Man jailed for ‘shattering’ sexual abuse
A sexual assault victim says she will ‘‘never heal’’ after 10 years of abuse by a family member.
The 52-year-old man was found guilty on six charges of indecent assault at a trial in the Nelson District Court in January.
On Thursday, he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison and granted permanent name suppression to protect the identity of the victim.
His step-granddaughter, who is now 19 years old, told the court in a victim impact statement that her childhood and teenage years had been stolen and destroyed.
‘‘I am still learning how to cope with the misuse of power and abuse that was done to me by someone who I looked up to.’’
She said it had ‘‘shattered everything she believed about love and trust’’ and the offending had not been a mistake or an accident, it had been intentional. She had since made multiple attempts to take her life.
‘‘I will never understand why you did this to me, like you will never understand all the ways you’ve ruined my life,’’ she said.
‘‘I did not deserve this, I don’t know why he picked me, all I know is I will never heal from this.’’
Judge Chris Tuohy said the offending began when the girl was four years old and occurred on a number of occasions until she was 15.
The man first began touching her indecently while she was asleep in the family home. As she got older he would regularly touch her on the bottom and that escalated to him touching her genital area.
When the girl was a teenager, the assaults came to an end after she confronted the man.
Judge Tuohy said the man had caused ‘‘serious damage’’ to the young woman and his trial and continued denial of the offending had been a cause of stress for his wider family.
The court heard how the man was a former refugee, who had joined a rebellion in his home country at a young age and had been forced to flee and leave his family behind.
‘‘Although one can have sympathy with the tough circumstances you faced in your young adult life, there is no link between that and this offending.’’
The court heard how he was convicted in 2002 for having sex with a 15-year-old girl who had the mental age of a 12-year-old.
Judge Tuohy said aggravating features of the offending were the victim’s vulnerability, the sustained nature of the offending and the harm caused.
The man had not entered a guilty plea, had not accepted guilt since the trial and showed no sign of remorse.
Judge Tuohy said the one mitigating factor was that despite living in New Zealand for nearly 20 years, the man could not speak any English and he would experience difficulties in prison that someone born in New Zealand would not.
Crown prosecutor Mark O’Donoghue said it was clear the victim’s entire childhood had been linked to this abuse and he recommended a sentence of imprisonment.
Defence lawyer Emma Riddell said given the man’s poor command of English, there were concerns he would not be able to undergo any rehabilitation while in prison.
She recommended the judge consider a supervision sentence so that the community were protected but the man could access rehabilitative treatment.
‘‘What assistance is he going to get in prison? We simply don’t have the assurance that anything will occur.
‘‘We’ve got a responsibility to provide him with some sort of assistance.’’
Reports before the court showed the man had a moderate to high risk of reoffending.
Judge Tuohy said the man’s denial of the offending made treatment or counselling difficult, as did the language barrier.
‘‘I do not think a sentence less than imprisonment is appropriate.’’