Child-sex offender jailed

‘‘I wanted it to stop but I didn’t know how.’’

This was how one of Stephen Allan Jordan’s two victims felt during his sexual abuse of her, something she endured as a young child.

Her mother read out the girl’s victim impact statement in the New Plymouth District Court yesterday, at Jordan’s sentencing hearing.

Jordan previously pleaded guilty to six charges, one of unlawful sexual connection, two of indecent assault and three charges of doing an indecent act

The offending, which took place in New Plymouth and Stratford, impacted on the lives of two young girls, both under 12, during two distinct time periods.

The first victim was abused between February 1999 to June 2005 and the second between December 2016 and June 2018.

During her mother’s address to the court, Jordan’s most recent victim said she felt ‘‘sad and very uncomfortable’’ about what happened to her.

The girl said she felt she was angrier now and did things she could not always explain.

An example she gave the court was after she had a dream about the abuse, she ripped up a toy unicorn which was on her bed.

The girl’s mother also told the court how she felt when she found out about what Jordan had done.

‘‘This broke my heart and tore everything to pieces.’’

Prosecutor Cherie Clarke described the offending as ‘‘predatory sexual conduct’’ and that it was premeditated to a degree.

A final jail term of between four years, three months and five years was sought by Clarke.

Defence lawyer Susan Hughes QC said Jordan had admitted his guilt at an early opportunity and was remorseful for what he had done.

She said he often cried when they spoke about the offending and he was willing to apologise to the victims.

‘‘He is at a loss to explain why he has offended in this way.’’

She said Jordan had no recollection of the offending but accepted the victims were truthful in their accounts.

After taking into account Jordan’s guilty pleas, remorse and previous good character, Hughes QC said a final term of imprisonment of two years and five months was appropriate.

Judge Gregory Hikaka said the indecent assaults involved Jordan touching the girls inappropriately and directing them to touch him inappropriately.

The most serious charge of unlawful sexual connection, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years, involved Jordan telling one of the victims to perform a sex act on him.

The judge said the aggravating factors in the case included the vulnerability of the victims, the extent of harm caused to them and the breach of trust involved which also reflected the age difference between Jordan and the girls he targeted.

Jordan is now 58 and both girls were under the age of 12 when they were abused.

‘‘They have been significantly impacted by your offending,’’ the judge said.

In calculating the defendant’s final sentence, Hikaka gave Jordan a full 25 per cent discount for his guilty pleas, along with a further 10 per cent for his remorse and the steps taken to address the offending, which included voluntary counselling.

Jordan was jailed for three years and his name will be added to the child sex offenders register.

The court heard how a strike warning was previously issued against Jordan and that a restorative justice meeting was likely to happen between him and one of his victims while he was in prison.