Abuse damaged lives of offender, victims

A man who suffered ‘‘extreme’’ abuse during his upbringing has been jailed for sexually assaulting two children when he was a teenager.

Ricky Dean Mclennan was found guilty of 10 sex abuse charges following a trial in the New Plymouth District Court last October.

The offences include unlawful sexual connection, sexual conduct with a young person under 16 and sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection.

He was found not guilty of 10 other charges, while six were dismissed during the trial. He pleaded guilty to two charges of supplying cannabis to a person aged under

18.

The male victim, who was aged

9 when the offending started in

2005, had been friends with Mclennan.

The boy asked his mother if the defendant could stay with them after the 17-year-old Mclennan was beaten up by his father.

Mclennan moved in and shared the boy’s room. Soon after, the abuse, which involved touching and other sex acts, began and lasted about 18 months.

After befriending the female victim when she was 12, Mclennan supplied her with cannabis and made her masturbate him. He also touched her breasts.

At yesterday’s sentencing hearing, two victim impact statements were read out on their behalf by Detective Daniel Coomey.

The male victim said the abuse had left him emotionally scarred and the stress from last year’s court trial resulted in him suffering epileptic seizures, which he now needed medication to control.

He also suffered from low selfesteem, constant nightmares and mental health problems.

‘‘It has been impossible for me to escape my thoughts and memories,’’ he said.

The female victim wrote about how Mclennan’s abuse had badly impacted on her. He had also introduced her to cannabis, which she went on to smoke daily.

‘‘I used this to hide and suppress my emotions and mask the things that happened, and that were happening to me,’’ she said.

Prosecutor Cherie Clarke said the aggravating factors of Mclennan’s offending included the extent of harm suffered by the victims, the premeditation involved and the abuse of trust.

‘‘It was predatory offending,’’ she said.

However Clarke referred to a psychological report completed on Mclennan ahead of the sentencing, which she said made for ‘‘very sad reading’’ and highlighted the defendant’s own history of abuse.

Defence lawyer Susan Hughes QC said Mclennan had an ‘‘appalling’’ childhood, which saw him being placed into state care at the age of three.

She said Mclennan had been ‘‘failed’’ by countless adults in his life and was sexually abused himself by seven different people throughout his childhood.

This has resulted in him becoming inappropriately sexualised and as he was unable to understand his behaviour or feelings, he acted them out, repeating similar sexual acts on the two victims that he had experienced, she said.

‘‘He’d been programmed to behave in this way through the actions of adults.’’

Since the guilty verdicts were returned, Mclennan had owned up to the abuse and written ‘‘heartfelt’’ letters of apology to the two victims, Hughes QC said.

She asked Judge Tony Zohrab to take into account Mclennan’s young age at the time of the offending, his history of abuse, the remorse shown and the impact imprisonment would have on him.

Judge Zohrab said the information provided to him about Mclennan’s ‘‘extreme’’ background provided an explanation for the offending, but in no way excused it.

‘‘It’s hardly surprising that a young man such as yourself has acted in this way given the depravity of your background and how you’ve been brought up,’’ he said.

He said the sex abuse had involved premeditation and an abuse of trust as the male victim in particular had looked up to Mclennan.

After fixing a start point of nine years’ jail, the judge granted discounts for Mclennan’s youth, his abusive background and his remorse.

Mclennan was jailed for five years and four months for the sex abuse and a concurrent jail term of 12 months was imposed for the drug charges.