Former scout leader sentenced to preventive detention for child sex abuse

AUCKLAND: A former scout leader has been sentenced to preventive detention for sexually abusing five children.

The sentence was handed down to James Morris (67), also known as Ian Charles Phipps, yesterday in the High Court at Auckland.

Earlier, a jury had found him guilty of 14 charges related to indecently assaulting children.

Yesterday, Crown prosecutor Tiffany Cooper argued for the preventive detention sentence.

‘‘The real concern that the Crown has is the fact that Mr Morris still does not accept his offending,’’ she said.

‘‘There is a real concern about the ongoing safety of the community.’’

The Court of Appeal gave him a ‘‘final’’ warning in the late 1990s, when a preventive detention sentence he was serving was quashed, she said.

Defence lawyer Jonathan Hudson argued a finite period with the possibility of an extended supervision order upon release could satisfy the court.

However, Justice Mathew Downs concluded preventive detention was necessary and no other sentence would be adequate.

Most of the offending was historical but not all, he said.

‘‘You have been committing sexual offences against children and young people for much of your adult life,’’ Justice Downs said.

In giving the sentence, the judge set down a minimum nonparole period of five years.

Yesterday, the court heard how Morris’ offending had affected the victims.

One statement, read by the police officer in charge of the case, spoke of how difficult it had been coming forward and confiding in others what had happened.

He simply had not been able to tell his mother and to this day she still had no idea, he said.

‘‘It would crucify her.’’ — The New Zealand Herald