Judge jails sex offender, points to denial, lack of remorse

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A man who continued to deny indecently assaulting a nine-year-old boy was jailed for 23 months and refused leave to apply for home detention at his sentencing in Gisborne District Court.

The man received a three strikes warning and his name will be added to the national child sex offender register.

Although not suppressed, the man’s name cannot be published due to the risk of revealing the identity of the complainant, who is automatically protected by law.

Judge Warren Cathcart said while the sentence was within the 24-month range for conversion to home detention, leave to apply was inappropriate because the man continued to deny the offending.

About two years ago the boy’s mother was drinking at a social gathering with the man, who she considered a friend. About 1am she allowed him to bed down in a caravan where her children were already asleep.

About two hours later, her nine-year-old son got up to take his sister to the toilet. When he came back, the boy accepted an invitation from the man, who was well known to him, to sleep in his bed. The man removed some of their clothing and began fondling himself and the boy, who said it seemed to go on for a “long time and heaps”.

When the man fell asleep, the boy ran crying to the toilet, where his mother found him.

Questioned by police, the man denied the offending, saying the boy asked to get into bed with him.

Despite the guilty plea, the man seemed to block out his offending and still denied it, Judge Cathcart said.

The judge cited a specialist health report in which a doctor said he was concerned the man took no responsibility for the offending and still abused substances and drank alcohol until intoxicated while living in a household with young children.

The judge noted the man had no previous relevant convictions but given his ongoing denial, he must be a medium risk of reoffending and was not a suitable candidate for home detention. There could be no discount for remorse.

He noted the woman’s underlying anger as she read her statement to the court.

Two years later, the family was still dealing with the many consequences of the man’s selfish decision — trauma, anger, frustration and grief, the woman said.

Her son suffered fear and anxiety. He had nightmares, migraines and an escalating anger.

He told her he might only feel safe again when the man was in prison or if he could get as far away from Gisborne as possible.

The boy regularly asked to live with a relative in Auckland, because he thought he would be safer there.

The woman said she now had difficulty sleeping and found daily tasks difficult. She had to change her lifestyle, including her career aspirations, and suffered financially.

She was ostracised by some friends and family critical of her for reporting the crime but she spoke out to stop it from happening again.

She pitied the man, who she knew was also abused as a boy and who no adult helped. She hoped his sentence might offer him the chance to gain insight, rehabilitate and heal.