‘You knew it was wrong’ - Judge
"The offending occurred over a three-and-a-half year period, it wasn't just for a few weeks or a few months. The victim clearly trusted you, he was vulnerable because of his age. You knew what you were doing was wrong."
A Taranaki shopkeeper paid a 12-year-old boy for sexual favours with cash, cigarettes and alcohol.
The boy was befriended by 64-year-old Eltham man Paul Fridolin Suter in 2007 and used to regularly visit his second hand shop and help out, a police summary of facts said.
One day in 2009, Suter invited the boy, then aged 12, out to the back of the shop.
There, the boy found Suter naked and performing a sexual act on himself in front of a mirror.
Afterwards, Suter paid him $20, a police summary of facts said.
A few weeks later Suter got the victim to perform a sexual act on him and again paid him some cash.
On other occasions he had the victim perform oral sex on him, each time paying him cash, cigarettes and sometimes alcohol, the police summary of facts said.
This went on from 2009 to 2012. The cash amounts ranged from $20 to $40.
When Suter was interviewed on DVD at the Stratford police station he denied doing any of the things the victim had claimed, the summary of facts stated. Suter appeared in Ha¯ wera District Court yesterday to be sentenced on two representative charges that he had previously admitted.
One was having sexual connection with a young person aged 12 to 16 and another was doing an indecent act on a boy aged 12 to 16.
He stood in the dock with eyes downcast.
Crown lawyer Justin Marinovich said the offending warranted a prison sentence of three years.
‘‘The impact of this offending is pretty clear from the victim impact statement. He says it has affected his outlook on life, he’s dealing with issues of anger and trust in relationships he’s had and is having.’’
The victim was only 12 when the offending started and Suter was then 55 - a 43 year age gap, Marinovich said. ‘‘Clearly given his age and the age of the victim, he was in no doubt that what he was doing was unlawful, despite the three or four-line letter of remorse he has written.’’
Defence lawyer Kelly Marriner presented a letter Suter had written to the judge expressing his heartfelt remorse.
‘‘Whilst my learned friend has taken some issue with the length of the letter, it is sincere and it is really from the bottom of his heart,’’ she said.
‘‘That is significant for this defendant, he is a man of few words. You can see his remorse in his demeanour today, he stands before you today, 64 years of age with a clean slate.’’
She said Suter was involved in caring for elderly people in his community and would be missed.
Judge Sygrove told Suter the High Court had previously ruled where there was prolonged offending over a significant period of time an offender having an otherwise unblemished criminal record carried little weight.
‘‘The offending occurred over a three-and-a-half year period, it wasn’t just for a few weeks or a few months. The victim clearly trusted you, he was vulnerable because of his age. You knew what you were doing was wrong.’’
The harm Suter did had affected the victim’s whole life, Sygrove said.
‘‘You got this young man to perform oral sex on you and other indecencies took place and you paid for these ‘favours’ with cash, cigarettes and sometimes alcohol.’’
Sygrove sentenced Suter to three years’ imprisonment on the two charges.