Indefinite jail sentence imposed for sex attack
A Wellington alcoholic has been given an open-ended jail term to protect the public from his risk of committing serious sex crimes.
Kevin Patrick Leahy looked older than his 59 years when he was seated, trembling, in a dock at the High Court in Wellington yesterday.
Three times in Leahy’s past he had been accused of crimes, but not ultimately convicted.
In 2007, he was accused of raping a drunk woman but acquitted. In 2008, he was accused again, and found guilty. However, the conviction was overturned on appeal.
In 2010, he was investigated for sex assaults on a woman with cerebral palsy but the Crown did not proceed with the charges.
By 2015, he was having sexual contact with an emotionally and intellectually compromised 15-year-old. Leahy pleaded guilty to having sexual connection with a minor. More serious charges of sexual violation were dropped.
In the early hours of November 24, 2017, he was in Cuba Mall in Wellington with a woman he knew who was drunk.
He grabbed her by the hair, threw her to the ground and punched her in the face.
He dragged her behind a kiosk, and started to undress her and himself before three passersby heard her use the word rape, and saw her struggling, ending the attack.
A jury found him guilty of assault with intent to commit sexual violation. In the High Court yesterday, Leahy was sentenced to preventive detention, an openended jail sentence that is potentially life-long. He won’t be considered for parole until he has served five years.
Justice Susan Thomas said a psychiatrist and psychologist thought Leahy had a high risk of committing further sex crimes. The judge said the community needed to be protected from him.