Child flees as sex offender attacks mum

A home should be safe for any child, but one ran out their front door to hide from the terror being inflicted inside by a recidivist sexual offender. A judge says that offender, Lyric Daishan Hofmann, got very close to being charged with attempted sexual violation as a result of the attack. Hofmann was sentenced in the Palmerston North District Court to 21 months’ prison for indecent assault. In a just-released sentencing decision, Judge Lance Rowe said Hofmann went to a woman’s home as she was about to have dinner with her child on April 25, 2017. The woman declined an offer from Hofmann to buy drugs, after which he indecently assaulted her in multiple ways. She avoided his attempts to kiss her and said no throughout. Hofmann also attempted to force the woman into a sexual act. He indecently assaulted her again before leaving, telling her to keep it secret. She immediately went to a nearby relative’s house to say what happened. The judge said it was significant the child was there at the time, and ran outside to hide. ‘‘The fact [the woman’s] child felt the need to run away and hide says a great deal about the type of conduct this child was witnessing at the time you were offending against [their] mother.’’ Hofmann’s previous similar convictions were also noted, as was him being sentenced three weeks before the indecent assault for committing an indecent act. According to an earlier ruling in Hofmann’s case, his first indecent act involved him masturbating in a shop in 2012, despite a woman telling him there were security cameras nearby. He has two convictions for similar behaviour at Foxton Beach in 2013. He also indecently assaulted a woman in 2015. That first indecent assault meant being convicted for the 2017 attack put Hofmann on a second strike under the three-strikes regime, meaning he must serve his full sentence without an early release. The judge said this tempered any increase in sentence for previous convictions. But the jail sentence was not commuted to home detention, with a pre-sentence reporter writer noting Hofmann was an untreated adult sexual offender needing specialist help. ‘‘Whatever else can be said, this cannot happen again,’’ the judge said. ‘‘Why it is you are offending against women like this and have done so previously is something you need to reflect on and take responsibility for. ‘‘Our community... does not need a sixth victim, Mr Hofmann.’’ It was concerning to see the offending escalate in seriousness, the judge said.

‘‘The fact [the woman’s] child felt the need to run away and hide says a great deal about the type of conduct this child was witnessing at the time you were offending against [their] mother.’’

Judge Lance Rowe to Lyric Daishan Hofmann