Preventive detention for serial sex offender

CHRISTCHURCH: A serial sexual deviant who has preyed on women and children for three decades was yesterday sentenced to preventive detention.

The 52yearold Canterbury man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of raping a woman on a weekly basis over six months in 2012.

He was earlier found guilty by a jury in the High Court at Christchurch of two representative charges of rape and one representative charge of unlawful sexual connection against the woman.

She had been left suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, depression and panic attacks.

‘‘You took away my dignity. This will haunt me for the rest of my life,’’ said the woman, who has name suppression.

Yesterday, the Crown pushed for a sentence of preventive detention, arguing it was necessary to protect the community.

Crown prosecutor Mitchell McClenaghan said the man had been offending sexually for more than 30 years. He had shown ‘‘no real remorse’’ or understanding of consent.

His first conviction for sexual offending was in 1989, and he had a previous history of sex offences against boys and girls.

His pattern of offending showed he formed intimate relationships with his victims before preying on their vulnerability and sexually offending against them, the court heard.

The only group he had not preyed on was adult males, Mr McClenaghan noted.

The man, who had been abused as a child, had been assessed as being at a mediumtohigh risk of reoffending, the court hearing he was ‘‘strongly driven by sexual deviancy’’.

Justice Cameron Mander concluded the man was eligible for a sentence of preventive detention, highlighting the man’s continued denials and lack of insight.

The judge said a sentence of preventive detention would mean he was not released until there was at least a degree of confidence the community would not be at risk.

The man was sentenced to preventive detention with a minimum period of seven years’ imprisonment. — NZME