Pass, was open despite also being blanketed with snow. NZTA said chains were essential. The road was closed to towing vehicles.

Scribe in court

Hip-hop artist Scribe has made a voluntary appearance at the Christchurch District Court, two days after an arrest warrant was issued for his no-show. On Friday he pleaded not guilty to all six charges he faces and has been remanded on bail. The Christchurch performer – real name Malo Ioane Luafutu, 38 – missed a flight and was in Porirua when he was meant to be appearing in the Christchurch court on Wednesday afternoon. The Christchurch court office said the warrant had not been executed by Friday morning, so Luafutu was not arrested ahead of his appearance. Luafutu faces charges that on April 2, in Christchurch, he had an offensive weapon – a bat – in a public place, possession of the class A drug amphetamine and possession of a pipe for using amphetamine. He also faces charges of failing to answer bail.

Pedestrians fatally injured

A pedestrian who died after being hit by a car in an orchard in northwest Auckland was a 74-year-old woman. Police confirmed the elderly woman died about 3pm on Thursday. And police have identified but not named a man who died after being hit by a truck at a crossing in Huntly. The 33-year-old’s death on State Highway 1 on Thursday afternoon was under investigation, Waikato Senior Sergeant Mike Henwood said.