Abuse victim: ‘I can start to breathe again’

A woman repeatedly abused in her home as a young girl says she can ‘‘finally start to breathe again’’ after her attacker was jailed for 10 years.

She was one of two women who watched as the man who had sexually assaulted them multiple times when they were young girls was jailed yesterday for his ‘‘appalling acts’’.

Craig Lee McDonald, 50, was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment by Christchurch District Court after earlier pleading guilty to six charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, four charges of committing an indecent act on a girl under 12, and two charges of indecency with a child.

The offending happened in Christchurch between 2000 and 2005 when the victims were between 8 and 12 years old. Most of the offending happened at the victims’ homes, and often while they were in their beds.

One of the victims told the court his actions had haunted her ‘‘every single day and every single night’’ since.

The abuse had made it difficult for her to trust others, especially men. She struggled to go out and meet new people, yet feared being home alone, she said.

McDonald’s actions also affected her relationship with her partner and family.

‘‘My childhood home was my safe place and you took this away from me,’’ she told him at yesterday’s sentencing. ‘‘But now the truth has finally come out, and a massive burden has been lifted from my shoulders. After all these years I can finally start to breathe again as my story has finally been told. I can now truly begin to move on.’’

Judge Raoul Neave said McDonald’s actions were not only repetitive and continued over a long period of time, but also involved an element of grooming.